The Foreign Service Journal, December 2013

16 DECEMBER 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Service, whatever their specialties.) Toward that end, excellence in report- ing, analysis and negotiationmust be valued and rewarded just as much as managerial ability—for those, too, are special skills on which policymakers very often call. Similarly, the skills and personalities required to provide consular services to foreigners, as well as American citizens abroad; manage development assistance to foreigners; assist American business- men in their foreign dealings; or persuade foreigners of America’s message are not necessarily the same as those needed to deal only with fellow Americans. Experi- enced diplomats in these jobs must also be supported and protected—not pushed out prematurely. To sumup, what we should be seek- ing to cultivate is greater respect among diplomats for what their colleagues are doing—and a willingness to sacrifice one’s own ambitions for the common good as needed. The Foreign Service cannot change human nature: misunderstandings and jealousies will continue to arise when individuals feel unfairly slighted. But the Service can instill the value of putting the common interest, and that of the country, above one’s own ambition. That should be the mark of a stronger Foreign Service: one that gains respect by effectiveness in doing its own, distinct job, yet is closer to the communal values of the military and other service professions that Americans, as well as citizens elsewhere in the world, admire. n We should cultivate greater respect for what every member of the Foreign Service is doing—and willingness to sacrifice personal ambitions for the common good.