After ConGen, which ended on a Tuesday, I had three more "gap days" to close out the week. On the Wednesday, I was proactive and found a one-day course called "Managing Change" up for which I was able to sign. We all received a copy of the book "Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change" by William Bridges, which is all about dealing with major changes that happen on the personal, team or organizational level. A lot of the course dealt with leadership strategies; how to help your subordinates or your team get through a difficult change, how to communicate upcoming changes to them, etc. Communication seemed to be the main message of the entire day - change is inevitable, but in order to maintain your credibility as a leader, it is key to keep people informed and to be honest about what you know, what you don't know, and what they can expect.
By the way, a lot of the course reinforced what I've learned from the book my Uncle Joe is writing about resilience. His start-up company, Arctos Associates (http://www.get-resilient.com/), identifies seven traits that lead to resilience: Perseverence, Compassion, Humor, Confidence and Flexibility, all supported by a foundation of Honesty, and giving rise to a sense of Balance or perspective. Humor was one trait that several people brought up in my "Change" course as being important to help them adapt to change, as well as Honesty.
In addition to learning about how humans physically deal with change and stress, we also talked a bit about positive changes. The main focus of the course obviously was on how to overcome difficult changes, but in my case, for example, when we did exercises about a change we are dealing with now I could only think of a very positive one (getting a wonderful new job and moving to Denmark). But one point that the instructor made repeatedly was that "all change involves loss", and as I looked more deeply into my analysis I could find some elements of joining the Foreign Service that I might find difficult (mostly, having significantly less control over my own life: I'll be living in assigned housing, for example, and not engaging in political activities). Obviously, these drawbacks are minor compared to the huge advantages, but it does make sense, I think, to look at them directly and think about how to make them even less of an issue. It probably wouldn't be particularly damaging to say "yeah, that part's annoying, but overall it's great" - I could definitely get by on that attitude. But it would be even better if I am able to address the annoying parts right away, move through the stages of grief, and instead of being, say, up seventy percent and down five, something like up seventy and down one. Does that make sense?
Anyway, it makes enough sense to me that I'm glad I spent a day in the course. If I ever have a chance I will definitely sign up for an Arctos course as well, and not just because of the family connection! ^^
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
ConGen Rosslyn
All entry-level Foreign Service Officers, regardless of their "cone" or career track, are required, during either their first or second tour, to spend at least one year working in a Consular section at a post abroad. This is the section where people come in to apply for a visa to enter the United States, and also the section that provides services for American citizens abroad in the post's "consular district". I am very excited about my assignment in Copenhagen, which is a rotational assignment giving me first one year in a Consular position and then one year as a Political officer (my cone is Political).
The consular requirement makes great sense for a lot of reasons. First, it is one of the largest segments of the Foreign Service, because there is so much work to be done. It's also some of the most important work that we do abroad; American Citizen Services (ACS) is one of the main reasons for having an official U.S. government presence in other countries in the first place, and vitally important to protect the interests of Americans throughout the world, especially as more and more people do travel internationally. Visa adjudication, meanwhile, is of course a vital step in protecting our national security, as well as ensuring that foreigners who are legally eligible to enter the U.S. can do so as easily as is practicable. So it's important to have enough people filling these positions and doing this vital work.
Another good reason for the consular requirement is that it's great experience. After a year of visa interviews, I expect to be much better at figuring out what people are really thinking when they spin me a yarn, in addition to improving my communication and customer-service skills. It's also a great opportunity because, apparently, "consular officers have the best stories" (an oft-repeated phrase).
The most popular training at FSI, then, is the Basic Consular Course, a six-week seminar that teaches the fundamentals of all the skills needed to do all three types of consular work (ACS, Non-Immigrant Visas, and Immigrant Visas Overseas). It's also known as "ConGen Rosslyn", because the course takes place at an actual Consulate-General of the United States in the fictional city of Rosslyn in the Republic of Z. There is an actual visa interview room in one of the buildings at FSI, as well as an actual jail (a small one with just one cell, but with real bars and real plastic rats). Doing role-plays at the visa interview windows was a lot of fun, although it is not easy to keep track of everything - the piles of paperwork, what the applicants are saying, the various things on the computer screen, and the myriad complexities of immigration law that underlie the whole thing and that must be kept in mind at all times.
At the beginning of the course, they gave us each a copy (to keep) of the 9/11 Commission Report. On the last day, which happened to be my birthday, we had a nice little "graduation" in an FSI hallway. I feel like I still won't be fully prepared until I've been in Copenhagen for a while and have gotten a chance to see the real thing in action, but I'm definitely a lot more confident about starting my consular rotation now that I've got this course under my belt.
The consular requirement makes great sense for a lot of reasons. First, it is one of the largest segments of the Foreign Service, because there is so much work to be done. It's also some of the most important work that we do abroad; American Citizen Services (ACS) is one of the main reasons for having an official U.S. government presence in other countries in the first place, and vitally important to protect the interests of Americans throughout the world, especially as more and more people do travel internationally. Visa adjudication, meanwhile, is of course a vital step in protecting our national security, as well as ensuring that foreigners who are legally eligible to enter the U.S. can do so as easily as is practicable. So it's important to have enough people filling these positions and doing this vital work.
Another good reason for the consular requirement is that it's great experience. After a year of visa interviews, I expect to be much better at figuring out what people are really thinking when they spin me a yarn, in addition to improving my communication and customer-service skills. It's also a great opportunity because, apparently, "consular officers have the best stories" (an oft-repeated phrase).
The most popular training at FSI, then, is the Basic Consular Course, a six-week seminar that teaches the fundamentals of all the skills needed to do all three types of consular work (ACS, Non-Immigrant Visas, and Immigrant Visas Overseas). It's also known as "ConGen Rosslyn", because the course takes place at an actual Consulate-General of the United States in the fictional city of Rosslyn in the Republic of Z. There is an actual visa interview room in one of the buildings at FSI, as well as an actual jail (a small one with just one cell, but with real bars and real plastic rats). Doing role-plays at the visa interview windows was a lot of fun, although it is not easy to keep track of everything - the piles of paperwork, what the applicants are saying, the various things on the computer screen, and the myriad complexities of immigration law that underlie the whole thing and that must be kept in mind at all times.
At the beginning of the course, they gave us each a copy (to keep) of the 9/11 Commission Report. On the last day, which happened to be my birthday, we had a nice little "graduation" in an FSI hallway. I feel like I still won't be fully prepared until I've been in Copenhagen for a while and have gotten a chance to see the real thing in action, but I'm definitely a lot more confident about starting my consular rotation now that I've got this course under my belt.
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