The Foreign Service Journal, December 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2020 13 like data visualization and knowledge management, while also strengthen- ing instruction in areas such as media engagement, commercial advocacy and data analytics. These days, we are doing most of our training virtually in response to the global pandemic. As Shultz noted in his essay: “[How] future leaders of the State Department and its Foreign Service manage the profes- sional development of incoming diplomats and policy advisers will require changes, and that is really hard to do.” Change is hard, but at LMS we have registered significant successes and innovations. After COVID-related restrictions affected in-person delivery of leadership courses, the LMS team convertedmany classroom- based courses into virtual offerings, including training for deputy chiefs of mis- sion and principal officers. In late August, however, LMS delivered an Ambassadorial Seminar in person, on campus. In many ways, the central pillar of the Ambassadorial Seminar is the con- cept of “trust”—how to effectively earn the trust of one’s Mission and the trust of a host government. To maintain the trust and confidence of the individuals in the seminar, we worked to ensure a safe classroom environment, using in-person classroom time, an outdoor learning space and virtual sessions. This novel course design prepared 15 ambassadorial nominees with the necessary tools to aid them in their future roles. COVID-related restrictions have also meant that, at the very moment many LETTERS-PLUS T hose of us whomake up the LeadershipManagement School of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Train- ing Center don’t simply work at the institution named after the 60th U.S. Secretary of State; for us, George Shultz’s legacy is the bedrock of our mission. In celebrating the 20th anniversary of the school’s founding this year, we are mindful of Secretary Shultz’s vision and emphasis on leadership, which he has reprised in the November Journal ( “On Trust” ). As the Secretary reminds us, trust is a fundamental requirement in diplomacy. We must always be prepared to earn and maintain that trust to succeed in advanc- ing America’s agenda around the world, and we must prepare our workforce by offering them the very best andmost relevant training possible. Twenty years ago, LMS was focused primarily on delivering mandatory lead- ership courses, but we have continued to evolve to facilitate a culture of leader- ship throughout the department and to provide crisis management training. To help American diplomacy address 21st-century challenges successfully, NFATC (still known as FSI) is ratchet- ing up other types of training including languages and area studies and fostering resilience in our workforce. FSI is expanding training in new fields Secretary Shultz’s Vision for Training and Leadership BY RENA BITTER RESPONSE TO GEORGE SHULTZ "ON TRUST," NOVEMBER COVER STORY Ambassador Rena Bitter is dean of the Leadership Management School of the Foreign Service Institute. posts were testing their ability to respond to crises, LMS’ crisis management train- ing (CMT) teams could no longer travel to facilitate in-person exercises around the world. CMT pivoted to delivering virtual exercises and making training materials available online. We didn’t just change the mode of delivery, we adapted the material, seek- ing to meet posts’ current needs. Our online tools and resources provided those in the field with a flexible and easily accessible means to address the current pandemic crisis and revise their emer- gency action plans. Twenty years after its founding, LMS is committedmore than ever to strengthening the department’s most valuable resource—its workforce. The LMS of today seeks to equip the State Depart- ment’s current and next generation of leaders with the skills and resources they need tomeet global challenges with resil- ience, fortitude and foresight. In so doing, LMS—and, indeed, all of FSI—is constantly striving to live up to George Shultz’s expectations of us as caretakers of an effective, trustworthy and principled U.S. diplomatic corps. To view the list of LMS’ profes- sional services and courses, please visit https://fsihomepage-usdos. msappproxy.net/LMS. n