DO YOU HAVE A LOBBYING INSTINCT???

You can't learn lobbying by reading a book. You can go to school to learn about lobbying but you don't become a lobbyist by going to school. It's all about good instincts and instincts can never be taught. Not everybody has the instinct [a natural or inherent aptitude, impulse or capacity] to be a good lobbyist.

It's not so much the culture you learn when you study lobbying as the nuts and bolts of the process and its various components, something called 'applied politics" compared with traditional political science which is far more theoretical. You need to develop a conceptual and practical understanding of how Brussels or Washington works. Applied politics can be gained through exposure to political practitioners and policy makers- both elected and non- elected who influence legislation, execute decisions, resolve disputes. This means increasing your factual knowledge of the structures, rules and process of EU or American politics.

One misconception about lobbying be it in Brussels, Washington DC or anywhere else is that it's simply hiring somebody who goes into the European Parliament, the European Commission or the U.S. Congress and talks with people to influence legislation. What is important is to have a clear strategy. This includes everything from TV and print ads, social media, using survey research to evaluate how effective your lobbying campaign is to the public, developing grassroots and grasstops, coalition building and knowing the law.

You need to have a fee for how the institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, U.S. Congress operate and the mood of such institutions and the only way to get that is to have been part of the process (Assistant MEP, MEP, Commission staff or a job on the Hill in DC).

There is a type of personality common to all lobbyists: a certain indefinable quality that makes certain people appealing. Lobbying is salesmanship on  a very personal level. Certinly you can learn a lot about lobbying but you can't give someone a 'personality transplant'.

In the end lobbying is about building relationships face to face and in today's world technology has eroded the communication process. You just can't lobby by sending e-mails!