The Foreign Service Journal, May 2011

F OCUS ON F ORE IGN S ERV ICE W ORK -L I FE B ALANCE E DITOR ’ S I NTRODUCTION B Y S TEVEN A LAN H ONLEY 16 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 1 1 or the June 2008 Foreign Serv- ice Journal , which focused on the Foreign Service personnel system, then-AFSA President John Naland contributed a commentary that still offers a lot of food for thought. Titled “A Career Out of Balance,” the piece warned that inadequate staffing, expanding com- mitments, insufficient budgets and poor management all threaten the Foreign Service’s future. In particular, it noted “a growing feeling that, rhetoric to the contrary, the Foreign Service is becoming significantly less family- friendly.” Three years later, the State Department and the other foreign affairs agencies have made some progress on those issues, though much more needs to be done. But the other reason I cite that article here is because of the way it focuses throughout not just on the “macro” (budgets, assignments, etc.) but on the “micro” — how those deci- sions from on high affect individual members of the For- eign Service and their families, and factor into their calculation of whether the tangible and intangible bene- fits of service are still worth the sacrifices required. In that regard, the article concludes with the following prediction: “If some semblance of balance is not restored soon between the burdens and rewards of service, the fu- ture of the Foreign Service as we have known it will be in jeopardy. Hopefully, however, better days are coming that will bring increased resources and a brightening of the global operating environment. If so, the Foreign Service will remain an unbeatable career choice.” To help assess which way that pendulum is swinging, journalist Shawn Zeller, a regular contributor to the Jour- nal , spoke with dozens of AFSA members, both on and off the record, about their experiences. The resulting snapshot of an institution very much in flux, “The Foreign Service Juggling Act” (p. 18), leads off our coverage. As you might expect, the picture is still murky, but there are grounds for optimism. Yes, We Can! Several of our contributors are convinced that it is pos- sible to achieve balance between career and personal life. This is particularly true whenever management, whether overseas or back inWashington, does its part. Toward that end, Ambassador Charles Ray offers chiefs of mission and other leaders “A Win-Win Approach to Time Manage- ment” (p. 27). As the title of her article, “Si, Se Puede” (p. 30), sug- gests, FS spouse Amanda Fernandez shares Amb. Ray’s optimism. In it, she relates how her mission to check out her family’s onward assignment took some unexpected twists and turns, but worked out even better than she had hoped. While most of the contributions in this focus section address family matters, at least in part, it is important to remember that about a third of active-duty Foreign Serv- ice members are single. FSJ Associate Editor Shawn Dorman explores their unique concerns in “Going Solo: Single in the Foreign Service” (p. 33). F Steven Alan Honley was a Foreign Service officer from 1985 to 1997, serving in Mexico City, Wellington and Washington, D.C. He has been editor of the Foreign Serv- ice Journal since 2001.