Twenty-Five Year Apprenticeship

What was your most satisfying achievement?

It has to be the promotion and creation of a culture of leadership in the Bureau of Consular Affairs and the professional development of the bureau in new ways in the post-9/11 time. We in consular affairs were ripe to be the bureau and the people to really advance the leadership conversation at State. An immediate by-product of the September 11th attacks was a palpable lack of confidence in the State Department writ large and specifically in the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA). We were looked at by some as nothing more than the people who gave these hijackers visas. The tendency often in Washington is to circle the wagons and leave somebody out and I would say the somebody was Consular post-9/11. So there was a toxic negativity but thankfully, in no case where I disagreed about policy changes post-9/11 with another person from another agency do I ever remember questioning their motives. We were all struck in so many ways with what had happened to our country that everybody we dealt with was trying to do the best they could to make sure that our country came out of the crisis stronger, more united, and better able to protect our country. So, while people’s goals and initiatives and ideas ran the gamut, we worked together for best results.

So, my leadership team and I started in the job and we had to prove our value to the department. First, the really great news was that Secretary of State Colin Powell and I agreed on the nature of a visa interview and that it should not be an interrogation as if somebody who wanted to come and learn about America, or experience America, or invest in America, or study in America would be treated as a suspect. We knew we had to maintain a professional attitude which was: we're going to do our job, but that doesn't mean that you as an applicant were going to be diminished because you have asked for a chance to visit the United States. Secretary Powell was very supportive and did not want to see the visa function move to DHS. One of the things I remember him saying to me more than a few times was that he needed Privates in order to grow Colonels and Generals so that base that we talked about of entry level officers was necessary to move up the leadership pyramid. Some of them become Colonels and others Generals, but you need that experience to create that kind of leadership needed across the Foreign Service. He said you need an intake that allows you time and opportunities to train and to develop future leaders.

As New Yorkers, we also agreed that our bond and affinity for the “great green lady” in New York City Harbor and to the values in Emma Lazarus’ poem were motivating factors for us. He talked a lot post-9/11 about how we could not put up a wall or shut America off since the strength that immigration brings to America was something we would be unafraid to talk about. One of the most difficult moments for me was the realization that some of our harshest critics were from within the State Department and that many people who had no enthusiasm for their Consular tours said, yeah, let Consular go to DHS—who cares? So we, in CA, were trying to prove to our detractors that we understood the need for greater security and the need for a change in our policies and procedures, while at the same time we had folks at Main State and around the world complaining about our new processes and procedures.

So, we had people complaining about efficiency at the same time we're saying we're not rushing visa interviews. They're important. There were pro-security groups who wanted us to slow down our visa interviewing and many who wanted to make sure that we understood the National Security structure. At the same time we had pro-immigration and people from the business Community, the travel/tourism community, academia—my goodness, Bob Gates when he was chancellor of Texas A&M gave me a haircut on more than one occasion asking why did I not understand that my inefficiency was doing terrible things to academia.

So, the biggest issues for the bureau were, of course, striking the balance between what we call ‘secure borders and open doors’ and addressing the concerns of those who thought they knew best how to do our work. I had to make sure that I was hiring the best people I could. This was hard since many were afraid if they were in Consular chairs and the music stopped that they might wind up being transferred to Homeland Security. They wanted to continue to be FSOs. I could only point out that terrific officers like Dan Smith and Janice Jacobs had joined the front office team.

We also communicated like crazy. I traveled like crazy. We issued more than 90 new, standard operating procedures regarding visas. And every one of those was cleared off on by the Department of Homeland Security so that we could begin to create a new community with them. We created our Consular management assistance teams. After about a year of dancing to every tune that anyone whistled and with inboxes overflowing, I walked into our staff meeting early one morning and said, we now have a track record. So what I'd like to do is take a week or so to think about one thing that we might do because we want to do it rather than because of the scream factor of any of our bosses. So let's just think about something that we might be able to take a couple of hours a week to do because we want to, and think about them for a week or so, and then we'll talk about what ideas you have. They said, oh, come on, Maura, just tell us now because we know you have an idea and are trying to appear inclusive. Well, back in 1999, we had created a Consular Leadership Development Conference and Consular Leadership Day and they were both still going strong. But, we had never actually discussed what leadership means for us.

So we put a committee together, and it included Civil Service and Foreign Service, to discuss CA’s proposal and we sent a cable out in January, 2002 that said, okay, here's a first draft—edit it. We got 87 responses from passport agencies and from Posts around the world and the resulting draft is ultimately what became the consular leadership development tenets.

