Hutchinson Heinemann will publish Tony Blair’s guide to leadership.
World rights to ON LEADERSHIP: A Practical Guide were acquired directly by Nigel Wilcockson, associate publisher at Cornerstone. In the UK Hutchinson Heinemann will publish the book in physical, e-book and audio editions in September 2024. The US publisher is Madhulika Sikka, vice-president and executive editor at Crown Publishing.
Cornerstone said: "Tony Blair learnt the precepts of governing the hard way: by leading a country for over 10 years. In that time he came to understand that there were certain key characteristics of successful government that he wished he had known when he started.
"Since then, he has seen how, though circumstances and contexts differ enormously, the challenges of governing are basically the same in any nation, whatever its stage of development. Not just that: there are also decades of political experience on which modern leaders can draw. Unfortunately, while practical guides to other professions abound, governing is treated as a dimension of politics, not as an art and science in its own right and practical, non-partisan advice is consequently hard to find."
Cornerstone said that Blair has "written the manual on political leadership that he would have wanted back in 1997, sharing the insights he has gained from his personal experience and from observing other world leaders at first hand, both while he was in office and since, through his institute’s work with political leaders and governments globally".
The publisher added: "Written in short, pithy chapters, packed with examples drawn from all forms of political systems from around the world, the book answers the key questions: How should a leader organise the centre of government and his or her own office?
"How should he or she prioritise and develop the right plan and hire the right personnel, cope with unforeseen events and crises, and balance short-term wins with long-term structural change?"
Blair said: "Governing a country is in one sense a little like being the national football coach of a football-crazy nation. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone thinks they can do it and do it better than you. The role of leader is a privilege, of course, but a privilege that is painful. The most painful part? To get things done. You arrive in power as the great persuader. You govern as the chief executive officer. Persuasion is about talking. Governing is about doing. The good news is that there is a wealth of experience and examples – good and bad – to follow or to learn from. This book is not an academic work or designed to be comprehensive. It’s a short guide to governing for the busy, aspiring leader."
Wilcockson said: "As we watch politicians around the world struggle to engage effectively with the big issues of the day, it’s hard not to call to mind the popular saying, ’If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there’. What our leaders need is clear-eyed, incisive guidance. And that is precisely what Tony Blair provides. In a year when the citizens of so many countries are going to the polls, his book could not be more timely."
Cornerstone published Blair’s memoir, A Journey, in 2010. Blair has sold just over 353,000 units for £4.8m via Nielsen BookScan TCM, with the majority for various editions of A Journey.
At almost 293,000 copies, A Journey is by far the bestselling political memoir in hardback since accurate records began. Only the paperbacks of Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father (Canongate) and Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom (Abacus) beat it. Michelle Obama’s Becoming (Penguin), is coded as a general autobiography, while Margaret Thatcher’s The Downing Street Years (HarperPress) was pre-BookScan.