This time Alan Hardacre swings by the studio and shares his perspectives on the state of Public Affairs as well as the importance of the internal side of Public Affairs.    Alan has a PhD in international relations from the Loughborough University. Alan has many years of experience both in public administration as well as on the corporate side. He has been practising, teaching and writing on advocacy and Public Affairs for over 20 years. Among other publications, Alan has authored the book “How the EU Institutions Work and... How to Work with the EU Institutions”.    In this episode we cover:    - How to build a high-performing Public Affairs function, and how not to! - Why Public Affairs in the EU is behind the US  - Why EU companies see Public Affairs as a risk-managing function & why that is problematic - The importance of getting buy-in from senior leadership - How to avoid being isolated as a Public Affairs proffesional, e.g. if you are based in Brussels - And one of my favorite topics: the importance of taking the internal side of Public Affairs just as serious as the external side    All this in just 30 minutes!   This episode was produced by Sidsel Nørgaard & sponsored by Ulobby.