Interviews > Greg Delawie

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Who were your best bosses and what did you learn from them?

I was extremely lucky to have good bosses right from the start. As a vice consul in Frankfurt, I got upset when people lied to me, which they do frequently at the visa window. My boss helped me see that there was no upside to getting upset. She helped me to understand the context of the interviews and the motivations of the applicants, and this helped me out throughout my career. 

When serving as the Policy Coordination Director in the HR bureau for Ambassador Ruth Davis and PDAS Ruth Whiteside, we learned how to run HR creatively together to respond to then-Secretary Powell’s demand that we take better care of all of our people. For example, the law says the Department should offer access to important employee records to each employee. In 2001, to access records, an employee had to request the documents from HR, then wait and receive them in the mail.  Whiteside told me to “figure something out” to fix this problem, get the Department in compliance with the law, and serve employees better. It turned out to be a relatively easy fix, technically, but it took direction and effort to make the records available. When I spoke to the IT team, they said, “Yeah, we can do that. But no one has ever asked us.” In 90 days, we were able to get all key employee documents online and available to employees. 

When I was a DAS in the Political Military bureau during the 2008-2009 transition, our bureau was in charge of stopping piracy off the Horn of Africa, but the Assistant Secretary left on January 20. Ambassador Steve Mull, who was Acting Under Secretary for International Security Affairs at the time, told me, “You’re in charge. Figure it out.” So, I worked with the PM team to develop a plurilateral initiative with 30 countries to work on the problem. Mull did not give me specific direction, he just told me to figure out how to leverage State resources to solve the problem; he of course offered to be of any assistance I needed. We did what State does best, work with other countries and the interagency, to build processes to protect ships, prosecute pirates, and make the seas safer for shipping.

What is the key to success as Ambassador vs success in other postings?

Being Ambassador is different. As Ambassador, everyone expects you to be able to do everything and know everything, all the time. This takes a while to get used to after a career where this is not the case.

It is important to be the same person when you are Ambassador as when you are in any other job and avoid the temptation to feel that crested china gives you super-human knowledge or abilities. It is essential to rely on the expertise of your colleagues, including the Country Team and local staff, and keep asking their opinions, from your first day until your last. I would solicit their advice, try to tease out solutions, and get their guidance first. It is okay to decide to go with your own opinion, even over the advice of your team, but it is important to hear their opinions first.

Advice for those considering joining?

Learn as much as you can about a variety of things. Writing skills are important, and it is crucial to be able to tell people the most important thing, in writing and during in-person briefings, in a very limited number of words. It is challenging to figure out what to include in a concise format useful to your boss. When I arrived in Berlin as DCM, the team would send up 5-6 pages of preparatory briefing paper for the Ambassador for a 20 minute meeting; they were writing all they knew, rather than what the Ambassador needed. I worked with the team to help them ratchet things back to one page papers that had the most important information for a particular meeting.

Interpersonal skills are critically important and set you apart. There are a lot of smart people, good analysts. But, there are not so many who are also really good with people; so seek to build your Emotional Intelligence. 

What are some tips for successful negotiations?

When I negotiated in Kosovo with Albanian and Serb groups to take down a wall between ethnic communities, a few embassy colleagues and I spent every night for a week until 2am talking to both sides to resolve the situation. First, we got everyone to describe their desired end state and then we would work with one group at a time. Then, back to meetings with all stakeholders together. Eventually, we wore them down and ultimately, neither side would have expected to have compromised as much as they did. It was important to talk, be friendly and persistent.

We focused on little things, one item at a time; for example, we discussed the width of openings in a replacement for the wall, settling on a width (12m) to allow a fire truck to pass. Everyone agreed on the need for a fire truck to pass, so we could get to a compromise based on that shared understanding. 

Visual aids help—one day, an officer drew out a possible solution with his kids’ colored pencils at his home just before one negotiating round.

Why is it so hard to address poor performance?

Most people are really good so when someone is not performing, the first thought is that with good management and guidance, their performance will improve. Then, when it does not, the instinct is to suspect that you are not managing well or not a good boss. Plus, state department employees are notoriously conflict averse. However, when things are not going well, it is important to address the situation since other people could be affected by the poor performance. In one case, I did not deal with a poor performer promptly, until I ultimately realized their performance was negatively affecting a dozen others; this was not my proudest moment, but at least I learned from it. In a subsequent case, when faced with a poor performer, I made clear my expectations and a timeline for improvement. When the manager did not improve, I moved the officer out of a supervisory position. It is important to document the performance and all of your conversations with the employee so that your approach is transparent and fair, and the State Department can defend the action legally if required.

What does it take to be a good DCM?

Half of DCMs do not advance to another leadership position (a second DCMship, Ambassador or DAS) so clearly it is a hard job that not everyone is capable of doing well. The most important element is to understand the role. A lot of political officers think being a DCM is just a chance to be a “super poloff” with higher level contacts. This is not the job at all. It is to be at the intersection of policy and resources. Your job is to help the rest of the embassy and the Ambassador get things done and achieve their goals. In addition, you have to be able to put on the chargé hat and sub for the Ambassador when she is out of the country; these two jobs, DCM, and chargé, require different skill sets, which have to be developed.

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