Global Touch

A 26-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, capped with an ambassadorship, was essentially a lifelong lesson in leadership for Robert Weisberg.

A part-time Sarasota resident, now retired from government, Weisberg started his career in 1982 in what was then Bombay, India. He left the service in 2008 at the pinnacle of his field after he served two years as Ambassador to the Republic of Congo. It was technically a political appointment that required both a nomination from President George W. Bush and U.S. Senate approval. But Weisberg is an anomaly in that he earned his post through his Foreign Service expertise and experience — not by a large donation to a politician or political party.

The long list of countries Weisberg has held leadership positions in include Lithuania, Poland and Indonesia, where he was stationed on Sept. 11, 2001. He was deputy chief of mission in Finland, and he worked in Norway for three of that country's most famous moments: The Oslo Peace Accords; Nelson Mandela's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in 1993; and the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.

Weisberg spent a few years in private industry after the left the State Department, when he ran a global compliance unit for Nokia-Siemens.

Weisberg, 63, recently discussed his career and the leadership lessons with the Business Observer. Edited excerpts of the conversation follow.

Culture clash: Weisberg, in working with everyone from high-level foreign dignitaries to U.S. State Department employees, cultivated an oft-overlooked skill among harried executives: conflict resolution. It was a delicate balance of massaging egos, holding people accountable to rules and regulations and, especially, knowing when to pick battles. “People don't like to be told no,” says Weisberg. “People don't like to live under perceived inequities. But I realized conflict wasn't the way to go if you wanted to have a well-run organization.”

Comfort level: Arguments are second nature to Weisberg, an attorney by training. Yet his listening skills, not his oratory chops, were his greatest asset overseas. “The ability to make people feel comfortable with you is the most important thing,” he says. “That doesn't mean you have to be milquetoast.”

Lie detector: When Weisberg started out with the Foreign Service in India, part of his responsibility was to interview people who sought to come to America. It was a lesson in reading people. “I heard some wild stories,” Weisberg says. “Some were tourists, students or investors. Others were just plain lying. They wanted to just make it to the U.S. This country is the beacon to many.”

Calm voice: Weisberg's first supervisory role overseas was at the U.S Consulate in Milan, when he was 37 years old. He oversaw U.S. State Department employees who worked there, where he helped staff find housing and health care. He also coordinated relationships with the alphabet soup of U.S. federal agencies that had a presence in Milan. That included the USDA, U.S. Customs, the DEA and the Secret Service. All told, Weisberg spent a chunk of his four years in charge in Milan putting out turf wars. “It was a learning experience,” he says. “There was a lot of sparring.”

Harsh reality: The next stop after India, in 1984, was Moscow — a time Weisberg says was exciting from a career perspective, but for the Russian people it was “exponentially grim.” Weisberg, who speaks Russian, lived in a tiny one-bedroom apartment on the south side of the city. He recalls the long lines portrayed in movies for Russians to get everything from toilet paper to a piece of cheese were a reality. “Moscow was a challenge,” he says. “They didn't have much.”

One big takeaway Weisberg had from Russia for was perspective about life in the States. Says Weisberg: “I wrote a letter to my mom a few times telling her every American ought to be required to live here.”

Power play: Weisberg believes the traditional way to become a U.S. ambassador to a foreign nation, big donations to a political party and candidate, is wrong. “It's really demoralizing,” he says, to people who dedicate their careers to the Foreign Service to see money buy a powerful job. He says he's worked for some good ambassadors, and some who were not so good, “who just wanted the title.”