Lessons in leadership
Current and former ISD fellows share lessons in leadership and public service.
All countries rely on dedicated public servants to lead them through turbulent times. The United States is no different. ISD is proud to host diplomatic and military officers from across the federal government as fellows each year. They represent the best of government service, dedication to their mission, and a commitment to diversity and equity in public life.
Below, three ISD fellows — past and present — share lessons in leadership.
Former ISD Air Force Fellow Colonel Dede Halfhill shared her reflections on Brené Brown’s inspirational leadership training in an episode of CBS’ 60 Minutes earlier this year:
Society is changing, and what society needs from its leaders is changing. It needs leaders who can have really hard conversations about things like race, sexual assault, suicide. So to say you get to be a leader who doesn’t talk about feelings, that’s not possible anymore.
ISD’s Resident Fellow in Entrepreneurship and Diplomacy, Ambassador (ret.) John Heffern, recounts a key lesson from former Secretary of State Colin Powell about the need to“focus on the mission, not the job.”
In whatever walk of life, it is important to remember the larger cause you are serving. Ambassador Heffern explains this through a story about the janitor at the Empire State Building, in a video for Wisdom Capture:
The third lesson comes from Heera Kamboj. Heera is one of ISD’s 2020–21 Rusk Fellows — mid-career Foreign Service Officers who spend a year at ISD teaching and conducting research on diplomacy.
Driven by a desire to give back to the country to which her grandfather had emigrated, Heera participated in the Women’s Leadership Program at George Washington University while an undergraduate there. She reflects on the benefits of participating in the program both for career advancement and her ability to elevate the status of women not just in the United States, but globally:
