Q&A > Cameron Munter
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What inspired or motivated you to become a diplomat?
The prospect of unemployment.
Who was your best boss and why?
A creative and iconoclastic political appointee who ran an office dedicated to interfering in the internal affairs of the United States (the NATO Enlargement Ratification Office, or NERO). He questioned everything and made me do the same.
What would you tell your a-100 self?
Eat dessert first: pursue assignments you want and you'll perform better than if you take assignments you don't want, even if they're "career enhancing."
Describe a day you felt you made a difference.
The day I killed Bin Laden. Or at least, I got to watch. Does that count?
What has a colleague done for you that made you wish all of us had a colleague like that?
My RSO stuck with me in Belgrade as the mob burned my embassy.
What was the mistake you learned the most from?
Early in my career I agreed, under duress, to take training rather than attend an important family event. I swore I'd never do that again. I never did.
What was your best and worst experience working with the interagency?
Best: coordinating with brilliant colleagues across Washington while at the NSC. Worst: getting up at 4am in Islamabad to take part in principals committee meetings by SVTC.
What is the one tour you would recommend FSOs consider?
Be a regional bureau staffer early in your career so you know how things work, then never return to the Department if you can help it.
If the state department had a mascot, what animal should it be?
A snake, but not a particularly poisonous one.
What was the biggest challenge of FS life for your family, and how did you manage it?
My daughter was very ill at age one and it cost my wife her career as a tandem to care for her (little sympathy from management in those days, but this may have changed).
What is your leadership philosophy?
If you can't make a funny limerick out of it, it's probably not worth doing.
What tips would you give a first-time manager?
Listen. Also the same advice for every other FSO in every other job.
What would you change about the State Department?
I'd relocate it back to Fraunce's Tavern in New York City.
What were your pet peeves?
The pre-Colin-Powell travel voucher system.
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