What skills do you need as a young lobbyist

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This week I talk entitled ‘WHAT SKILLS ARE NECESSARY TO SUCCEED AS A PUBLIC AFFAIRS PRACTITIONER IN THE EU’  , to some very smart students studying with Professor Hussein Kassim at the University of Warwick

The talk was some of my tips, tricks and techniques that I wish I had known 30 years ago. They would have accelerated my career by many years and put a 0 or more on my salary.

5 Superpowers you need

1. Clear and concise written communication.
2.Clear and concise spoken communication.
3.Do what you say you will do.
4.The ability to learn and re-learn quickly.
5.Be pleasant.
If you possess all 5, your name will be praised from the rooftops.  Job offers and interesting work will thrown at your feet.
Other Essential Skills

6.  Pick up the phone
7. Master Process
8. Deconstruct any task/process
9. Flow & Avoid Multi-tasking
10. Read on your own time –  RoI x 50
11. Think on Paper
12. Professionalism, not vocation/art
13. Use Mental Models

 

The Answers are hiding in plain sight.

I don’t know anyone who was born with these skills. They can all be learned.

These books provide many of the answers:

Clear thinking

Barbara Minto, Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking

Clear Writing

Barbara Minto, Pyramid Principle

Roy Schwartz, Smart Brevity

Shrunk & White, The Elements of Style

Good policy Writing

Richard N.Haass, The Bureaucratic Entrepreneur

Bojovic & Bayley, Policy communications: how to write an effective policy brief

Clear Presentations 

Edward Tufte, Seeing with Fresh Eyes: Meaning, Space, Data, Truth

Being a professional
Steven Pressfield, Do the Work: Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way

Flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention.

Mental Models

Shane Parrish, The Great Mental Models

Clear Speaking

Mortimer J. Adler, How to Speak How to Listen

 Reading

Mortimer  J. Adler, How to Read a Book

Note Taking

Sönke Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes

Learning

Michael Jones, The Overnight Student

Campaigning

Chris Rose, How to Win Campaigns

Chris Rose, What Makes People Tick – The Three Hidden Worlds of Settlers, Prospectors and Pioneers

Des Wilson, Campaigning: The A to Z of Public Advocacy

Influence

Robert Caldini, Influence

Robert Caldini, Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

 Process

Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto

1 thought on “What skills do you need as a young lobbyist”

  1. Thank you very much for your recommendations, especially for including a list of books that can support and inspire young future lobbyists in the EU bubble. I would also like to thank you for the effort you put into running this blog. I personally find it extremely useful. I often use it as a “double check”: whenever I do not fully understand something from a book about how to work EU institutions, I can come here and find a clear explanation of concepts that were confusing to me before, such as the Inter-Service Group.
    Thank you once again for this valuable resource.
    Student from Maastricht University, Zuzanna Miernik

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