Leadership: Lessons from a Life in Diplomacy

This is a fascinating and well written book by someone who has been at the centre of government and international relations for his entire working life. Essential reading if one is to know more about how to lead without being preached at.

Promised a lot but didn’t really dish the dirt

Simon McDonald’s leadership offers a very interesting insight into life behind closed doors and a variety of lessons on leadership. Although not an autobiography we are allowed a short glimpse into his life which , for readers with a deep interest of the workings of the FCO, can leave you wanting moreWhen discussing leadership McDonald offers a clear and concise account of past experiences and raises some good points about what makes a good and an effective leader. His lessons are easy to take on board and can be the basis for a number of interesting discussionsOverall a very enjoyable read that is well written and leaves the reader wanting a little more at times but content with the discussions of leading this book holds. The final chapter , in which he discusses his own views and ideas for a way ahead, may be divisive for some readers but do offer an interesting insight to how things may be conducted in the near future.

The book is genuinely insightful and a glimpse into British foreign policy, leadership, and the inner workings of the FCO.

Simon McDonald's first book was a pleasure to read. Written with fluency and flair, it draws upon his many years of service in the Foreign Office, providing a fascinating insight into the internal workings of such a huge organisation - and keen observation of the leadership skills of many of those at the top of the diplomatic and political trees. Occasionally very funny, it also puts across a serious message about the state of our politics today and views on how things might change in the future. I rarely find a memoir unputdownable........this one was just that.

For anyone interested in how to lead - especially how people at the heart of government make decisions for better or worse - this is a great read, especially if you're curious about UK politics and its civil service. Brilliantly written and filled with insights from first-hand experiences with world leaders (and the Queen), as well as personal anecdotes from someone who has been in the room where it happens. I hugely enjoyed it and would really recommend.

An interesting and engaging read, the book is part memoir, part lessons learned, with some personal recommendations for reform bolted on in the final chapter. I agree with other reviews that McDonald doesn't reflect as much as he could about his experience as a lower-middle class, northern, catholic, grammar-school educated person in a Foreign Office that remains dominated by public school alumni.As the consummate insider and diplomat it's clear that McDonald was always going to pull his punches. There are no tabloid-friendly nuggets of gossip here, embarrassing revelations or denunciations. He reserves his greatest criticism for his former colleague Christopher Meyer for treating '...his readers to his unvarnished opinions about ministers who might have expected greater discretion.'There are plenty of thoughtful reflections based on experience covering various aspects of leadership and the internal workings of the British government. Despite the occasional admissions of sub-optimal performance, this isn't a confessional either. The self-criticism is largely mild and of the 'I learned my lesson from this' variety. Exactly the sort of thing that might be recounted in a exec-level interview.Even though he was more junior at the time, we might have expected a more thorough exploration of the learning from the greatest foreign policy disasters of recent years: the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; or even relatively minor ones like Boris Johnson's grotesquely incompetent handling of the Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe case. But no. Presumably these would have strayed too far over the Christopher Meyer line of acceptability.The final chapter is a slight oddity, covering McDonald's recipe for constitutional reform. It goes into great detail (perhaps too much detail) on the mechanics of a reformed house of lords, but accepts that the first past the post electoral system remains fit for purpose. I can't agree: both of these things are an egregious affront to representative democracy and need reform. McDonald's reforms to the lords seem sensible, but he needs to apply himself as assiduously to the lower house too.

Compared to first lectures on any decent MBA programme this is a confused and rambling attempt to define what a good leader is . For someone so eminent there is sadly little rigour or evidence behind assertions or qualities given essential or desirable .Where the book is more interesting is in the odd anecdotes around diplomacy UK style . However even these do not inspire confidence that UK efforts are little more than chummery promoting those in the same amateur image .

Das Buch lässt sich in drei Hauptkomplexe einteilen:1) Autobiografie: Hier werden viele Namen und regionalpolitische Ereignisse bewegt, die dem internationalen Leser nur bedingt bekannt sind, so dass gelegentlich der Überblick verloren geht.2) Führungsstile und Führungspersönlichkeiten: Dieser teil stellt den größten Mehrwert für den internationalen Leser dar. Der Autor war einige Jahre britischer Botschafter in Berlin, so dass hier vertraute Beispiele auftauchen. Simon Mc Donald setzt seinen Fokus auf die Teambeziehung und den Aspekt von Verantwortung für das Team und die Organisation, für die der Leiter arbeitet. Einzigartig in der Literatur über gute Leitung dürfte das Kapitel "The End of Leadership" sein, wo es um den geordneten Ausstieg aus der Leitungsverantwortung inklusive Nachfolgeregelung geht.3) Reformvorschläge: Das letzte Kapitel geht detailliert auf das politische System in Großbritannien ein und liefert Lösungsansätze insbesondere zur Verschlankung der Strukturen und damit zur Steiegerung der Effizienz.