Tradecraft > Tenets for Diplomatic Success
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Spread the word—publish or be irrelevant: Get the word out quickly and clearly, write concisely and cogently. This could be via cable, note, action memo, thought paper, letter, speech, or tweet—every time you write is a chance to show the clarity of your analysis and to seize the policy-making initiative. When you write something good, share it! A good idea is a better idea when it is shared and a new idea is a better one when it does not surprise anyone above you in the chain of command. Responding quickly is important (see above re seizing the initiative)—write quickly and offer the latest information and analysis. Did I mention speed was important? Write to control the message, publicly and privately.
Get your Clausewitz on: Our DOD partners have lots of energy, tools, and are the leaders when it comes to blowing things up. Make your military partners your friends; there is never too much time you could invest or spend working with your military colleagues. Your goal is to lead our foreign policy efforts and to ensure that any military activity or action is an extension of policy, not a driver of new policy. I know, this is a hard one, but done right, may be the most important way to make good policy and be a successful diplomat.
Run the Interagency, Run the Policy: The interagency is your ally, the NSC is your friend. Maybe that seems counterintuitive to those who have spent hours and days wrestling with the interagency or sought to get through to the NSC. As with the military and DOD, make key interagency colleagues your friends and allies. Before every PCC or interagency meeting, call everyone who will be speaking if possible. If not them, call someone who works for them. Get the word out, send your ideas, try to shape the interagency conversation before the conversation happens. That is our role, to be the leading interagency voice on all things diplomatic.
Press, Press and more Press: Do it right, clearing as needed. Handled correctly, the press can and should be your ally, not your enemy. Remember, anything public is policy and anything policy should be cleared and not surprising. That said, if you are going to err, err on the side of getting your message out and doing it quickly and clearly. Be prepared, be thorough and clear, and your work with the press can help you lead policy.
If Worth Doing, Do it Right and Do it In Person: Travel—when you are a principal, always good to work with your counterparts in person. When you are in the trenches, find a way to meet your colleagues, USG and otherwise, that are in the trenches with you. Seek to do things right, do them in person and build your network so when you write, when you persuade, when you roll out a tough message, you are working with someone you know.
Tell It Like it Is: Tell partners what we are thinking, be strategic in what you share and as transparent as possible. Err on the side of sharing with our closest partners as there are few policies you will develop over the years that will not need help from and/or support from partners and allies. Share and collaborate, improve your ideas by bouncing them off partners when possible.
People Matter—Be on the Best Team: Always best to be on the best team, work with the best people, have a good boss, aim to work for and with good people. Beyond your team, seek dotted line relationships with other offices, seek allies to join your “team” as you develop ideas, chart new paths, initiate new projects. Tell people they are great and then tell them again. Empower people who work for you and with you, ask your team’s opinion. Lead by example –be the best person you can be and your determination and drive will rub off and make your team better.
Making Mistakes is OK: If you are not making mistakes, you are not trying hard enough, you are not being courageous enough, and you are not pushing the envelope. Make mistakes, own up to what you did, fess up and move on. Don’t make the same mistakes multiple times. But again, better to make mistakes than not. Initiative = good.
Look Out!! Keep your eyes and ears open for what can go wrong. Assume the worst from your partners/allies/adversaries and that will help you prepare for when things eventually do go wrong. Go around the horn every morning, issue by issue, country by country, person by person, and think about what could go wrong. Try to mitigate, try to avoid, but mostly, get ready, because things go wrong. That is why we are here, to deal with things when they go wrong. Which they do. Every day, so look out.
Grey Area = Green Light: When in doubt, when guidance is murky, wade in. Seek to take action and initiative (see making mistakes tenet above!). Consult and coordinate but don’t hesitate to jump in. Always look to create forward momentum or “green lights” through small (or big) ideas.
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