Diplomacy is not only for diplomats.

Guest blog: Lenni Montiel: Senior UN Development Leader (Ret.) | Former UN Assistant Secretary-General |UNDP Resident Representative | Governance, Public Policy & Multilateral Diplomacy | Leadership Advisor & Trainer | Chevening Scholar. Lenni writes on LinkedIn about the UN and international development. Originally published here:

I learned this during my years as UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Resident Representative and in the Office of the Secretary-General.

Diplomacy is associated with embassies, negotiations and foreign ministries.

In practice, development professionals regularly carry out responsibilities that demand diplomatic skills:

* Building and maintaining constructive relationships with governments that may be hesitant to receive external support.
* Negotiating access to communities in politically sensitive environments.
* Building trust across cultural, institutional and political differences.
* Balancing competing interests among donors, governments and local stakeholders.

These responsibilities require no diplomatic credentials, but demand diplomatic judgment.

Another less visible dimension is regular engagement with donor representatives. At the country level, professionals engage with foreign ministry diplomats, bilateral development agencies and officials managing development funding.

These relationships require a good understanding of donor priorities, careful management of expectations, building trust over time and finding common ground between donor interests and program objectives, without compromising national ownership or institutional integrity.

This is diplomacy in practice.

At UN headquarters, diplomatic engagement is equally important, though often less visible:

* Engaging with Member State delegations.
* Preparing briefings for intergovernmental processes.
* Managing sensitivities across regional groups.
* Building coalitions around policy positions.
* Navigating the politics of resolutions, budgets and mandates.
* Working quietly through bilateral meetings and informal consultations, often long before formal votes or public statements.

Development professionals therefore need to continuously develop their capacity to:

* Assess the political environment before making decisions.
* Listen attentively and understand different points of view.
* Exercise good judgment about when to act, negotiate or wait.
* Address disagreements constructively without increasing tensions.
* Identify opportunities for cooperation, even when interests and positions appear difficult to reconcile.

These are more than interpersonal or diplomatic skills. They are fundamental capabilities for achieving meaningful development results.
Technical knowledge and expertise remain fundamental. However, without political sensitivity, sound judgment and constructive relationships, even well-designed development programs may struggle to deliver their intended outcomes.

For those pursuing careers in international development:

* Invest in diplomatic skills as seriously as technical expertise.
* Learn how experienced colleagues manage difficult conversations.
* Observe how trust is built, maintained and sometimes lost.

Diplomacy is not a title. It is a practice.
Development professionals practice it every day.