The Foreign Service Journal, September 2018

46 SEPTEMBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL tional values that support a more rigorous policy process, or as threats to orthodoxy? Finally, there is a bundle of questions that comes under the heading of “work-life balance.” Here the State Department has a good track record, but with significant room for improvement. Tandem couples have been a norm at State for decades. LGBTQ staff have served with distinction for nearly as long, and they have served openly at State far longer than at our sister agencies. Issues of education and spouse employment are legitimate factors in assignments. We don’t always get the “balance” part right: spend- ing long hours and long weeks managing a world that refuses to synchronize with our workday and workweek or recognize our holidays is proof of that. But we have long understood that the Foreign Service is more than a job. It is a lifestyle that demands service and sacrifice not only from its members, but also from their families. We also increasingly recognize that the configuration of our families has shifted from the traditional trailing wife plus kids, to encompass dependent elders, trailing husbands and same-sex couples. We don’t always hit the mark, and we sometimes miss badly. But we deserve credit for trying. As Secretary Pompeo and his team gear up for the next round of reforms, budget justifications, wiring diagrams and mission statements, we need to keep in mind that it all comes down to “We, the people” who make our diplomacy effective and secure our country’s interests. We must work to ensure that the very best people still strive to join our team in the years to come; and that once in, their talents and their passions are recognized and rewarded. n The schools and professions fromwhich we seek to find the next generation of civil servants and FSOs are now at least half women.