The Foreign Service Journal, May 2011

M A Y 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 27 F OCUS ON F ORE IGN S ERV ICE W ORK -L I FE B ALANCE A W IN -W IN A PPROACH TO T IME M ANAGEMENT ork in the Foreign Service goes around the clock and is often high-pressure. So if you’re not careful, it can consume your entire life. While the concept of work-life balance gets lip service, the reality is that the importance of what we do, the re- source limitations with which we have to cope, and the time-sensitive nature of much of our work can make it ex- tremely difficult to actually achieve that balance. Yet fail- ure to do so can have long-term negative consequences, not only for your personal well-being, but also for the qual- ity of your performance. Achieving a proper balance between one’s career and personal life is possible, however. But like anything else, it requires commitment. As an individual, it’s up to you to find ways to be a complete, well-rounded person, and not just an expert drafter of action memos. And as a supervi- sor or leader, creating an environment in which those in your charge can devote adequate time to their personal lives, while getting the necessary work done, should be among your top-priority tasks. Over the past decade, I have served in a number of leadership positions, within the State Department and at the Defense Department, and in each I have made work-life balance a key el- ement of my approach to mission accomplishment. In the words of a general I served under during my Army career, “I want my people to work hard and play hard. If they do both, I know I will get the best out of them when it counts.” Lighten the Mood The workaholic culture at State often frowns on things that in the military are a routine part of life. For example, when I was selected to be the first U.S. consul general in Ho Chi Minh City in 1998, I had to hire and train an en- tire consulate staff, as well as demolish the old American embassy. I also had to build relations with government and commercial officials in the southern part of Vietnam. We started out with offices in buildings that had for- merly been occupied by the U.S. military during the Viet- namWar, while the new consulate general was being built on the old embassy site. I had a staff consisting of a hand- ful of mid-level officers (along with an experienced deputy W HILE DIFFICULT , ACHIEVING A PROPER BALANCE BETWEEN ONE ’ S CAREER AND PERSONAL LIFE IS POSSIBLE . B UT LIKE ANYTHING ELSE , IT REQUIRES COMMITMENT . B Y C HARLES A. R AY Charles A. Ray, a career Foreign Service officer since 1982, has been ambassador to Zimbabwe since 2009.