What we were trying to do was give people the professional orientation they needed and to move them from that post-9/11 fear to a feeling that I am part of a Bureau that is protecting America. Also, I wanted them to think that I am someone who is part of the creation of the next generation of leaders, not only within the Consular cone or speciality, but across the Department of State because every Foreign Service Officer passes through our world. You cannot create enthusiasm if you're not authentic about these tenets.

We printed tenet posters and we sent them out. We put out cables once a month for 10 months to show people what each tenet was about and to give them information on where to find out more. We created an informal awards program so you could nominate somebody who emulated or personified one of the tenets. We made coffee cups and lanyards and mouse pads and then we had our posts use the tenets as a basis for their Consular Leadership Day celebrations. I have to say with the pride of somebody who helped spark this that this took off with colleagues because the existential nature of both the threats and the toxicity of the post-9/11 atmosphere which surrounded us as we did our work was obliterated by the positive.

We meant for the tenets to be subversive in a positive way, and as we talked to leadership and to entry classes, which I did a million times, as we talked to Deputy Ambassador (DCM) and principal officer courses and Ambassadorial seminars, we said we expect this type of behavior. We told the more senior folks, this is what we've told the “kids” so these are the expected behaviors. We realized it might, but hoped it would be transformative for this Department. Over the years, Diplomatic Security, Economic Affairs Bureau, the public diplomacy world all and eventually the Human Resources teams posted tenets which were very similar to the consular tenets.

Now the big challenge is how do we take this to the next level? How do we take this across the Department? And I have ideas about that. I'm glad to see that it's part of the FAM (official manual) now, but the real next step is to take those leadership tenets as put together in the consular family and incorporate them into promotion precepts. Secretary Powell always used to say the troops pay attention to what the general inspects. So if we are really serious about creating a culture of leadership around the Department itself, making sure people understand that doing or not doing these things will have an impact on your career in the Department of State is critical.

We gave people something very different and a sense of pride with these tenets and this emphasis on leadership. Winston Churchill said if you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever, use a pile driver, and as only Winston Churchill could, he said, hit the point once then come back and hit it again, then hit it a third time with a tremendous whack. This is what we tried to do and it's a satisfying achievement, though the work is never done. It makes me happy that it has had so many positive benefits. We in consular affairs circled our own wagons and we were all inside the circle and it makes me proud every day to think of how our efforts took off.

What is your secret to connecting with people?

You may not really believe this, but I am actually a pretty introverted person. And so the hardest thing for me to do is to walk into a room full of strangers and strike up a conversation. It's just painful. I think that a long time ago I realized, don't look at people as strangers, and that there's nothing more genuine as you attempt to make connections with people then to remember something about them personally.

Nothing tells people you are actually interested in them more than remembering their names or their spouse’s name or their child's name or something. Yesterday. I was at the Foreign Service Institute (State Department Training Academy or FSI) walking from the parking lot to the visitor center and one of the State Department buses stopped and I thought he was stopping to let me on but I said, oh no, thanks, I am not taking the bus. And then I looked at the driver and I have no idea what his name is but I've known that guy for a thousand years and the only thing I know about him, and I don't even remember why I know it, is that he likes to barbecue. So I said, hey, it was such a beautiful weekend, did you do me up a barbecue and forget to invite me? And you know, he just laughed and he said oh my God, next time I'll get you there!

I was really touched by him stopping his bus to say hello as I'm sure he was by my remembering that he likes to barbecue. How many times has it happened that you've met somebody two or three times or several times and they just never remember your name? What do you think of that person? Not so much. So, I have to say I try really hard to remember, if not a name, then a face or a story or something about how we connected because it makes me feel good to make them feel good. I do run into people now and sometimes I'll recognize a face and not a name, and I go up to them and say to them, I’m sorry, I can’t remember your name, but I know you. Help me remember! As soon as they tell me their name, I remember a story about them or where they were a control officer for me or in a class I mentored. I don't know why that is, but I'm happy it is. I don't know the secret except that I try to pay attention, not to the job we had to do together necessarily, but to the person I was doing it with. There's that old adage that people may not remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel.

I think that we are sometimes so transactional in our relationships with one another that we forget that.

And yet I'll draw my last breath believing that making somebody feel appreciated is the kind of gift that keeps on giving both ways

When George Shultz went to Moscow, when all of our local staff had been taken away, he and Mrs. Shultz stood for hours serving ice cream to the staff—I mean, George Shultz and his wife show up scooping ice cream and making sundaes for the Embassy Moscow team—people never forget stuff like that. That day had an impact on morale as it connected the very top of the institution to those in the field. Was there any doubt he had their back?

The more you attempt to connect, the greater the likelihood that you won't ever walk into a room full of strangers.