Q&A > Bruce Wharton
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What inspired or motivated you to become a diplomat?
My love of travel, desire to be of service, and hope for adventure.
Who was your best boss and why?
A/S Linda Thomas-Greenfield—intelligence and experience coupled to empathy.
What would you tell your a-100 self?
You will have to wrestle with conflicts between official policies and personal values, but it will be manageable.
Describe a day you felt you made a difference.
As the one US Embassy officer on the ground in a provincial Latin American city during a momentous and tense election, I was able to maintain peace between rival political parties simply by walking back and forth between party offices on the night of the vote and reassuring each side that rumors of their supporters being assaulted by the other side were false. Maintaining peace across the country that night turned out to be a crucial element in restoring democracy in that country. (Chile, 1988)
What has a colleague done for you that made you wish all of us had a colleague like that?
A political officer who understood the need I had as PAO to fully know policy and her contacts in the political sphere. She hosted two receptions for me when I arrived at post to introduce me to her essential contacts.
What was the mistake you learned the most from?
As the embassy press officer, I was careless about the ground rules of a conversation I had with a journalist and inadvertently created a headline/story in the next day's paper that nearly gave the ambassador a heart attack.
What was your best and worst experience working with the interagency?
Best was a series of pro-democracy programs done in Zimbabwe between the embassy's public diplomacy office (my domain) and the USAID democracy office. Worst was trying to get State/INL to cooperate fully with DEA and MilGroup on counter-narcotic and community policing programs in Guatemala. Turfiness sucks.
What is the one tour you would recommend FSOs consider?
Country desk officer as early in career as possible.
If the state department had a mascot, what animal should it be?
A mule. Strong and capable, but willful, a bit slow, and sometimes obtuse.
What was the biggest challenge of FS life for your family, and how did you manage it?
Distance from home and missing family events such as weddings and funerals. We managed with letters, phone calls, and often exhausting home leaves and R&R travel in which we tried to see everyone.
What is your leadership philosophy?
"Train and trust." Be clear about the mission and limits, give people license to use their skills to advance the work, and always be available to offer guidance and resolve problems.
How did you promote diversity and inclusion in your Mission or your office?
Made it a plainly stated policy, written and spoken, then sought to hire, promote, and highlight for diversity. I sought to hire and promote women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQI people, and led sessions to help others see the value in diversity.
How did you and your team respond to “fake news” or disinformation?
Concerned that a direct response could validate or confirm the disinformation, we responded indirectly with facts or our version of reality. Rather than saying something like "You're wrong, the moon is not made of cheese," we'd offer something like "Did you know that the moon rocks returned to earth by NASA's Apollo missions were mostly basalt, and that if you go the the Air and Space museum in Washington you can see and touch one?" There's almost always a more useful, indirect response to disinfo, something that has its own appeal and does not repeat the disinfo. And, we never used the term "Fake News."
Who was your “brain trust” or sounding board, and when would you go to them for guidance?
When I was COM, I identified two bright, local young people—political and social activists—and asked them to create an "Ambassador's Youth Council." We had lunch two or three times a year and I sought their ideas and feedback on events in their country and the embassy's responses to those events.
What tips do you have for the “tough talk” on performance management, counseling, and honest feedback (for FSOs, Civil Service employees, and LES)?
Don't put them off. Usually, the recipient of the tough talk already knows that they are not doing well and may feel some relief at dealing with the issue. Be specific, especially about remedial actions, and begin mostly in listening mode. Try to understand the employee's perspective. Ask the employee what they need to succeed, and let them know you want them to succeed. Agree on a definition of success. Keep a record of the conversation and be willing to offer written expectations for improved performance.
How did you build resilience in your team and yourself?
Socializing helps, knowing more about colleagues than just their work lives, acknowledging stress and difficult work, but remaining resolute that we can manage the challenges.
What are your best practices for crisis management?
Have a plan and practice it.
What tips do you have for first-time mentors?
When establishing a mentoring program at a Mission or an office, remember that Mentors can be peers, and both sides can and should benefit. Keep the door open, and be willing to set work aside when someone comes in with a problem or question.
How did you adapt to hostile or unforgiving environments? (eg, authoritarian host governments, high-risk security situations, aggressive foreign media, etc)
Break big challenges down into manageable, shorter-term, pieces. Recognize and celebrate small victories. Believe in the value of incremental change.
How did you manage transitions—between administrations, between senior leaders (Ambassador/DAS), or during extended staffing gaps of key personnel?
Keep working on the programs and policies you believe are in the national interest until someone in a new administration directs you to do otherwise. Be ready to explain to the new administration or new boss why you are doing what you are doing. Establish priorities to guide decisions on reducing work during staffing gaps.
Mid-career entry is a hot topic. Good or bad? Advantages and disadvantages? How do we sell this to FSOs facing slow promotion rates?
I am not a big fan of mid-career entry because of the disadvantages to the entrant of missing out on the A100 experience and shared knowledge of lower level early career jobs. At the same time, I know that mid-career entry can be a means for improving the diversity of the FS. So, I would not rule out mid-career entry, but believe it ought to include an accelerated "apprenticeship," perhaps with A100 and consular tour experience at the beginning.
How do we improve relationships between political appointees and career officers? Is the era of majority political appointees here to stay?
Don't be dogmatic about political appointees. They can provide useful fresh perspectives, and can offer access to senior elected leadership or non-government organizations and businesses that are useful in the pursuit of foreign policy goals. An open approach, one that offers to help the political appointee understand and negotiate our unique institutional culture while taking advantage of their knowledge and experiences, can pay off.
Is it time to get rid of the cones system?
I don't think so—not in a world of increasing complexity and professional specialization. I would, however, like to see greater permeability among cones, especially in the FS-06 to FS-02 ranks.
How did you encourage creativity and generate ideas from your staff?
Ask for it, reward it, and model it—even at the risk of being thought daft.
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