Global Sulks, Dodgy Texts And The "Angst-Ridden Germans"

I get about 20 minutes to learn something from a newspaper between Putney Bridge and Oxford Circus each morning. I usually get distracted - my brain thinking about the day ahead.

Whilst I head into an office to sell lager, video games and TV subscriptions I am acutely aware that my job is an emotional business. You can come up with all the flash ideas and strategies you like, but if some decision maker's got out of bed the wrong way, and you've not second guessed it, it all counts for shit. The success of my day ahead hangs on managing moods.

Fortunately the same tantrums and sulks exist at the summit of global diplomacy. Some lovely writing from Michael White takes us right to the heart of the daily grind of Downing Street and the Foreign Office.

Gordon Brown was on the phone yesterday, giving Wen Jiabao the heads up that he was going to see the Dalai Lama. Whilst there, he had to go through the motions about decrying the violence in Tibet. Brown knew full well the Chinese Premier would be switching off on the second half of that call...flicking through his email, having a look at Facebook, that kind of thing - whilst Gordon half-heartedly said things like 'deeply concerned.' The two of them were just going through the motions of their jobs.

But as White writes, half the job is managing moods:
"Just as the Brits need to be loved in Washington (not in Brussels) and the angst-ridden Germans 'need to be telephoned every day', the Chinese don't like surprises." I could match some clients and colleagues against those national characteristics.

If it's not moods, technology is close at hand to drag us all down. Press send too early on an email. An intoxicated SMS sent at time of stress - just a handful of syllables sent over the airwaves are fraught with danger.

So a spare a thought for the Sarkozys.  Le Nouvel Observateur has reported that the former Mme Sarkozy received a text from her ex-husband 8 days before he got married to Carla Bruni.  The President of France reportedly tapped out, "If you come back, I'll call it all off." Poor bastard. That's a tough one to work your way through even if it's bollocks.

We're all weak humans - even if politicians appear extra terrestrial at times.