In this episode, Ambassador Jürg Lauber tells us about his career path up to the point of diving into the diplomatic world and becoming Head of the Swiss Mission. We cover how essential it is as a diplomat to leave the meeting room once in a while to gain insights into operational ground work. Lauber reviews why it is important to be prepared to grab any opportunity in the international world of diplomacy. He also gives us his definition of neutrality regarding the role of Switzerland in the UN. We discuss the process of finding compromise within a large group of countries and stakeholder, giving the cybersecurity negotiations as an example. Further, he elaborates on his work-life balance and the large variety of professional and ethnic backgrounds in diplomacy. Lastly, the Ambassador shares what he thinks a student of diplomacy should have as a basic skill set.

Timestamps

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:01:56) Professional background

(00:04:33) Ground vs. office work

(00:06:13) Importance of ground work

(00:07:10) Who opened doors for you?

(00:09:12) When preparation meets opportunity

(00:09:51) Shift towards cybersecurity

(00:12:27) Opening up the negotiations

(00:14:56) Finding compromise

(00:18:07) Swiss neutrality

(00:19:59) Dealing with frustration

(00:21:13) Variety of backgrounds in diplomacy

(00:22:04) Advice to self in retrospective

(00:22:43) Assessment & importance of integrated thinking

(00:24:58) Work-life balance

(00:26:29) Skillset for students of diplomacy

(00:27:11) Outro