Last week I was invited to attend the Global Chiefs of Protocol Conference as a special guest. It was hosted by U.S. chief of protocol, Ambassador Capricia Penavic Marshall, at the Department of State. Over 85 countries and three international organizations were represented. It was the first gathering of its kind with a goal of exchanging best practices and the hope of building stronger bilateral and multilateral relationships.

I was honored to have the opportunity to meet members of this elite group of protocol professionals engaged in protocol at the highest level, working for chiefs of state, heads of government and foreign ministers. During the various sessions it became clear that whether you practice protocol in your country's capital or at a corporate office we share many of the same concerns: hosting visiting dignitaries, coordinating meetings and ceremonies, gifts, working with the media, etc. Ultimately our work is to set the stage so that business can be conducted without distractions whether that business is negotiating better relations and understanding among nations or securing a business agreement for a joint venture abroad. The goal is to avoid any distractions that may detract from the objective of the bilateral meeting, state dinner, business conference or luncheon.

One of the common threads throughout the conference was the idea that while there are rules to be followed and a desire for even greater standardization among nations there is also a need for flexibility. The concept that protocol must evolve to address changing situations was brought up many times. It's a delicate dance.

Ambassador Marshall inspired us all to learn from each other. I am committed to sharing best practices, new ideas and all the tools in my diplomatic toolkit, which is what I hope this newsletter does. I encourage you to share your resources as well so that we may work together to ensure successful business and diplomatic relations. 

Sonia Garza-Monarchi

In some countries it is referred to as a "table of precedence." Regardless of what your country calls it, this is simply a way to rank or put people in order that recognizes the seniority of individuals. Precedence can be used to determine seating, order of arrivals and departures, receiving lines, vehicles, accommodations, the order in which people speak, etc. In the world of international affairs, failure to follow protocol can insult diplomats leading to broken discussions. In the corporate arena, it can result in lost business deals.

The most universally accepted order when working with international government officials is that agreed to by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It established the rules still followed today among government leaders and diplomats.  For example, a chief of state outranks a head of government. Among officials of equal titles you would use the date and hour they presented their credentials or were elected to their office.

For non-government officials, the most common indicator of precedence is the company's organizational chart.  In the corporate world as in the diplomatic one, titles are also used to determine the order of precedence--a company's president and CEO outranks an executive vice president who outranks a vice president, etc.  Among individuals with the same title you can then use alphabetical order by the person's name, or if dealing with individuals with the same title from different companies you could use the alphabetical order of the companies represented.

However, there might be situations when you might want to use a different order, as the Japanese did upon the occasion of the death of the Emperor in 1989. At that time the U.S. President, George H.W. Bush had just been elected so he would have been the last among equals and would therefore be seated in the back. The Japanese wanted to acknowledge the special relationship between the two countries so they made it known that the seating would be done in the order the Emperor had visited the various countries. It just so happened that he had visited the U.S. on his first visit, leapfrogging President Bush to the top of the list.

In some cases, precedence among equals has been determined by lottery.   You draw one country and start there then move on in alphabetical order from there.  This system is not commonly used.

In the end, you must be able to justify your decision so if you are going to deviate from standard practice consult with the key parties so they have a chance to provide input if this is going to create a problem.   Communicate clearly in advance preferably multiple times so that everyone is aware of the seating arrangements and have been informed both verbally and in writing. This doesn't guarantee smooth sailing but should help minimize incidents.

 The Protocol Lady