The Foreign Service Journal - November 2017

20 NOVEMBER 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL tunities for us to lead and to create a Department of State of which we can be proud. The department’s leadership and management principles (see box) provide excellent guidance for demon- strating good leadership. I remember a public affairs officers’ conference years ago when a group of senior PAOs from the largest posts in that region went out to dinner together. We compared notes and engaged in the longstanding tradition of complaining about how Washington didn’t under- stand our realities at post. We wondered amongst ourselves what had happened to the strong senior PAOs we remem- bered from our early days as entry-level officers, those individuals who could set all this straight. Eventually, one of my colleagues, who was smarter and more aware than I, looked around the table, and noted that we were now that cohort. It was we ourselves who were not providing the leadership and mentorship we were looking for! Moving up at every stage often catches us unaware that way, and we must make a conscious and intentional effort to understand and recognize the importance of continuing to step up and lead. As my colleague did at that dinner long ago, we must all remind each other explicitly that we have both the chance and the responsibility to lead at our own levels and in our own ways. We must consciously combat nar- ratives implying that we lack leaders. We are leaders, and we must assert that continuously. This type of growth is an ongoing process throughout our careers, from day one. In India our outstanding entry-level teams across the mission taught me and all of us a great deal about leadership as they stepped up and put together superb professional development programs. They led by example—iden- tifying areas they wanted to learn more about, putting together programs to fill gaps, and sharing their experiences and their knowledge with others. At one consulate, realizing that the consular section faced nearly 100 percent turnover one summer, they took the initiative to put together one of the best and most effective onboarding programs ever. They didn’t sit around and complain about needing more senior officers to set this straight; rather, they acknowledged their own abilities to address the challenge and moved to solve it, making themselves better officers and their consulate stronger in the process. Leadership is not reserved exclu- sively for the Secretary or under secretaries or assistant secretaries who set the hard foreign policy decisions at their levels. Leadership can and must also be part of all of our job descrip- tions. We each must exercise leadership in all of our decisions, large and small, at whatever rank and in whatever area we can. The department’s 10 leadership and management principles point the way. Every day presents us with oppor- tunities; the question is whether we take them. The turnover in the senior levels of the department makes it more important than ever that we do so, and that we consciously and intentionally choose to make the department the best it can be. We must lead it into the years and decades to come. Q 1. Model Integrity 2. Plan Strategically 3. Be Decisive and Take Responsibility 4. Communicate 5. Learn & Innovate Constantly 6. Be Self-Aware 7. Collaborate 8. Value & Develop People 9. Manage Conflict 10. Foster Resilience 10 Leadership & Management Principles of the U.S. State Department You Are Our Eyes & Ears! Dear Readers: In order to produce a high-quality product, the FSJ depends on the revenue it earns from advertising. You can help with this. Please let us know the names of companies that have provided good service to you — a hotel, insurance company, auto dealership, or other concern. A referral from our readers is the best entrée! Ed Miltenberger Advertising & Circulation Manager Tel: (202) 944-5507 Email: miltenberger@afsa.org