Taking a dose of our own medicine

Barbers with bad haircuts... graphic designers with hideous business cards... circus clowns who cry themselves to sleep. Business consultants who haven’t written a blog post in nine months and whose Twitter account looks a few birds short. 

Over the past year we’ve worked with our outstanding partners at kglobal to help defense companies diversify into the commercial sector. A key component of our value proposition is that of offering external, objective expertise and facilitation to help clients who find themselves amidst the swirling stress of change. The precise nature of each engagement depends upon each company’s specific needs, but tends to involve issues related to strategic planning, business processes, and sales & marketing activities. Inevitably, the latter category touches upon the importance of messaging and branding, to include social media activity. 

When companies appear to have initiated social media accounts or blogs without levying an adequate level of upkeep, one (or more) of several usual suspects tends to apply: the company lacks a clear purpose or strategy for its social media activity; the company’s social media “champion" has left the organization; or social media activity as a task loses a daily competition with other business priorities.

We’ll plead guilty to door number three. And throw in a side order of “analysis paralysis,” in which the desire to get something juuuuuust right can prevent you from getting something accomplished at all. So what would we tell one of our clients who made such an admission?

1. It’s OK. Unless you expect your social media activity to serve as a direct source of business leads, you likely haven’t caused any damage that can’t be undone. At worst, this aspect of your business might appear a bit rudderless to external audiences, and/or you’re telegraphing that you have some bandwidth challenges.
2. Fix it. Pick your metaphor: Jump in the pool; get back on the horse; start posting again. (OK, that last one was literal.)
3. Stick to your strategy. In our case, this means worrying less about the particulars of any one post. We didn’t intend to reserve this space solely for mind-blowing, critical insights about international affairs, intelligence community challenges, or analytic methodologies. We simply want to share what we’re thinking. What we’re doing. What we read or heard and found interesting. So we’re going to analyze our thoughts a bit less, and shoot from the hip a bit more.

In addition to providing expertise and guidance, our diversification assistance serves as a forcing function for our clients. Everyone is a little more motivated to get something accomplished when they know someone is watching — hence this post. This is our internal client self telling our external consultant self that we get it and we’re ready to fix it.

But the barbers and the clowns are on their own.

From Dakar to Dhaka with Professor Everett

What do West Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia have in common? If you’re a US diplomat heading to any of those regions, you may be training with Simon Everett before you leave town. We were recently awarded a five-year prime contract with the Department of State to design and deliver area studies courses that collectively cover 26 countries in these intriguing and complex parts of the world. This represents a significant expansion of our support to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), for which we coordinated the India course last year.

FSI prepares diplomats and other foreign affairs practitioners to advance American interests throughout the world. More than 100,000 students representing the State Department and nearly 50 other government agencies enroll in FSI’s classes every year. While many come to learn a foreign language or a specific professional skill, students enrolled in area studies courses explore the historical and contemporary issues shaping American foreign policy in a particular region.

We have enlisted an accomplished team of leading regional specialists to teach these courses. The West Africa courses will be chaired by two expert Africa watchers, Kamissa Camara and Dr. Alex Thurston. Noted Eurasianists Dr. Jeffrey Mankoff and Claire Kaiser will teach courses on the five Central Asian countries. And last but certainly not least, the esteemed Ambassador E. Ashley Wills – who spent more than a decade as a senior American diplomat in South Asia – will lead the breakout session on Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. Each of our instructors will invite prominent guest speakers to participate, exposing students to diverse perspectives on the political, economic, and social dynamics shaping their respective regions of focus.

This program is impactful and intellectually rewarding for all involved - we're delighted to be part of it.

Advisor-y watch

We’d like to share a couple of successes that, despite being within the Simon Everett family, are not of our making. It appears we’re far from the only ones who value the talents, leadership, and accomplishments of Neill Sciarrone, one of our corporate advisors.

First, Neill has had the honor of being included in the inaugural group of Presidential Leadership Scholars, a program sponsored by four presidential foundations: the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the Clinton Foundation, the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation. Over the course of six months, Neill and her fellow scholars participated in discussions with former administration officials, leading academics, and other distinguished practitioners; advanced personal leadership projects aimed at improving the civic and social good; and benefitted from the direct participation of Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who shared their personal perspectives on leadership. The program – which concluded last week – places Neill in the company of esteemed leaders who are tackling a wide variety of societal challenges. 

Second, SC Magazine recently recognized Neill as one of ten “Power Player” women in information technology security. To us, the article perfectly showcases Neill’s blend of policy and corporate expertise; her ability to discuss complex cybersecurity issues at a digestible and impactful level; and her positive approach to addressing both technical and professional challenges.

Our congratulations go out to Neill and her fellow Presidential Leadership Scholars...and to us for having the good fortune to have Neill in our corner!