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SHORTLISTED FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY BOOK AWARDS 2022
‘Leadership displays the virtues you might expect of a top diplomat: it is elegantly written, discreet and observant.’
Gideon Rachman, Financial Times
‘An enjoyable read packed with insights from someone who was ‘‘on the spot’’ when the United Kingdom responded to significant international challenges.’
House Magazine
‘A deeply personal take on leadership’
Civil Service World
REVIEWS ‘An original, very well-written, and serious book which adds to the quality of public discussion.’ ‘This is a book full of riches – a despatch from deep inside the British state about how it really operates and how it could be run better. In places, Simon McDonald wields his fluent pen like a blowtorch. His candour burns the page. Some of the most eminent in the land will rush to the index. Some will be right to tremble if they find their name.’ ‘The author’s observations are widely applicable and strengthened by a strong understanding of history.’ When Abraham Lincoln said, ‘You can be anything you want to be,’ Americans, and eventually everybody everywhere, lifted their sights. Nowadays anybody can aspire to be a leader, and nearly everybody has to lead sometimes. In Leadership, Simon McDonald assumes that thinking about leadership before you lead helps you to lead better. No matter the circumstances in which we might be called to lead – be it at work, on the sports field, or in the community – the example of top leaders in politics and public service (both in their successes and shortcomings) can help you figure out your own approach. As the head of HM Diplomatic Service, McDonald was responsible for over 14,000 staff in 270 posts worldwide, worked for six foreign secretaries, and saw five prime ministers operate at close quarters. Observing these people undertaking the most important and often the most difficult work in the country he saw the behaviours that helped them to achieve their objectives, and those which hindered them. SIMON MCDONALD was the British ambassador to Germany and later permanent under-secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and head of Diplomatic Service. He sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher and, as of September 2022, is master of Christ’s College, Cambridge. Follow Simon on Twitter @SimonMcDonaldUK Read Simon’s interview with the i here. Watch Simon’s interview with Andrew Marr for Tonight with Andrew Marr on LBC Radio here. Watch Simon’s interview with Beth Rigby for Beth Rigby Interviews on Sky News.
Anthony Seldon
Peter Hennessy
The Edge, Malaysia
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| ISBN | 9781913368876 |
| Pages | 302 |
