Dec

Fair, firm and consistent: Mark Wallace discusses his leadership philosophy

The new director of the Office of Protection Services, Mark Wallace, has been a lifelong civil servant, with a long career in law enforcement and security. Kelly Andrews spoke with Wallace about how he will face the challenges of his new position in the year to come.

Mark Wallace, who became OPS director Nov. 21, has held many law enforcement roles throughout his career, including Law Enforcement Coordinator at the Department of Justice, Watch Commander and an Intelligence Coordinator at the Department of the Interior, Director of the Emergency Operations Center at the Pentagon with the Department of Defense, and, most recently, Chief of the Office of Protection Services at the National Gallery of Art.

Each of these roles has prepared him for his position as OPS Director. “Working as a law enforcement coordinator gave me the foundation of what to expect of our law enforcement officers as far as their training, their responsibilities, and giving them all the tools that they need,” Wallace said. “At the Department of Interior, the key was to get all critical information in through the Interior Department and push all the significant information up to the Secretary. That gave me the opportunity to work with a wide, geographically dispersed area. With the Smithsonian being so dispersed, that experience really helped me prepare for the challenge that I’m going to be faced with at the Smithsonian.

[In addition,] Wallace continued, “Being the emergency manager at the Emergency Operations Center for the people who protect us and our country was a huge responsibility. We had to understand what our emergency responses were going to be for each and every scenario. Doing that helped me with my emergency preparedness, which is a key and critical ability that I bring here.”

Wallace also has a master’s degree in national security strategy from the National War College. “That really gave me the ability to think strategically.”

I’m going to provide everyone the opportunity to be involved. Getting people involved and loving what they do is really important. Life is so short. You have to love what you do.

OPS Director Mark Wallace

Wallace plans to spend the next few months listening and learning from experienced OPS personnel. “I think there are learning opportunities with each person, and each person has something valuable to provide,” he said. “My philosophy and leadership is service. I want to be of service to all the officers, to our staff, and to give them all the tools necessary to be able to perform our mission. That’s what I’m focused on right now. Our officers have a difficult job. We have to make sure we’re giving them all the support that they need to be successful. I’m going to be out there listening and learning from the people who have the experience here, and equally as important, staying present.” When Mr. Wallace is not in the office, he enjoys working out. “I have to admit that I haven’t done it since I started here because I’ve been so focused on everything, but I need to incorporate that balance back into my life,” he said. “It really gives you a clear head to make decisions and respond rationally to any type of emergent events. Working out is key for me. I have a 15-year-old son so keeping up with him and taking him to all his activities is my life. But he’s very athletic so that aligns with what I like to do.”

Wallace also enjoys gardening. “A friend of mine told me a long time ago, there’s a Chinese proverb that says, ‘He who plants flowers, plants happiness.’ By planting those seeds, you’re planting happiness. It’s like a meditation that you fall into when you’re out there in the dirt in your yard. Then watching those things grow, there’s a certain fulfillment that provides. I really like to do that,” he said.

For now, Wallace will be focused on his service at OPS. “We have this great mission to diffuse knowledge. To be able to provide that, to be able to create the environment for that learning is key. As a leader in the Office of Protection Services, I’m going to be fair, firm, and consistent. I’m going to provide everyone the opportunity to be involved. Getting people involved and loving what they do is really important. Life is so short. You have to love what you do. At the National Gallery, I used to always say that we have a task and a purpose in protection services. Our task is the protection of our visitors, employees, and collections, but our purpose is to provide exceptional customer service. Of course, we’re there to protect and that’s our number one mission, but we want to create a great environment for our visitors as they walk through the building. We have to be able to balance those things. That’s what I’m going to focus on as a leader is to hopefully give them that balance of fulfilling our task and our purpose.”

Mark Wallace meets with OPS personnel at NMAAHC — Pictured here at the National Museum of African American History and Culture: OPS Director Mark Wallace (center) with Security Manager Andrea Robinson, Sgt. Rosalind Hubbard, Sgt. Daniel Palenscar, Sgt. Cory Smalls, Sgt. Arnold Caulker, Sgt. Damon Wiggins, Lt. Darryl Parks, Lt. Latonia Byrd, Lt. Brian Ruffin, District Manager Anita Montgomery, and Associate Director Dylan Garon.

Kelly Andrews is a Technical Writer with the Office of Protection Services. This is a slightly edited version of an interview published in the December 2021 issue of OPS Insider. Republished with permission.