Sometimes, a person comes into your life to mark the trajectory of the professional path you embark on and stick to for the rest of your working life. Ambassador Linda Jewell was one such person. She was my boss and mentor who greatly impacted my professional and personal life and is perhaps the key person to have set me in a direction that took me forward, strengthened my abilities, honed my skills and led me to traverse a career that I followed right through and one that helped me reach all I have achieved.
Linda passed away Monday November 18, leaving me with a huge sense of void and many memories that I will always cherish. She served as Information Officer in New Delhi in the late 80s-early 90s, soon after I had left my former job as a reporter-researcher with Time-Life News Service Bureau.
She didn’t hire me. I was already there, just a few weeks before we were shepherded into her room for her to introduce herself to our team, dressed with a smile and an earnest quest to learn about, and figure out, the abilities of her motley crew. That first introduction is a bit of a blur in my memory apart from registering the fact that she was amiable and welcoming. That was a comforting start.
I’d just moved from a career in journalism where I’d worked for over 4 and half years, burnt out given the extensively long working hours, exacerbated by the time difference between New York and India and the debilitating communication modes like the telex that required extensive waiting time for communication to flow, to accept a media relations job at the US Embassy, its largest diplomatic mission operation overseas.
The switch seemed a perfect fit. I was moving from one US outfit to another so I’d blend well in terms of the work environment and culture. And, since I was living on my own, and needed to meet expenses, there wasn’t another media outlet that I could consider who offered me enough to meet my needs.
These reasons may seem real or anachronistic to today’s millennials, given their impatience and strong personal ambitions, but for me, they were important considerations. And because, during my time, work and personal life were so intertwined, simply because intermediaries like social media played no role, influencing and distracting us, real people we met, talked to and shared our concerns with had a great, immediate impact on the way we thought, our openness to absorb the advice, and, without too much outside noise, reflect on to accept or reject it.
And so, I was offered and accepted the US Embassy job. But 3 months into it, I felt I’d made the wrong move. The diplomatic world put me on the other side of the table. I was no longer free to ask questions. Conversely, I had to be equipped to respond to them in a well-thought out, scripted manner that allowed no room for deviation. This was a difficult transition, particularly because, at that age, I was strongly opinionated, and my exposure to journalism hadn’t taught me to hold back. To the contrary. What I did have, however, was the knowledge that journalists work and think in a certain way and had insights into the kind of information they seek.
Nevertheless, I was unhappy and approached Linda telling her I’d made a wrong move and wish to go back to journalism. She heard me patiently, we discussed my apprehensions and spent a good hour discussing my issues. Finally, she said, “Give yourself another six months, and if you feel the same after that, I won’t stop you.”
Given the way she’d handled me through our conversation and her acceptance of my dilemma, and more importantly, the faith she posed on me to be able to make the switch made me say, “OK, I will Linda.”
So, I stayed on. I worked hard to adapt and she helped me all along, guiding me through what should be said and what didn’t work. Six months went by and I started feeling better. My working hours were good, I got free at a stipulated time, met friends and re-constructed my social life. I got back my after-work life. This is important at that age, particularly if you are living alone.
During her tour in India as the Information Officer, Linda continued to guide, mentor and support me professionally and personally. Under her tutelage, I learnt the art of diplomacy and the skills of being a good leader. I didn’t always meet her expectations—she was exceptionally gifted — but I tried. Even then, I could see, through my limited vision, that she was going to achieve great positions in the Foreign Service. And she did. She rose to be an Ambassador!
Linda, John, her husband, and I met last year while they were re-visiting India. We caught up, talked about our lives and families and reminisced about our time at the Embassy. We wondered where our former colleagues were and generally caught up. We also discussed that I will travel to DC and stay with them and what we would do. Seemed like a perfect future plan!
Then I heard she had passed on. Admittedly, I am shocked and very saddened. Her obituary reads: Throughout her career, Jewell was known for her incisive policy sense, high degree of integrity, and fair but forceful management style.
I couldn’t agree more. Thank you, Linda for setting me on my path and for all that you taught and did for me. I will miss you!
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