I moved to sunny Brussels in September 1996 at the age of 25. I’ve been lucky to work on some very interesting projects with some excellent people who taught me a lot.
During that time, I made a lot of mistakes.
Over time, I’ve picked up some skills, an understanding of decision-making and law-making procedures, and some issue expertise. You’ll see I list issue knowledge at the end because I think without knowing some core skills and understanding of how decisions and laws are made, issue expertise is of limited use.
Some things I knew in 1996
Here are some of the things I wish I had known:
- Manage expectations. You can’t promise everything will be “okay” because if an issue is on the agenda, it is hard to get rid of. Do you want to act as a cheerleader telling the client that all will be fine, or do you want to be straightforward?
- Communicate clearly – in writing and speaking – to politicians, officials, media, and clients.
- Understand what makes people tick and how to adjust your language for different audiences.
- Manage the policy cycle. The policy cycle on many files is ten years. If you step in late, there is little you can do to change the ultimate outcome. And most people step in too late.
- Manage your emotions. If you can’t deal with rejection and not winning and show your displeasure, you’ll be in for a rough time. Learn to develop a poker face.
- Manage your client’s emotions. You need to help your client manage the ups and downs of political life. It is a world they have vague or no experience of. You need to make sure they don’t express their frustration or anger in private meetings or in public.
- Manage your ego. Ego is the enemy, and you need to park your ego at home every day.
- Know when to step in during meetings that are going sideways. I’ve seen too many train wrecks of meetings.
- How to learn and re-learn. This is likely the most important skill that was never directly taught at school or at University. One of the fun parts of the job is rules are always being updated. You need to become a learning machine. I work on things today that I had no idea about in 1996.
- How to read. You’ll spend a lot of time reading – reports, memos, and debate transcripts – and you need to digest a lot of information accurately.
- How to write a concise policy memo, issue briefing, client brief, and speaking notes. A rare skill.
- How to write a good meeting summary and action points. It needs to be done and if done well it is a powerful tool.
- How to write a speech for a client, politician, or official. I think this is one of the hardest skills and one I am not good at.
- How to work with the media. Journalists are your allies, but you need to learn how to work with them.
- How to pitch. One of the best parts of the job, but it takes time to enjoy.
- How to speak in public. It seems a lot of people hate doing this. If you want to be a lobbyist, you’ll need to.
- How to listen. This is very useful and rare.
- How to do research. You are going to spend a lot of time looking into new issues. Learn to do it well, and don’t waste your time.
- How to be persuasive and sell your/client’s ideas.
- How to manage your energy and avoid burnout. Burnout plagues the industry. Young lobbyists, assistants and officials working day and night to deliver on impossible timetables. Burnout is the likely result. It is not worth it.
- How to manage your workload. Learn to say “no” to additional work.
- How to deal with rejection. You are not going to win every pitch, your ideas will be ignored, and you are not going to win every vote. You need to learn how to deal with defeat and rejection.
- How to present data and information clearly. Many lobbyists are policy wonks in hiding and can’t communicate the issue to non-experts. The problem with that is that non-experts make most of the decisions.
- How to behave ethically and with integrity. I’m ravaged by Catholic guilt so that helps. You need to be able to look at yourself in the mirror every morning.
- How to work with people, including people you don’t naturally like. If you don’t like working with people from diverse backgrounds, this may not be the profession for you. You are going to have to meet interests you would normally never agree with. As a professional, your job is to work with them and be civil and decent.
- When to walk away. Sometimes you’ll find you can’t win – you don’t have the votes – and you are asked to do something that smacks of desperation or madness. You need to be able to say no, and that sometimes means walking away.
- The practical skills of managing an account. It is a business, not a spiritual vocation.
- Be comfortable with change. Change is the only thing that is inevitable. I’ve met people who believe the status quo or atrophy is normal. They seemed disappointed with reality.
What else would you add?