by Charles Slater There's a saying in the U.S. Foreign Service, "You do good work leads to more work." That is why, after a number of overseas tours, I was given the job in Pakistan in 2009 as the leader of a staff of about 200 Americans and 1,000 Pakistani staff. Then I led a staff of about 50 Americans and 400 Kenyans … [Read More...] about How I Recognized Good (and Poor) Performing Groups as a Foreign Service Management Officer
Leadership Matters
In times of crisis and in everyday life, leading with intention and integrity makes a difference.
Recent Articles
Transformative Engagement: Lessons of Group Participation and Leadership
By Lakeisha Harrison Over the course of my life, I’ve been fortunate to be a part of many groups and teams. Be they formal or informal, professional or extracurricular, as a team member or a leader, each situation taught me invaluable lessons about how groups function and how I function in them. These lessons have … [Read More...] about Transformative Engagement: Lessons of Group Participation and Leadership
Transformational Leadership Theory in Action
by Prudence Bushnell Twenty- three years after the East Africa embassy bombings, I still talk about my experience as ambassador through the prism of leadership, specifically, transformational leadership. I had not heard of it this term in 1998 but, instinctually, I did put it into practice to cope with the catastrophic … [Read More...] about Transformational Leadership Theory in Action
About Pru
Ambassador Prudence Bushnell (Ret.) is an acclaimed speaker on transformational leadership, national security, crisis management and leading as a woman. The lessons she recounts come from serving in leadership positions in the Department of State as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and U.S. Ambassador to the Republics of Kenya and Guatemala. She also trained others in leadership as Dean of the Leadership and Management School of the Foreign Service Institute.
After leaving the Foreign Service, Pru founded the Levitt Leadership Institute at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY in 2012. She has continued to promote practical approaches to innovative thinking and ethical leadership to a range of audiences and universities. She is also collecting stories for the Marketplace of Leadership Stories to show how others practice leadership in real life.
Sharing Leadership Insights Learned Through Personal Experience
Drawing from experiences as a policy maker during the Rwanda genocide in 1994 and chief of mission during and after the al Qaeda attack on the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya in 1998, she shares lessons and observations about managing and leading, doing things right and doing the right thing.
Speech topics include:
- S.M.A.R.T. Leadership: Strategic. Moral. Achievable. Reliable. Transformative.
- Crisis Management and Resilience
- Diplomacy and National Security
- Women and Leadership
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Terrorism, Betrayal, & Resilience
My Story of the 1998 US Embassy Bombings
On August 7, 1998, three years before President George W. Bush declared a War on Terror, the radical Islamist group al-Qaeda bombed the American embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, where Prudence Bushnell was serving as U.S. ambassador, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Terrorism, Betrayal, and Resilience is her account of what happened, how it happened, and its impact twenty years later.
What People Say
Kathleen Cole
You are a role model for women and men, Prudence. As we hear your story, not one of us can fail to consider how we would have responded. And, not one of us can fail to consider if we would have the strength to do the right thing when contemporary challenges present themselves. I believe, by remembering your story, Federal women will be far more likely to answer and act with a resounding “Yes”.
Kathleen Cole
Adjunct Faculty for the Office of Personnel Management, Federal Executive Institute
Dr. Janne Nolan
“Ambassador Bushnell has never failed to elicit standing ovations from military leaders, seasoned journalists and skeptical graduate students — whether her topic is 21st century security challenges, successful leadership or crisis management. Her ability to touch the hearts as well as the minds of her audience is both moving and highly effective, leaving indelible impressions on those who are fortunate enough to share the wisdom she has developed over the course of a truly extraordinary career.”
Dr. Janne Nolan
Professor of International Affairs at George Washington University, Chair of The Nuclear Security Working Group and author of nine books including Tyranny of Consensus published by the Brookings Institution Press in 2015.
Mesmerizing Speaker
“Ambassador Prudence Bushnell is a mesmerizing speaker who consistently earns rave reviews from the Colonels and civilian equivalents who attend my Senior Manager Course in National Security Leadership at the George Washington University. Her insights concerning the costs and rewards of ‘doing the right thing’ as an interagency leader, based on her experiences in high-stakes crises such as the Rwandan genocide and the Nairobi Embassy bombing, make an indelible impact on her audiences.”
Dr. Matthew Levinger
Director, National Security Studies Program, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University