The Foreign Service Journal, September 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2018 35 and the risk-averse mindset at State must be addressed. Strategic planning and implementation are core leadership responsibilities. Effective chiefs of missions and DCMs person- ally drive the effort to set strategic priorities, build buy-in, align resources, communicate the strategy consistently and hold people accountable for executing the plan. “Strategy is ulti- mately the leader’s responsibility,” according to Salman Ahmed, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama and senior director for strategic planning. “You can’t delegate responsibility for leading change.” When she served as DCM at Embassy London, Ambassador Barbara Stephenson (now the president of AFSA) used strategic planning as a platform to break down section and agency silos, build ownership and organize a whole-of-government approach. She led a strategy development process that involved staff from across the mission in the effort. “We deliberately designed mission objectives that required an interagency team to deliver them,” Amb. Stephenson told me. “This created a clear sense of where we were going, why, and the role each section and agency plays in achieving our objectives.” The single most important step chiefs of mission and DCMs can take to promote a strategic culture is to draw frontline leaders—the section and agency heads who supervise frontline employees at post—into the effort. Why? First of all, that’s where the work gets done. Frontline lead- ers can elevate to the attention of senior leadership the practical realities of implementing a particular strategy, making successful implementation more likely. “If a team is closely involved in developing the strategy they will feel ownership of it,” Paul Gerrard, director of policy & campaigns at the Co- Operative Group, told me. “If they feel ownership, then they will want to make it work.” Second, it affords the greatest leverage and prom- ises the most impact. Since the majority of staff at post reports to a section or agency head, these leaders have an outsized impact on shap- ing the culture, allocating resources and ensuring that the day-to-day actions of the workforce are aligned with the mission’s objectives. Moreover, it helps develop mid-level staff members who are likely to be the next generation of leadership. The bottom line: The best way to link strategy with implemen- tation is to ensure that the same people work on both. In addition, it’s important to find ways to reward and protect those who take reasonable risks but achieve less than positive results. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo underscored this when he addressed employees at a May 16 town hall: “I’m prepared to accept failure. … I will be with you. If we’re doing things right and we have an effort and it is right, and it doesn’t work, know that’s acceptable—indeed, at some level, encouraged. If there are no failures, I guarantee you we’re not out working hard against these problem sets.” The risk-averse mindset that the department cultivates can undermine the implementation of any given strategy. Instill a Shared Sense of Purpose One of the chief of mission’s most powerful levers is to mobi- lize the mission around shared objectives. Foreign Service offi- cers are mission-driven. The ember burns deep within them; all leaders have to do is fan it. If they can ignite a sense of purpose that ripples across the mission, the results will be transformative. Employees will engage in deep learning, take risks, innovate and make meaningful contributions. Chiefs of mission and DCMs can build a purpose-driven U.S. mission by following three steps: