Larry Wilkerson on Balancing the Power of Human Capital
Larry Wilkerson gave a spirited presentation on leadership and management in the session on "Balancing the Power of Human Capital.” Wilkerson, an Army Colonel who served as Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff at the State Department, focused on the challenges faced by career government professionals under the regimes of political appointees, the trials and tribulations at the State Department.
Wilkerson, who is now Visiting Professor of Government at William & Mary, had this to say about the contributions of government professionals:
- In the history books, you will find that the politicos accomplish really very little. And the accomplishments are made by you, the government bureaucrats, who build teams. In essence, you are keeping the country running while the politicos are doing other things.
The centerpiece of Wilkerson’s argument was that there are two main models for agency leadership styles and for assuming the leadership post (for a principal, i.e. Secretary):
- The Baker model, named for former Secretary of State Jim Baker, in which the principal comes in and pays scant attention to the professionals (in the State example, foreign service officers, civil service officers, etc.), while bringing in a coterie of political appointees. In the Baker model the “building” is ignored, and it runs on autopilot for as long as the political appointee is around.
- The Powell model (also pioneered by former Secretary of State George Shultz): In this model, the Principal has examined the department well in advance of the assumption of duties. He/she decides that they are going to be the CEO of the agency, not only the President’s principal foreign policy advisor.
Wilkerson appears to still hold his former boss in very high esteem, despite their recent falling out (to which Wilkerson made reference during the talk). Here he is on Powell’s leadership skills and accomplishments:
- Powell’s tolerance level for dissent was incredible, Wilkerson said. He had an unusual ability to tolerate dissent and incorporate that dissent into his final decision, then make those within his aura know how much influence they had over that decision.
- Wilkerson shared several stories about Powell’s achievements in government, including one about how Powell helped transform the Joint Staff into the premier military staff in the world (Wilkerson claimed it had previously been one of the worst) by abolishing all special staff groups. The removal of the “Iron Colonels,” as Wilkerson called them, facilitated a flattening of the organization and provided a major morale boost.
Following are some of Wilkinson’s comments on other topics:
On the Bush Administration:
- Wilkerson argued that ideology took preeminence with this administration, citing the 2002 National Security Strategy and its famous pre-emption doctrine as proof. He also cited former Undersecretary of Policy at the Pentagon Douglas Feith as an example of an overly ideological political appointee, saying that Feith “in my estimation was a card-carrying member of the Likud Party.”
- Wilkerson recounted how the strong moral disconnect he felt with the Bush Administration (over detainee abuse scandals, among other things) nearly led him to resign. “To this day I probably regret that decision” to not resign, he said.
- A number of thinly veiled referenced were made to John Bolton, currently US Ambassador to the United Nations and then Undersecretary for nonproliferation at State, being a perpetual thorn in Wilkerson’s side.
On Congress:
- Wilkerson called the Goldwater-Nichols Act probably the last piece of sound legislation impacting our national security bureaucracy to come out of our separate but equal branch (Congress).
- Wilkerson called Congress’s committee structure “an anachronism,” saying that “it is ridiculous” and costs the country billions of dollars every day.
