On Leadership by Tony Blair – working to rule

Tony Blair’s first book since 2010’s A Journey is a fascinating treatise on leadership – though I suspect it will leave some of the cohort it is aimed at wishing he had delved deeper into his own experiences, turning a book of general interest into one of unique insight.
Before I expand, some disclosure. The political enmity between Labour and the SNP is so deep that for me to have expressed the slightest admiration for the former prime minister while I was still in frontline politics would have been nigh-on impossible. It would have sparked outrage among my supporters – just as it would be political suicide for an aspiring Labour politician to say anything positive about me. Indeed, this is one of the problems of our tribal politics that he, rightly, rails against.
However, now that I have stepped back from the frontline I can be more candid. While there is much that I disagree with Blair about – and on Iraq that disagreement is profound – I think history will, and should, judge him much more kindly than contemporary opinion does. Indeed, it is perhaps no accident that one part of the book that seems to come from a deeply personal place concerns the need for a leader to protect his or her legacy: “facts are still facts. But the colour, the interpretation, the framing of motive and impact, these are judgments, and the judges need at least to hear both sides.”
As the title suggests, this is a book about political leadership and, in particular, about leading a government. It addresses important questions: what are the attributes, skills and mindsets that make a good leader? What should leaders do – and avoid doing – to have the best chance of succeeding? Blair attempts to define a phenomenon – effective leadership – that is difficult to describe objectively, especially in the political world where, as he points out, no formal qualifications, experience or training are required. He offers up what is clearly intended to be a handbook, a kind of practical guide to good governance. Current and aspiring leaders are very obviously his target audience, and the advice he offers is sound. I found myself nodding along repeatedly.
Ironically, however, I suspect it will be those of us with actual leadership experience who find this book the least satisfying. It is not that his advice is wrong; on the contrary. But most leaders know that it is important to have a plan and stick to it, to manage time effectively, to prioritise, to understand the difference between tactics and strategy, to favour policy over politics, to be prepared to take unpopular decisions, and to follow through to delivery.
The problem is that much of this falls into the category of “easier said than done”. And while he pays lip service to this, Blair fails to address the myriad factors that, on a daily basis, conspire to throw a leader off course, or to offer any practical advice on how to overcome those challenges.
On Leadership would have been enriched immeasurably had he included a couple of case studies from his time in office, occasions when he struggled to follow his own advice, with some insight into how he managed – or failed – to get back on track. Indeed, one of the curiosities of this book is that there is no real reflection on his own strengths and weaknesses.
To be fair, he is upfront about this: “this is not a book about my qualities or lack of them as a leader. Rather, it is about what I have learnt.” I can understand his desire to separate his subject matter from the strong opinions that people hold about him. But I think that this would have been a better – and more useful – book had it made more of a connection between the two parts of that quotation.
There are other curiosities buried in the pages. Unintended insights into his worldview, perhaps. He proclaims that “democracy is the best and highest form of government” and while I am sure he means it, he manages to give the impression that democracy is not a sine qua non; that if other forms of government could deliver more effectively, he would be open to them. One of the chapter titles – Democracy or Not, It’s All About Delivery – certainly suggests as much.
For a politician who claims to have been, with some justification, a radical leader, he also comes across as being very much in thrall to vested interests. Business knows best seems to be the mantra, and it should be as free as possible from tax and regulation. In this age of growing inequality and economic alienation, some thoughts on how leaders might harness the power of business to build good societies as well as strong economies would have been illuminating.
He is truly myopic when it comes to the power of technology, and AI especially – and he presents as something of a fanboy when it comes to the Elon Musks of this world. To be clear, I agree with him completely about the transformative potential of AI and the need for leaders to embrace it. However, instead of simply noting, as he does, that “there are mind-boggling risks in all this” and leaving it at that, I wish he had offered some views on what those risks are, and how they might be mitigated.
The best bits of the book – and they are genuinely very good – are the passages offering advice on how to cope with the personal burdens of leadership, from dealing with the pressures of social media, to developing a hinterland, avoiding hubris, and knowing when to leave the stage.
There is much to learn from On Leadership, and I am glad Blair has written it. It will fascinate anyone interested in the art of governing, even in the abstract – and represents a good investment of time for anyone in or aspiring to political leadership. Indeed, I wish it had been available to me before I entered high office. Had he poured more of himself and his own experiences into it, though, and challenged his own thinking further, what is a good book might have been a truly great one.