Page 81 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

THE LESSONS

Free Trade Agreement and oversaw other agreements with partners in Asia,
Latin America, and Canada. However, in spite of all these lofty positions
and the complex knowledge Fisher possessed, it was a very simple, basic
message from the Ambassador that changed Tien’s outlook on leadership
forever.

It was April 1999, and Tien and Fisher had traveled to Houston so that
Fisher could give a major policy speech at Rice University for an event
hosted by former Secretary of State James Baker. The pair was to return
to Washington the following day. Fisher had scheduled a meeting with
Texas Governor Mark White to take place after the speech, and the
governor’s assistant suggested a private lunch in one of Houston’s exclusive
government buildings. Fisher countered with an alternative site: a small
Mexican restaurant near Rice University. “I asked him why he wanted to
eat there instead of one of the government buildings,” Tien recalled. “And
he said, ‘So it will be easier for you to sit at the table too, John. I don’t want
you to be left out.’ Well, those were the best tortillas and Texas politics I
ever experienced!” After lunch, Fisher received a call from his office
instructing him to return to Washington immediately: He was needed early
the next morning for an important meeting about China’s trade status. The
Houston police escorted Fisher and Tien to the airport, and Tien was sent
to the ticket counter to change their tickets for the next flight out.
“The ticket agent told me that she had one first-class seat left and that
the ambassador could have it at the government coach rate, and he could
be back in D.C. by dinner,” Tien explained. “I got him the ticket and told
him I would catch the original flight back the next day. He said to me,
‘John, you missed enough nights with your family during your time in the
Army.’ He then personally went up to the ticket counter and exchanged
his first-class seat for two side-by-side coach seats on a later flight. We ate
dinner together, sat next to each other talking about my time in Operation
Desert Storm, and got in around 8 p.m. Washington time. On that day in
April 1999, I spent the night with my family and the day with a true leader.
Although I have never been as high-ranking as Ambassador Fisher, I have
had similar relationships with subordinates—especially in terms of age
spread and position—and I have always tried to do what he taught me that
day, which is this: You must always treat those in your organization as
human beings first and subordinates second.”

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