In a recent business article, a Swedish study tracking 3,122 men over ten years found that those with “bad” bosses suffered on average a 30 per cent higher risk of suffering from a heart attack than those with “good” bosses.

In business consultancy I’ve seen “good” and “bad” business leaders. I always try to tactfully explain to them, however, that leadership is not a function of personality but a strategic choice. I try to explain that there are different styles of leadership and the trick is in mastering as many styles as possible and knowing which style fits the situation. Daniel Goleman (one of the world’s top business gurus on the subject of leadership), for instance, talks of the six leadership styles: the coercive style, the authoritative style, the affiliative style, the democratic style, the pacesetting style and the coaching style. The more styles a leader can master the better i.e. the better equipped he is to deal with any situation.

I recently read Peter Mandelson’s autobiography, The Third Man: Life At The Heart Of New Labour. This is not a business management book (my normal and staple diet of reading) but given its “neither trimmed nor censored” account I found it a fascinating read especially from the perspective of leadership.

Mandelson’s book starkly brought home, in my opinion, how poor a leader Gordon Brown actually was. Don’t get me wrong, Blair doesn’t come off unscathed in it. In fact, Mandelson declares that Blair’s “tragedy” was that “he came fully into his prime only in the year before his time was up”!

Actually, given the power struggle between Brown and Blair, spanning some 13 years, one wonders how they ever managed to win three consecutive elections (1997, 2001 and 2005).

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the lessons which one can perhaps extrapolate from the Blair/Brown leadership narrative which might be of interest to business leaders:

First, a leader must be able to create and sustain a genuinely united and high-performing team. This means the confidence to delegate authority, to trust team members, to coach and support them through difficult times and not withdraw support at the first sign of trouble. The obsession of Gordon Brown wanting to micro-manage every single detail of government (both as Chancellor and Prime Minister) or the lack of trust he constantly displayed to those around him (particularly his Chancellor who is aptly named Alistair Darling) is a recipe for failed leadership.

Second, a leader needs to understand and be self-aware of his emotions. This links in to what Goleman refers to as “emotional intelligence”, which he defines as “the ability to manage ourselves and our relationships effectively”. Again, Brown scores poorly. In fact, Brown comes across as having little emotions. Blair shockingly describes him to Mandelson, as “psychologically flawed” and that he has a “paranoia about him”.

Third, a leader needs to have “self-management” skills. By this I mean the knack (natural or not) to be trustworthy, have self-control and among other things be conscientiousness. Again, I think Brown was far too disloyal to his Prime Minister (1997-2007) and to his fellow Cabinet ministers and displayed a lack of self-control by frequently shouting or bullying colleagues to agree with him rather than winning them over through the art of persuasion. One particular quote captures what I am trying to say. Blair at one point (2005), after trying to cajole his Chancellor to co-operate with him, describes Brown as follows: “He’s like something out of the Mafiosi. He’s aggressive, brutal, in order to get what he wants…there is no one to match Gordon”.

Fourth, a leader needs to be socially aware. By this I mainly mean the ability to empathise with people i.e. to sense other people’s emotions, understand their perspective and take an active interest in their concerns. Again, Brown fares badly. Let us just take Alistair Campbell’s (Director of Communications under Blair) response to when Mandelson tried to convince him to come out of “political retirement” and lend a hand in the 2010 general election: “Gordon is impossible to advise. He listens to so many people, and you go round and round in circles and then he never wants to take a risk.”

Finally, a leader needs supreme social skills. By this I mean, for instance, the ability to inspire those around you with a compelling vision (Steve Jobs of Apple springs to mind), to be persuasive (read the Politics Of Persuasion by Prof. Guido de Marco), to communicate clearly and effectively (something Tony Blair excelled in) and to always be able to nurture a team spirit (look at José Mourinho during his stints as manager at Chelsea and Inter). Again, Brown comes across in the book as being none of the above through his self-confessed inability to connect with people (including the British electorate!), something incidentally he described as nothing more than a “presentation problem”, his inability to persuade people (colleagues, press/media, the public) and ultimately his failure to unite his Cabinet and party during his premiership.

Being Prime Minister of Great Britain must surely rate as a leadership challenge. Mandelson’s autobiography provides us with a deep, unvarnished, insight into the Blair and Brown leadership narrative, with lessons surely to be learnt. I think business leaders can learn a lot from this autobiography and a word of advice if I may: Please consider your team members’ health, next time you are, as their leader, tempted to do a Brown!

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Mr Fenech is managing director of Fenci Consulting Ltd.