This is the first in a series of three articles, as I approach retirement at the end of this year, on what I’ve learned during more than 42 years of government service. The lessons I've learned are simple and straightforward, as the most important principles usually are.

it's the people, stupid

August 30, 2007

During Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 run for the presidency, his campaign manager, James Carville, hung a sign in the campaign war room with the phrase, “It’s The Economy, Stupid.” He used it to constantly remind campaign workers of his strategy for success. Anyone who wants to succeed in government, or anywhere else for that matter, should hang a sign in their office with the phrase “It’s The People, Stupid.”

In 1966, at the Artillery Officer Candidate School at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, we were taught a fundamental military principle that, on the surface, seems to contradict this idea; “The mission always comes first.” The officer in charge of my class told us, “One day you may find yourself leading 18 and 19-year-old boys on a mission that is going to get a bunch of them killed. You can’t let the fact that you are going to take casualties deter you from doing what is necessary to accomplish your mission.”

In Vietnam, where some 58,000 Americans lost their lives, I learned what taking casualties meant. The 9th Infantry Division re-activated at Ft. Riley, Kansas, and deployed to Vietnam within six months in 1966. Our training was wholly inadequate in preparing us for combat. In the beginning we took unnecessary and excessive casualties. 

It was in Vietnam that I also began to understand why people are the key to success. You can’t accomplish your mission if the people you lead don’t trust and respect you. And they won’t trust and respect you if they believe you don’t trust and respect them. Six months into that first year, we learned the hard way, under fire, how much we all had to trust and depended on each other to stay alive. We learned to work together as a team, and we defeated the enemy decisively in every engagement. We continued to take casualties, but not nearly as many as we might otherwise have taken.

In a series of tours as a Military Intelligence (MI) officer after 1969, I learned more valuable lessons about people. I worked with and learned from officers who were extraordinarily skilled in human intelligence collection and counterintelligence operations. One in particular became a life-long friend and the US Army’s top counterespionage expert. 

What I learned from people like him and from my own experience is that people are not always what they appear to be. If you are going to truly understand people and inspire their trust and loyalty, you must learn how to look beneath the surface and understand what truly drives them. You have to know their capabilities and what it takes to motivate them to perform at their full potential. You must do more than just listen to them; you have to listen between the lines and understand what they are telling you.

In 1979, I came to Washington, DC, as an analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), where I discovered there was much about people I had yet to learn. Writing national and defense intelligence estimates, I worked on interagency teams and observed the Washington elite up close. I saw what happens when egos and agendas clash. In this extremely competitive, high-profile environment where careers and reputations are on the line every day, serious battles take place, and some people use other people to promote themselves. If you're not careful, it's easy to become a casualty in one of those battles.

In 1984, following a tour of duty in Beijing as the Assistant Army Attaché, I returned to Washington, DC, where I’ve spent the remainder of my career in the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy through four presidential administrations.

Much of what I learned about effectively interacting with people in government, I learned from the two senior political appointees and a lieutenant colonel who brought me into one of the most influential and effective offices in government. They taught me that good policy also has to be good politics. They taught me how to speak and write persuasively to get your own leadership and the interagency to adopt your recommendations. And they taught me how to choose your bureaucratic battles.

In 1993, as director of the POW/MIA office, however, I learned the hard way about nasty battles you can't avoid. These are personal battles between people over policy and ideology where you find yourself on one side or the other or the middle between the two. No matter where you stand, you make enemies. When you find yourself in this situation, all you can do is follow your conscience, whatever the price. No one will respect you if you don't stand up for what you believe.

What I’ve learned about leading people I’ve also learned the hard way by doing it for 42 years. Leading people in the military and in government is both difficult and rewarding. I’ve certainly made my share of mistakes, but I’ve always tried to emulate the leadership style of the leaders that I particularly admire. What they all had in common is that they were widely respected by superiors and subordinates alike, and they understood, valued, and respected people.

What I’ve learned about people who succeed in the Washington arena over the long haul, is that they play by certain rules, rules that are all about how you interact with other people. In government, you likely won't be widely respected or remembered if you have no important achievements, if you lie, cheat, or steal, or if you maliciously use people for selfish purposes. I’ve watched plenty of ambitious people over the years routinely ignore these rules. Their tenure was brief.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play hardball. The policy and intelligence communities are the major leagues. If you don’t play hardball, the bureaucracy will relegate you to insignificance. But if you want to succeed and endure at the “Hub of Western Civilization,” as a friend of mine likes to call it, you need overhead cover, friends and allies, loyal subordinates, and the respect of your opponents. Everyone you deal with has to believe that the issue you advocate, you advocate because you believe it’s ultimately good for the American people not because it’s good for you.

I’ve been very fortunate throughout my career. People have given me opportunities because they believed in my potential. I’ve tried to do the same for others. I’ve had great role models to emulate. And I've survived some difficult times. During the last 13 years at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, I’ve been fortunate to have magnificent deputies and staff officers who are among the most dedicated, professional and loyal you’ll find anywhere. The most important thing I’ve learned is that no matter how long you remain in government, you never stop learning, and you never stop depending on other people.

In the words of a former secretary of defense, “A few people like Einstein can be alone in a room and do great things. The rest of us find people who are smarter than we are and stand on their shoulders.” Yes, it’s the people, stupid.