From JPO to UN leadership: 3+1 takeaways: Jan Vandemoortele

Jan Vandemoortele regularly addresses Junior Professional Officers, Young Professionals and Youth Leaders who join the UN or who work with the UN. They seem to appreciate the advice of an old-timer. Below, he shares a few of the points discussed with the young recruits.

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Fresh from university, and without much work experience, I set off to Côte d’Ivoire for my first posting as JPO. I ended up spending my entire working life with the UN, serving in the field (Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Pakistan) and at headquarters (New York), with the ILO, the World Bank, UNDP, and UNICEF. The takeaways I share are based on quotes by Dag Hammarskjöld, one of the most inspiring leaders the UN ever had.

1. Sit on the ground and talk to people; that’s the most important thing

Such was his advice to colleagues who went to the field. It was his way of underscoring that there were many things they didn’t know or fully understand. It is not uncommon for people with a degree to believe they are more intelligent than others. John Kenneth Galbraith made that point by distinguishing two types of experts, ‘those who don’t know, and those who don’t know they don’t know’. Daniel Kahneman speaks of our ‘almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance’. To admit Ignoramus is an essential part of the cycle of learningunlearning- relearning. Only those who are cocksure do not need to explore any further.

2. A heightened awareness combined with an inner quiet

These are the two qualities an international official should possess, in Hammarskjöld’s view. What he calls ‘heightened awareness’ relates to the many cognitive biases we all face. Suffice to dwell on the three most hardwired ones. Top is confirmation bias, the tendency to interpret new information in such a manner to make it fit with pre-existing convictions and beliefs.

Second is conformity bias, when we take cues from others for our behaviour, thoughts, and attitudes, rather than to exercise our own judgment. Third is repetition bias, as we accord more credence to things that are frequently repeated. Kahneman explains, ’a reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth’. Though hardwired, they should not disparage us. Just by being conscious that we are not immune to them will considerably diminish their impact, albeit not eliminate them entirely. Add to it ‘an inner quite’, namely the acceptance that you will mistakes in life, and the conditions are fulfilled to become a good professional. Making mistakes is not a problem, not learning from them is. Beating yourself up, regretting the past, and fearing the future are not only useless, they are also destructive. On this, Hammarskjöld said ‘Do not look back. And do not dream about the future, either. It will neither give you back the past, nor satisfy your other daydreams. Your duty, your reward – your destiny – are here and now’.

3. Never for the sake of peace and quiet deny your convictions

Both for the individual and the organisation, it is essential not to blindly follow the views of the others at the expense of one’s personal convictions. Standing up for your convictions is not only invaluable for mental health and job motivation, it is also your duty. Big organisations have sufficient yea-sayers. They need people who dare to challenge the big decisions by asking tough questions. Bosses will not like it but they will respect you for it, because they will know that you are not indifferent, that you really care. Personal convictions are best voiced by keeping emotions at bay and by backing them up by robust evidence. Easier said than done, but practice will make you perfect.

The account would be incomplete without a word about luck, as several key aspects of my UN journey were shaped by factors beyond my control. It is sobering to imagine how it could have been different had luck not been on my side. We readily attribute success to hard work, intelligence and abilities, whilst we blame failure on others or on adverse circumstances. But as Kahneman argues, ‘luck plays a large role in every story of success’.‘We swim in a sea of luck, subject to its currents and tides’, is how Edward Kleinbard puts it. In the sixteenth century, the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne wrote, ‘I have often seen chance marching ahead of merit’. Yet, luck and coincidence do not make effort and talent redundant. ‘When you come to a fork in the road, take it’, is how Yogi Berra, a celebrated American baseball player, gave directions to someone. Though not quite practical, its deeper meaning is that you take each of the many forks you will encounter in life without fear, but with confident humility and intellectual curiosity. As the Spanish poet Antonio Machado put it, ‘No hay camino, se hace camino al andar’ (There is no path, you make it as you walk).

The jobs with the UN have deeply affected me personally. Working in unfamiliar contexts and living in different cultures is not always easy, but it is immensely enriching. By talking to people who are different from you, you’ll gain that heightened awareness and inner quiet. It has shaped the person I am today. Now retired, I often wonder whether my contributions have been anywhere near the personal benefits I have gained. It has been a fantastic deal.

A final quote may help relieve the level of anxiety you will face in today’s fast-paced, hyper-connected and burnout-plagued world, where you must be constantly available, goal-driven and focused on performance. This is what Hammarskjöld wrote: ‘Never let success hide its emptiness from you; achievement its nothingness, toil its desolation. And so keep alive the incentive to push on further’. Indeed, success is a visitor or passerby, it is never your friend.

Jan Vandemoortele
Bruges, Belgium
jan.vandemoortele@gmail.com