The Foreign Service Journal, November 2014

18 NOVEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Increasingly, our own economy depends on expanding the volume of our exports, which, in turn, will create jobs here at home. Diplomats have a very important role to play in the pro- motion of those economic interests overseas. And so, for the new generation of officers, whatever your cone or specialization is, recognizing the significance of those economic and commercial issues is going to be increasingly important. It will also be an increasing source of professional satisfaction. RJS: Speaking as an economic officer, I completely agree. Another group that we talk to a lot, a group that looks to us, is college students who are interested in the Foreign Service. Do you have any specific suggestions for how they should be preparing, those who want careers in this business? WJB: I may not be objective about this, because I’ve been extraordinarily lucky during the course of my career, but I don’t think there is any magic formula for professional satisfaction or success in the Foreign Service. I think it helps to come into the State Department with a pretty realistic sense of the pace of the career, of the value of taking some chances along the way, and ensuring that you have a broad foundation as you progress in a career, whether that’s in terms of language ability or any other kind of experience. I think it’s important, as I said before, not to take things for granted as you go along. A career can go by very quickly. You want to appreciate the opportunity that you have to make a dif- ference, which is what most of us enter public service in order to try and do. You want to appreciate the fact that it’s the people with whom you work that are going to matter the most. Taking care of your people as you rise in seniority is extremely impor- tant. There are lots of people in our profession who are better at managing up and managing over than they are at managing down—leading and taking care of people. And I think that’s a quality that we need to attach great importance to, because we’re a relatively small institution, the State Department in general and the Foreign Service in particular. And therefore, our great strength is our people, and we want to make sure that we’re taking the best possible care of them. RJS: Excellent. Can we talk about Russia a bit? WJB: Sure. RJS: Looking at our younger colleagues and those who are coming through the system, what advice would you give to some- one who’s being posted to Embassy Moscow? WJB: You want to invest in the Russian language, which is obviously an entry point to understanding that society. Rus- Deputy Secretary Burns addresses the people of Ukraine in Kyiv on Feb. 25. U.S. Department of State