New US Secretary of State Antony Blinken started his first day at the office by laying out the challenges ahead to his staff, warning them the world was watching their progress.
America’s new top diplomat said he would work to rebuild the ranks of the foreign service and rely on its expertise as President Joe Biden's administration tries to restore US global standing.
"The world is watching us intently right now. They want to know if we can heal our nation," Mr Blinken told a coronavirus-limited audience of employees in the department’s main lobby.
"They want to see whether we will lead with the power of our example," he said. "If we'll will put a premium on diplomacy with our allies and partners to meet the great challenges of our time."
Mr Blinken, who served as a deputy secretary of state under former president Barack Obama, promised to listen to dissenting views.
"I will have your back," he said.
"I cannot promise that you will support every choice I make as your secretary. But I can promise an open door and an open mind."
Mr Blinken, known for his even temper, was confirmed on Tuesday by the Senate 78-22, with many members of former president Donald Trump's Republican Party backing him.

This was a turnaround from the narrow approval on partisan lines for Trump's two secretaries of state.
Mr Biden has vowed to reverse Trump’s approach, which had alienated many traditional US allies who perceived it as a hardline unilateral approach that left no room for negotiation.
Mr Blinken said that after four years, the United States would again engage with allies on a reciprocal, rather than a purely transactional, basis.
Shortly after being sworn in late Tuesday, Mr Blinken hit the ground running, making his first series of calls to foreign minister counterparts in Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea.
He has inherited a deeply demoralised and depleted career workforce at the State Department. Neither of his two predecessors under Mr Trump – Rex Tillerson or Mike Pompeo – offered strong resistance to repeated attempts to gut the agency.
Those efforts were thwarted only by congressional intervention.
Mr Blinken said he would promote and protect the foreign service, which had been sidelined during the Trump era, and that after four years of atrophy the State Department will once again play a leading role in America’s relations with the world.
“The State Department will be central to all this work in the years ahead,” he said. “I know you’re ready. I am, too. We’re in the arena together, and what we do matters.
"Let’s meet this moment — our moment — with joy.”
Mr Blinken also paid tribute to the skill and professionalism of American diplomats, many of whom chafed under the Trump administration’s distrust of the foreign service.
“One of the great attributes of our foreign and civil services through history has been your nonpartisanship,” he said.
“You serve Democratic and Republican presidents alike, because you put country over party. All we ask is that you serve the United States, the constitution and the president to the best of your ability. I know you will.”
A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School and a longtime Democratic foreign policy presence, Mr Blinken has aligned himself with numerous former senior national security officials who have called for a major reinvestment in American diplomacy and renewed emphasis on global engagement.