WaPo: Rice's Management at Issue-Critics Cite Blackwater, Baghdad Embassy and Passports

And Rice is 'the survivor' in this admin, one of the few left. I'm glad she's getting examined finally.


Rice's Management at Issue
Critics Cite Blackwater, Baghdad Embassy and Passports

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 10, 2007; Page A01


Shortly after Condoleezza Rice took charge of the 57,000-person State Department in 2005, she said she relished the challenge of "line responsibility" in leading a large organization. "I really enjoy that," she said in an interview. "Some of my favorite times here have been my budget and high-level management reviews."

Nearly three years later, Rice is under fire from inside and outside the State Department for a range of crises that are largely managerial in nature -- the failure to monitor private security guards in Iraq, the delays in opening the huge U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad and the resistance of some Foreign Service officers to being forced to serve there. Over the summer, the department also fell woefully short in processing passport applications, resulting in ruined vacation plans for many Americans.

Within the department, Rice is viewed by many rank-and-file employees as an aloof manager who relies on a tight circle of aides, leaving her out of touch with the rest of the staff, in contrast to her predecessor, Colin L. Powell, a retired Army general who won praise from workers for treating them as though they were his "troops." At her last town hall meeting with employees 2 1/2 years ago, Rice told staffers: "I consider myself the chief management officer of this department." But a poll by the American Foreign Service Association indicated that an overwhelming majority did not feel that Rice was their advocate.

The latest controversy about forced assignments to Iraq has only heightened internal resentment of Rice's management style. "I personally do not like the ultimatum-giving," said one Foreign Service officer. "It is not what State is about."

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/09/AR2007110902450.html?hpid=topnews

Rice's stumbling and bumbling have been on public display for years, and you're finally getting around to noticing it? Gee, you bulldogs of the Fourth Estate are so cute with your blinking eyes and cavernous yawns as you shake off the slumber of six years. This being the Post, though, we can pretty much bet that this will be a one-day only story, suitable for publication on Saturday, and then the aberration will be over.

lol

Deputy Secretary John D. Negroponte.

'managerial' (is that a word?) she seems.

A third official who served under both secretaries recalled how, after an assistant secretary of state made a mistake resulting in several days of negative news coverage, Powell treated that person with civility. By contrast, the official said, Rice becomes angry over even minor news accounts, turning furiously to the relevant assistant secretary for an explanation. "Dressing someone down like that is not great for morale and does not encourage people to bring up bad news," he said.