The Foreign Service Journal, September 2018

38 SEPTEMBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL ICS goals and led the country team to conclude that remaining results-oriented sometimes means terminating programs that are not working productively toward mission goals. The U.K. Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit used implementa- tion routines to focus relentlessly on four disarmingly simple questions: What are you trying to do? How are you planning to do it? At any given moment, how will you know if you’re on track to succeed? If you’re not on track, what are you going to do about it? Effective Leaders Own the Mission Strategy To marshal action on their priorities, we see successful chiefs of mission and DCMs spend time on their integrated country strategy. They adapt it, communicate it, reinforce it and help people see when they may be drifting from it. Employees recognize their commitment to the strategy, begin to believe in it themselves and reorient. The change starts at the top and spreads across the mission. As former Under Sec- retary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy told me, “If the leader owns strategy from the start, communicates it clearly, rewards people for executing it and holds them accountable when they don’t, that’s the most powerful way to mobilize an organization.” Good strategy is not about drafting the perfect plan on paper. It’s about giving employees clear objectives, empowering them to lead and fostering a culture of continuous improvement in order to achieve greater mission impact. As Secretary Pompeo urged at his town hall in May, “People talk about delegating authority. I want you out there demanding it. Say ‘I have this. I can take on this task. I’ll keep you informed, I’ll seek your guid- ance, and then I’ll go execute the heck out of it!’” n To learn more and access resources and tools for strategic plan- ning and performance management, State Department employ- ees can visit the Managing for Results intranet site at cas.state. gov/managingforresults.