Leigh Turner Diplomacy
@leighturnerwriter
Author ✍️ of “Lessons in Diplomacy” and inspirational speaker. Also novelist. Former British Ambo to Austria and Ukraine.
From 2024: fun summary of “Lessons in Diplomacy” from its original launch date two years ago. Still all true! It’s done better than I dared hope. #lessonsindiplomacy #booktok #diplomacy #diplomat #book
Incredible country, incredible job: Istanbul 2012-16. I wrote my Istanbul thriller “Palladium” here - to be published this October in Turkish, and available in English now on Amazon. For more about my views on #Türkiye, see “Lessons in Diplomacy”. #diplomacy #lessonsindiplomacy #diplomat #BookTok
Kyiv 2008-12. Your first job as ambassador is humbling. Here talking about social media; at the console in the Strategic Rocket Forces Museum; at a mine in eastern Ukraine; and giving an interview. More in my book “Lessons in Diplomacy”. #diplomacy #lessonsindiplomacy #diplomat #BookTok #careers
Meanwhile on Instagram… many thanks to anyone and everyone who is following me there.
“Rather a tragic story” - don’t let jobs destroy you. For more jobs advice, including real world stories of what diplomacy is all about and what diplomats really do, see my book “Lessons in Diplomacy: Politics, Power and Parties” #diplomacy #lessonsindiplomacy #diplomat #booktok #careers
Director of Overseas Territories 2006-8: one of the most frankly terrifying jobs I’ve ever done. Here in a cockpit in the Falklands; on a RIB in BIOT; on Montserrat; and on holiday in Lundy Island. More in my book “Lessons in Diplomacy”. #diplomacy #lessonsindiplomacy #diplomat #BookTok #careers
Good to be in #Tokyo for a few days: my first time since a short working visit in 1994, from #Moscow, just before my daughter Anna was born. The Imperial Palace remains as impressive, and as hard to visit (especially on a Monday) as ever #lessonsindiplomacy #castles
I got pushback from some people when I said anyone could become a diplomat. It’s true it depends a bit where you’re from. KEY POINT: don’t assume you can’t do it. For more background see my book “Lessons in Diplomacy: Politics, Power and Parties”. #lessonsindiplomacy #booktok #diplomacy #diplomat
What happened in the ‘90s when a bank robber tried to hold up a bank in #Moscow, to be told there was no money? What lessons can we draw? One is that “money” is a flexible concept. Another is that not all bank robbers are very smart. Another is that 1990s #Russia was chaotic #lessonsindiplomacy
How to learn languages part 2: how “false friends” messed with my head when I was struggling to learn #Turkish in #Istanbul. To learn #languages you have to make mistakes - sometimes with comic results… #booktok #lessonsindiplomacy
How to learn languages? It may not be what you think. In my book “Lessons in Diplomacy: Politics, Power and Parties” I explore a bit about learning, and how I - a true language duffer - ended up learning lots of them, some to a high standard. #languages #learning #diplomacy #diplomat #BookTok
At 04.50 a.m. #Amsterdam still cool. The last all-night revellers are decanting into taxis. The Eurostar terminal is working, check-in opened on time, passport desks staffed, strangely tiny Stache coffee stall working flat out. All we need now is a train. #booktok #eurostar #writinginspiration
Political egos are often much bigger than you can possibly imagine. I’ve met a few top politicians, eg John Major, who didn’t suffer from this problem. Many more did. That in turn increases the risk of hubris. Let’s see how Andy Burnham gets on… #lessonsindiplomacy #politicians #politics #diplomat
The perils and potential benefits of attention to detail - or was I going too far in the example described here? What do you think? #diplomacy #diplomat #diplomats #lessonsindiplomacy #firstimpressions
Why “seize the moment”? It’s as true in diplomacy as anywhere else. If you don’t make that connection, speak those words, introduce yourself, you may never get a chance - and regret it all your life! #lessonsindiplomacy #diplomat #diplomats #networking #contacts
3 TOP TIPS FOR AMBASSADORS: No.3: you perform best when doing something you love. Find that thing - consistent with your job goals - and give it focus. People will notice. For me it was combining writing with my job as ambassador to make blogging a focus in Kyiv in 2009. It ignited my career.
Top Tips for Ambassadors Number 1: being an ambassador is a privilege. People expect you to be brilliant and knowledgeable because you stand on the shoulders of giants. Take a breath, stand tall, be wise and justify those expectations. #diplomacy #BookTok #lessonsindiplomacy #expertise #success
Moscow’s 9 May 2026 military commemoration was strangely shrunken. That reflects fear of Ukrainian attack; a shortage of military assets to display; and the inevitability of ordinary Russians learning that President Putin’s war is not going to plan. #russia #ukraine #russiaukraine #redsquare #9May
The BBC reports that someone on Tristan da Cunha appears to have hantavirus. Let’s hope they’re OK. Tristan da Cunha is remote, and life there is tough. Yet islanders have preferred to live there rather than in the UK. My new Substack post sets out background: open.substack.com/pub/writerle...
“None of us should feel too certain about our predictive powers, especially about the future.” An early opening of the Strait of Hormuz looks unlikely. Let’s hope I’m wrong. My new Substack and blog post. #hormuz #iran #iranwar #usiranwar
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You have to love the view from the platform at Salzburg station. What a setting! The rest of the city isn’t bad, either #salzburg #mountains #soundofmusic #views #untersberg
3 TOP TIPS of diplomacy Part 3: take your time. Learning to be slow - think, debate and judge before you decide - can lead to better decision-making. Looking at today’s headlines, it’s easy to spot leaders who would have done better to think harder before making decisions. @bupjournals.bsky.social
Few things make an author happier than finding their book in a bookshop and signing it. Delighted to do so this morning in the excellent Daunts Books in Hampstead. It may still be on sale! #books #lessonsindiplomacy #booktok #diplomacy #diplomacymatters
St James’s Park in London remains as gorgeous and spectacular as ever. When I was a diplomat based in London I’d head out with a home-made sandwich at lunchtime, take off shirt, shoes and socks and snooze for 20 minutes in the sunshine. How “living in the moment” was that? #diplomacy #creativity
Is Iran winning the war against Israel and the US? Iranian public statements sound defiant and confident. But that's their job. Remember: Kremlin public statements have said for years that Russia's winning against Ukraine: plainly not true. Iranian statements may be true - or may not.
The hardest #problems in #diplomacy in the 1990s: were they Economic and Monetary Union? Mad Cow Disease? The future of defence diplomacy? Nope… The lessons? 1. The biggest problems aren’t always what you think. 2. #Diplomats have many of the same problems as everyone else. #office #officelife
Greatly enjoyed the “Metamorphoses” show at the @rijksmuseum.bsky.social in #Amsterdam. How to make Ovid, Titian, Rodin, Caravaggio and antiquity make sense in a seamless, compelling story. Outstanding - even if I did, like Arachne, turn into a spider. Metamorphoses, indeed. #ovid #amsterdam