From the U.S. Senate to Diplomacy—John Kerry’s Leadership Lessons

John Kerry has spent more than 40 years in public service, including several decades in the U.S. Senate, leading the U.S. Department of State from 2013 to 2017, and more recently serving as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.

In this episode, he shares the leadership lessons he learned over many years of leadership in the public sector—from influencing people to recovering from defeats, handling leadership transitions, and staying focused on important long-term goals.

Key episode topics include: leadership, government, negotiation strategies, leadership transitions, resilience, focus, planning, influence, diplomacy. 

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• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: John Kerry on Leadership, Compromise, and Change (2018)
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