The Foreign Service Journal, April 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2014 9 Leadership Lessons When good leaders fail because of bad personal decisions or character flaws, too often we focus on those shortcomings and lose sight of the good they have done. Major General Michael Carey’s recent removal as chief of the United States Intercontinental Ballistic Missile force for misbehavior on a trip to Moscow is a perfect example. When I worked for him 15 years ago as a missileer, then-Lieutenant Colonel Carey exemplified the term “leadership” for me. He led by example, promoted a “work hard, play hard” ethic, and communicated to his 200-person unit how important it was to balance the mission and the welfare of the individual teammembers. Rare qualities by themselves, these traits become even more valuable when an individual possesses them all. So I am saddened to learn of his fall from grace, as it will forever taint the impressive leader- ship legacy Gen. Carey had built up over a distinguished 35-year military career. The State Department also has its share of leaders with personal peccadil- los. Unfortunately, we rarely take the time to reflect on their skills and learn from their mistakes. To be sure, the Foreign Service Institute’s School of Leadership and Management does its best to promote such discussions and to professionalize leadership and management techniques. And the department has also recently published in the Foreign Affairs Manual leadership tenets based on the work done by various bureaus. These are useful steps, but more needs to be done. Frommy personal experience in New Delhi during my first Foreign Service tour (2012-2014), Consular Team India did this as well as any organization. Founded by officers with roots in the Bureau of Con- sular Affairs’ Leadership Development Committee, CTI is staffed by Foreign Ser- LETTERS vice officers and Locally Employed Staff. Anchored by well-designed systems like the Consular Leadership Toolkit, the Consular Leadership Indicator and CA’s well-known leadership tenets, CTI has been recognized as an organizational innovator. The model has since been adopted in Brazil and other missions. In addition, CA has used some of the ideas to foster an improved management culture (through the “1CA” Consular Management Project). This new frame- work has, in turn, been embraced by the M family, which now encourages manag- ers to “think globally,” “assess honestly” and “create value,” among other prac- tices. The public diplomacy function is also moving toward a more deliberate culture of leadership, one more likely to take own- ership of “the message,” analyze the goals of outreach programming, and recognize Locally Employed Staff as the institutional knowledge, our own “backbone.” I could cite many other examples of this through- out the department, as well. State is becoming an institution that systematically fosters and applies leader- ship lessons throughout the organization. What is even more exciting about this trend is the fact that our leadership culture is developing fromwithin, both by word of mouth and through careful planning. As part of that effort, all of us have the chance to reflect on the lessons we’ve learned from previous leaders—even the flawed ones—and apply them to the great things our organization is doing right now. John Fer FSO Embassy Managua Steve Honley’s Departure It was with a bit of sadness, as well as recognition that time passes, that I read in the January-February issue that Steve Honley is relinquishing the editorship of the Journal . I worked with Steve in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in the early 1990s, and thought his retirement from the Foreign Service was a great loss. His stewardship of the Journal for the past decade probably had as large an impact on the Service as one officer could hope to have. I wish him the best in this latest transition. Michael W. Cotter Ambassador, retired Pittsboro, N.C. An Exemplary Legacy I’m sure the Journal is receiving many notes of appreciation for the exemplary work Steve Honley did as editor during his 12-plus years of service. I’d like to add my own praises, as I’ve known Steve quite a bit longer than his FSJ days, going back to 1990 when he was Cameroon desk officer and I was deputy chief of mission in Yaoundé. I was impressed then with the tre- mendous support he provided our post, but was also annoyed at times for his reminding me that we should be editing our cables more carefully. I had no idea that he would be putting those editing skills to such good use during his tenure at the FSJ ! Steve’s real achievement, however, was the continuous qualitative improve- ment in the Journal during his time in the editor’s chair, culminating in the most recent format upgrade. Of the many excellent editions Steve put out, I believe a number deserve special mention: “State of Mind: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Foreign Service” (January 2008); “U.S.-Africa Relations: Building on the First 50 Years” (May 2008); “Just Say ‘Ah’: Examining the Office of Medical Ser- vices” (September 2010); “Work-Life Balance: Handling the Ups and Downs of