Although the news cycle has moved beyond the passing last Saturday of former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, I’d like to provide a footnote to the coverage. In the spring of 1994, while studying at the University of Wisconsin, I had the opportunity to attend a small colloquium for students of the honors program given by the secretary, by that time retired from public service. Eagleburger set aside a day to meet with professors, alumni and students of his alma mater.
He blocked out an entire afternoon to spend with a small group of students and talk about the world, international politics and diplomacy. Two hours of discussion in a seminar room followed. It was one of the few moments in my life where I was rendered speechless. It was also the moment where I realized how one pursues a career of diplomacy and led to a phone call to my old man in which I asked, “How do I take the Foreign Service exam?”
After the seminar, I approached Eagleburger and thanked him. To my surprise he didn’t just move along. “You nod at the right time,” he observed as he gave me a sturdy shake of the hand. Was this the dry Eagleburger wit? I surmise not, as he went on to explain how important listening, real empathetic listening, was. I’d never really thought about how to be a good listener before, but 25 years hence, I can think of hundreds of times in which I’ve put down the pen and just listened. It is one thing to be a great speaker, which Secretary Eagleburger was, but being a great communicator means hearing what the other guy has to say.
Christopher Bronk is the Baker Institute fellow in information technology policy. He previously served as a career diplomat with the United States Department of State on assignments both overseas and in Washington, D.C.