Listen, learn, lead – reflections on political leadership in 2024 from Sir Anthony Seldon
Audley recently hosted leading political commentator, historian, and educationalist Sir Anthony Seldon for a breakfast briefing at our offices. Here are the lessons in leadership that we took away…
At the start of our discussion, Sir Anthony explained that most leaders underperform because they address the urgent, not the important: operations, not strategy.
As Sir Anthony puts it: “the leader of any organisation is the captain of the ship: they need to stay on the bridge at all times, and trust others to sort out the brawls in the bar, complaints in the dining room and smoke in the engine room.”
Here, we share the attributes Sir Anthony told us a leader needs to perform:
Political leaders need to take time to reflect and think
Most political leaders try to do far too much with their time. The result is they do not give themselves nearly enough opportunities to pause, consider what they have been doing, and to think deeply about what they could be doing differently.
Without this space to slow down, to breathe and to reflect, it is impossible for leaders to improve their performance.
Leaders must listen more
A sign of a great leader is their ability to listen with humility to people who are offering an opinion that is going against the grain or suggesting a different path to the one the leader is following. It takes a great deal of inner security for a leader to let themselves be challenged by others, especially by those with whom they usually disagree.
In recent political history, we have seen the damage leaders have brought upon themselves by refusing to countenance other points of view. Leaders need to ask themselves: “Am I really a good listener?”
Leaders must learn from their predecessors
“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” So said one of our greatest prime ministers, Winston Churchill. A leader need not be an historian to be successful, but they must seek out the salutary lessons of the premierships of those who have come before them, or they risk falling into the same traps and making egregious errors. Reading widely and deeply will serve leaders well as they move up the rungs and into positions of power and influence.
For politicians, there are many great biographies of former leaders to turn to. Sir Anthony gave the example of John Bew’s magisterial account of the premiership of Clement Attlee, the Labour Party’s most successful leader, as critical reading for prime ministers.
Leaders must prepare long in advance
It is obvious that those going into positions of great power and responsibility must do so with a clear plan in place which underpins their vision for government. However, the scale of the effort and the amount of time one needs to put in to create a realistic, thorough, and agenda-changing plan is often underestimated. So many leaders flounder or fail to make the impact they hoped they would because they lack a coherent vision and a clear plan.
What sets the greatest leaders apart is then being able to communicate their vision convincingly. As their time in office passes, successful leaders show how they are making that vision a reality, or executing against their plan. This is critical for governing successfully as much as it is for campaigning successfully.
We must dedicate more time to human interactions
This is a lesson for all of us, not just leaders. We need to be proactive in seeking out human interactions, rather than digital ones. We cannot hope to build deep and meaningful relationships unless we are face-to-face with other people.
In a world of technology, we need more humanity. The more we conduct our lives off screen and seek out human experiences, the better our lives and the lives of those close to us will be.
By Rolf Merchant, Director at Audley.
Image credit/Wellington College/Edited/License