Every agency wants to improve how its employees communicate and collaborate. The State Department, in particular, has employees around the world that it needs to connect, and it’s doing so using new media and technology.

Richard Boly, the director of the State Department’s Office of eDiplomacy, helped design the system. His efforts have garnered a nomination for a Service to America Medal.

Federal News Radio asked the Sammies finalists to tell us a bit about themselves.

What three words best describe your leadership philosophy?

Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose (for my team).

What’s the best piece of advice (or words of wisdom) you’ve ever received and who gave it to you?

“There is no limit to what you can achieve, when you give others credit,” – first given by Ambassador Charlie Ries, later by George Shultz.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome (personally or professionally) and how did you overcome it?

I got fired from what I thought would be my dream job in Silicon Valley a few years after graduating from college. The job wasn’t what I thought it would be and frankly, I wasn’t who I dreamed myself to be. That shock has lead to lifelong honesty about my relative strengths and weaknesses and searching for opportunities where I can best contribute.

What’s the last thing you read and what’s next on your reading list?

Last: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Next: Swamplandia! by Karen Russell Favorite work-related book (one in my “desert island collection”): Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving With Grace by Gordon MacKenzie

What’s your favorite bureaucratic phrase?

Moving from “Why we can’t” to “How we can.”

Meet the rest of the 2012 Sammies finalists.

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