The Foreign Service Journal, May 2020

12 MAY 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LETTERS-PLUS Twenty-Five Year Apprenticeship: A Digital Forum RESPONSE TO FSJ FOCUS ON CAREER MANAGEMENT W e recently learned about a unique project developed to support career growth for professional diplo- mats, “Twenty-Five Year Apprenticeship” (25yearapprenticeship.com) . Compiled and curated by a group of FSOs and future FSOs, the online forum offers advice and guidance from leaders and mentors on how to become a successful diplomat. Following on the April Journal ’s focus on managing an FS career, this Q&A with several of the founders of the site (who wish to remain anonymous) offers an inside look at what this group is trying to do for the profession. —Shawn Dorman, Editor What is the “Twenty-Five Year Apprenticeship”? The project is a collective effort to offer both a practical manual for dynamic diplomacy and a forum for folks to ask for advice and mentorship, as well as a space to offer ideas and best practices. It is founded on the premise that all of us in the State Department could and should strive to develop our professional exper- tise throughout our career. Since it’s all public, it’s also meant to be useful for aspiring diplomats or any- one else who may be interested in diplo- matic tradecraft. We find that the advice frommany of our diplomatic “legends” can be useful for any profession. Why 25 years instead of, say, 10, 20 or 30? It takes about 25 years for Foreign Service officers to “graduate” into the Senior Foreign Service, when they might serve for the first time as an ambassador, deputy chief of mission, office director or in any other top position of the profes- sion. How and why did you start this project? A few of us reflected on the magnitude of the lessons we learned while support- ing great leaders, especially those who aimed to accomplish extraordinary things and spur teams to achieve more than they believed possible to advance U.S. interests. We want to share insights from these experiences with current and future col- leagues who may not have had the oppor- tunity to work directly for a “legend” of the Service. We also noticed that many books written by and about diplomatic lead- ers fail to offer clues as to how these leaders arrived at the top of the profes- sion. We were encouraged by Bill Burns’ recent book, The Back Channel , where he highlights the fact that there is no manual for diplomacy and notes that this is a shortfall (p. 83). Your tag line is “A path to diplomatic success.” That’s ambitious. Can you tell us more about this path, and how 25YA can help? Ambition is an asset, in our minds— every diplomat should wake up with the ambition to advance U.S. interests, to shape the views of our interlocutors and chart a better future. We hope this project encourages everyone to strive to succeed and make an impact. We hope they find nuggets of inspiration that help them take a more ambitious approach to their job and career. Who runs 25YA? Currently, about 40 State Department employees and a dozen former career ambassadors participate in a continuous conversation to develop ideas and con- tent for the site. We have also had more than 10 students from various universities and grad schools help with interviews, content and ideas. Thanks to their input, we have tried to offer advice and mentor- ship on what it takes to become an FSO.