On Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century by Tony Blair
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Former British Prime Minister, and now man of the world, through the Blair Institute, Tony Blair, has written a book on leadership that is well worth the read, even if you are not planning on being a Prime Minister or President. The concepts discussed are applicable across the political management spectrum.
Blair’s record of achievement as Prime Minister, both substantively and politically, is really astounding. He is the second longest serving Prime Minister (behind Margaret Thatcher) in the post war period, the longest serving Labor Prime Minister, and the only Labor leader to ever lead Labor to three consecutive general election victories. His concept of “New Labor” changed the image of the Labor Party to one that could govern, and would not be held captive by the more ideologically rigid element of the Labor Party. He moved the Party to the center.
The book is not a memoir (he wrote that already) but a primer, from Blair’s perspective, on how to be a leader. His experiences as Prime Minister, and as opposition leader, have brought him some valuable perspectives on how to be effective as a leader. His insights are valuable even if your goal is not to be the Prime Minister of Great Britain. What does it take to lead effectively? Blair gives us his roadmap.
Some of the items Blair outlines might seem to be self evident. But when you ask a political leader (Managers, Mayors, Governors) whether they have in fact covered that base I would venture to say that many would say no. The first item Blair touches on is “having a plan.” (Be the leader with a Plan.) He cites the comment by American diplomat George Kennan “If you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there.”
“A ‘plan’ is a route map for governing. It sets out the destination, the milestones, and, above all, the priorities. It forms the ‘why’ and not simply the ‘what’ or the ‘how’. It focuses the mind of government; indeed in a certain sense it creates the mind of government. The preparation that goes into drawing it up is intense. Bad plan:bad government.”
Blair, Tony On Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century pg. 2
Blair goes further on the “focusing the mind of government.” The plan will give the “ministers” a clear direction of where the leader wants to go, the priorities set, and an agenda to follow. Blair does not see the need to belabor the fact that it is the LEADER who sets the agenda and drives the government towards fulfilling the goals associated with the leader’s agenda. A leader without a plan, or an inability to drive an agenda, is wasting time.
Blair tells a story about Bill Clinton imparting to him what Clinton considered to be a valuable insight, which was “keep control of your schedule.” It was before Blair took office as P.M. and he tells us that he was a “bit underwhelmed” with this advice. But after he took office he realized how correct Clinton was. Clinton was not urging “downtime” or golf but rather some time to read, reflect, and set new action plans to further drive the leader’s agenda. Clinton was correct, and Blair came to see that.
Blair truly gives us some great thoughts, including the title of Chapter Three. “Prioritization Try to do everything and you will likely do nothing.” It says it all but it really needs to be driven home. Blair’s comment, that “government operates by bandwidth” is right on the money. No bandwidth, no results. Blair gives us some great advice, and some real world examples, including how Brexit simply consumed enormous amounts of ministerial bandwidth in Britain, knocking other important issues off the plate.
Amongst all of the great observations Blair gives us possibly the most important one comes in Chapter 4. He leaves himself a bit of wiggle room in titling that chapter by saying that “Good policy is (nearly) always good politics.” I could not agree more. Good results, even over time, make for good politics. Inside that Chapter he hits on something that I believe has been a bit lost at all levels of government in this country, and that is that the leader should know his brief.
“At one level politics is a crude retail business: winning votes, devising slogans, kissing babies, and having the physical stamina to survive a brutal campaign. But at another level -the dimension called government-it is an intensely intellectual exercise. It requires real brainpower. And study. Politicians become adept over time at speaking about things they haven’t a clue about. And, if they’re good at it, they can do it with panache and-to the uniformed ear-credibility. In the real world of government that doesn’t cut it. You should know what you are talking about because you have taken the time and effort to master it.”
Blair, Tony On Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century pg. 26
What a concept. The leader should know what they are talking about. What does that mean? How can you tell? Talk to a leader. See if they are conversant on budgets, education, or any issue you are concerned with. See if they understand how an budget action in one area might impact a subject in another area. If a leader does not know or understand the brief then what you get is staff setting the agenda, and staff setting the priorities. Hard to lead on a subject when you do not know the brief.
Blair is rightly proud of having created a “Delivery Unit” at Downing Street to take items that had been agreed, and get them to implementation. You might ask why a universally accepted idea needs a special focus on implementation? If you are asking that question you likely have not worked in government. Just coming up with an idea, announcing it, and moving on to the next idea, will not cut it. With short attention spans it might even work for a bit but if you are serious about leading you will want to ensure that implementation is part of the program. Blair calls it “le suivi,” the French term for “follow-up.” No follow-up, no success, and a better than good chance that the bureaucracy will take a pound of flesh out of the idea.
Blair understands how leaders are made, and is frankly honest about some of the things that are necessary for someone with the ambition to lead to undertake politically. Some might not be comfortable but he tells the truth:
“Politicians who boast about their honesty/integrity/attachment to truth and goodness, as opposed to those ‘other politicians’ make the seasoned among us reach for the bucket, precisely because we know politics and politicians can’t be like that, and for sound reasons as well as bad. Don’t get me wrong. All those virtues are important. But the plain fact is that there is too much of the business of politics that involves wheeling and dealing, intrigue, and some ruthlessness to permit it to be conducted by paragons.”
Blair, Tony On Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century pg. 293-294
Effective leadership does not come from “paragons” but from knowing your brief, setting an agenda, and then having the courage to drive that agenda, even in the face of opposition, and having the skill set to utilize some wheeling and dealing to dissipate the opposition. A wonderful book by Blair that gives aspiring leaders a roadmap. Maybe even good reading for existing leaders.
A great example of the Leader knowing his brief and having the political skill to roast the Opposition Leader, future Prime Minister David Cameron.
Bill Manzi.com 