The Foreign Service Journal, May 2016

14 MAY 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Foreign Service Journal Editorial: The Management Crisis W hat does all the talk about “management” mean? Civil Service Commission Chairman Macy devoted most of his AFSA luncheon talk to it. Deputy Undersec- retary Crockett rarely gets to his feet without stressing “management,” and the FSI runs regular seminars on the subject. There are indications that the aver- age FSO who has served as chief of mission in one or most posts is per- plexed. He blithely assumes that he has been effectively “managing” his posts, and that it is ridiculous to think that he needs an MA in “manage- ment” to perform such an elementary task. He may well be right. But the department has been forced to conclude reluctantly that “it ain’t necessarily so.” In recent years it has become increasingly clear from inspection and other reports that too many otherwise competent officers simply do not know how to run a “taut, happy ship.” In this day of increasingly complicated overseas mis- sions it is no longer enough to be only a good negotiator, analyst, reporter, linguist, or even manager. A success- ful chief of mission must be all these. But he must be a “leader,” as well, if he is to do the job in the age we live. Indeed an FSO must be a leader if he and the department are to take the role in Washington to which they aspire and which the president clearly wants them to take. They must be prepared to lead at a truly national level, as in fact Foreign Service officers of the United States, and not from any narrow and parochial service or departmental bias. Perhaps part as the trouble is in the use of words. To many generalists the word “management” connotes hous- ing, pay and allowances, transportation etc.—the accepted job of the administrative officer. Some even suspect that the talk about “management” is a plot to make all ambassadors administrative officers or, conversely, only administrative officers ambassadors. But this view misses the point. Messrs. Macy and Crockett are talking about broad leadership qualities that include a sure knowledge of how to manage men and programs, as well as to direct negotiations and reporting. The FSI “Management Seminars,” which have gone “on tour” thanks to the generos- ity of ambassador Raymond Guest, and the intriguing Airlie House “sensitivity” semi- nars are both bold efforts to do something about the problem. Obviously they provide only partial answers. Whether leaders are born or are made, it is clear that unless an officer has a chance at “command” assignments on his way up the ladder, he may arrive at class 2, or even 1, so case in the concrete of his specialty that he can’t even manage his secretary regardless of how many management courses he takes. The Board of the Foreign Service Association has appointed a special committee on “career principles.” They are a distinguished group of colleagues who will in the months ahead be working on proposals in this field. We hope they will give careful attention to the problem of developing leadership. It may be the most critical problem facing the department and Service today. —From the April 1966 Foreign Service Journal 50 Years Ago that there is no international legal obliga- tion to act. As ISIS loses ground, more and more mass graves are being uncovered in the villages they leave behind. In his announcement, Secretary Kerry stated that the United States will help provide evidence of ISIS’ atrocities at future criminal tribunals. There has been media speculation that, if all U.N. Security Council members agree with the designa- tion, any captured perpetrators could be referred to the International Criminal Court. One complicating factor could be that neither Iraq nor Syria is party to the Rome Statute that laid the groundwork for the ICC in 1998.