Thirteen Principles

Autumn 2009, I embarked on a quest that eventually failed, but one that greatly enriched my life: I applied to become a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State.

I fully expected to fail the first step, the State Department’s very-long pop quiz on popular culture. It covers topics as diverse as Michael Jackson, politics, Netiquette, booking flights, economics, geography, current events, sports, grammar, and religion. It’s a three-hour exam that Ken Jennings of Jeopardy fame would love. In fact, Jeopardy contestants would probably fare well on Part One of the Foreign Service Officer Selection process.

Mixed in with the freakishly random but always interesting multiple choice questions were short-short essays. When in a group, how often have you made a suggestion that defused a potential conflict? (Explain.) Or, How likely are you to keep up with current developments in technology? (Name some.) Or, During the last year, how often have you volunteered to complete a task you knew would be tedious. (Give examples.)

To my utter shock (and delight), I passed! I knew enough about Thriller and email replies and fiscal policy to satisfy the State Department’s basic requirements.

Part Two was a bit trickier. Called the “Personal Narrative” and reviewed by a panel of existing Foreign Service Officers, this section of the test consists of five essays.  The applicant must explain not only how specific situations were handled, but the training, preparation, learning curve, failures, and successes associated with the experience too. The State Department is looking for people who exemplify six character traits: Leadership, interpersonal skills, communication, management, intellect, and knowledge.

The applicant may not invent stories out of whole cloth. Multiple references are required for each narrative, people who can and will verify that the applicant took the steps as outlined, achieved the stated results, and had the training and skills she or he claimed in the essay.

It’s such a serious moment, looking back over one’s life and career, remembering the good, bad, ugly, and wonderful, and condensing it into five essays. Finding people who can substantiate events can be tricky too. Unlike the usual job references, the Foreign Service Officers Test accepts events that transpired in one’s college days. Since they apparently wish to see progression in one’s life and career – defining how one acquired skills – it’s necessary to track down mentors and friends from across the years. That task rekindled old friendships and reminded me how rich my life has been.

Certain that I would not make it past this step, I was shocked to receive an invitation to the face-to-face interview, the final step before ultimate rejection or acceptance.

That day-long examination in Washington, DC in April 2010 counts as one of the most difficult, and yet one of the most exhilarating things I have ever done. Fifteen or twenty finalists participated in the same Oral Assessment. Young and old, scholars and accountants, political scientists and MBAs, diverse in race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and region, we gathered at the State Department for a grueling three-part battery of tests.

We ate lunch together, strolled the National Mall together during a late afternoon break, compared notes (“no kidding, you know Tim Hansen?!”), and chatted about our various motivations for joining the Foreign Service.

I did medium-well on one test (should have followed my gut and not the advice I read online from a non-State Department source when studying for the Oral Assessment), bad on another, and aced the third with flying colors. I missed acceptance by 0.35 points. It was not meant to be.

But I took two things away from the seven-month experience.

First, the men and women who toil in our consulates and embassies and office jobs in Washington, DC are every bit as heroic as the men and women who serve in the military. They work hard to keep our soldiers from going into battle. The military enables the State Department to speak softly and carry a big stick, giving it the ability to negotiate from a position of strength. But without the work of Foreign Service Officers and staff, we would drift from one war to another, with countless and unimaginable deaths as the consequence.

Second, I took away the Thirteen Principles on which United States diplomacy is based, the thirteen dimensions that the State Department looks for in its Foreign Service Officers. These are:

1. Cultural adaptability
2. Experience and motivation
3. Information integration and analysis
4. Initiative and leadership
5. Judgment
6. Objectivity and integrity
7. Oral communication
8. Planning and organizing
9. Quantitative analysis
10. Resourcefulness
11. Working with others
12. Written communication
13. COMPOSURE

I keep these principles on my wall, even more than two years after that wonderful and disappointing day in our nation’s capital. We would do well to live by them, to remember them in our dealings with our fellow citizens, friends and neighbors, family, colleagues, and indeed, within the global community we inhabit.

I thought of this with the recent events in Benghazi. The Ambassador and Embassy staff in Cairo and the Ambassador and consulate staff in Libya should be revered for their efforts. Their “boots” are on the ground to keep American expatriates in Egypt and Libya safe, to represent our country as if we ourselves were there, to intervene when tensions are high and diffuse the situation on the ground. They are our first responders for peacekeeping.

In that latter role – that of peacekeeping – they function neither as bully to intimidate locals into accepting The American Way, nor as doormat with our national interests trampled underfoot. They interpret our goals and our lifestyle, they live our Constitution and associated Bill of Rights abroad. Peacekeepers are never milquetoasts. Peacekeepers have backbones made of titanium, skins made of leather. Peacekeepers cannot be soft, but they are not inflexible either.

More times than I care to admit, I’ve wished my score had been 0.36 higher. I’ve wished I could have ignored the fungal toenails of one interviewer in my face. I’ve wished I had argued my position at the roundtable a tad more adamantly, instead of backing down and supporting another’s (as one popular test preparation source recommended). I’ve wished I had gotten more sleep the night before, so I wouldn’t have been so exhausted the day of the test.

But I’ve never regretted the process, never regretted the insight I gained into the workings of our State Department. And most of all, I’ve never regretted learning those Thirteen Principles, applying them to my life. I only wish I had memorized them and put them into practice when I was younger. They create a good foundation for every career – and life – path.

To take the Foreign Service Officer Test, go to this section of the State Department’s Web site. And let me know as you progress through the various steps. I would love to share your success!