Ideal Organization: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) After serving nine years in the Marine Corps, I have come to the conclusion that the ideal organization for me would be the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). I have tried several companies in the civilian sector and have been unable to adapt because I enjoy the adrenaline and excitement law enforcement has to offer. Although the CIA does have plenty of organizational stressors, they have their solutions. I will discuss task demands, role demands, physical demands, and interpersonal demands of working with the CIA as well as analyze critical elements for effective group and work team performance to determine the necessary steps it would take to develop an effective team. I will evaluate conflict management styles and explain which style is most appropriate for the potential sources of conflict. Lastly, potential barriers to communication and how these barriers may impact group and work team performance.
The CIA has several divisions and positions. There are two specific positions that I would apply for: Support Integration Officer (SIO) or Military Analyst, which both have heavy task demands, role demands, and physical demands. As a SIO, I would be responsible for supporting worldwide missions. They are required to deploy (which I have already experienced) to resolve tactical issues, while applying and creating new processes and procedures to fit requirements specific to their location. The job description for a special agent consists of criminal investigations of federal, state, or local law violations. Builds rapport, develops informants and uses information to gain leads. Interviews, observes, and interrogates suspects and witnesses to obtain evidence and establish facts. Maintains surveillances and performs undercover assignments worldwide. You are required to complete a physical fitness and mental examination, along with a series of testing to insure security clearances and clear backgrounds. Physical fitness examinations have somewhat the same structure as military standards. I believe that in a situation where your life (or someone else’s) is at stake, you should be prepared to handle any physical stress and demand. Sometimes the lack of discipline in maintaining proper physical standards leads to law enforcement personnel being out of regulations. As a female this is demanding because we are competing with males. It is stressful to have to prove you are good enough to belong to the team. The mental demand one would need to prepare themselves in case of hostile situations is critical. In most of these positions, agents are to maintain secret profiles. Only immediate family should be informed of agents do or it should just stay on a need-to-know basis. Agents are also required to follow the basic testing with finger printing, background checks, security clearances, polygraphs and anything that will assure they have a clear path, especially someone who is trying to hold an international position. Critical elements for an effective group are communication, trust and teamwork. In a position where your life lies in the hands of others and vice versa, it is critical that you work closely with your team mates to insure you will accomplish tasks safely. Based on my experience with the Marine Corps and the similarities in training, I would assume we would have the same techniques to develop an effective team. Recruit training was where I experience the most amount of team work. We were assigned several tasks, given limited supply, and required to complete them working together in a designated amount of time. Not only does it become stressful since everyone has their own way of doing something, but it becomes difficult as well. After working together on several assignments, we finally learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We learned how to communicate and effective ways to complete tasks. Performance should be evaluated on an individual and group basis. Again, similar to the military, we were given annual evaluation of everything we have accomplished. We also get graded twice a year for physical fitness, educational classes, courses (CPR, survival, swimming, etc) and overall performance. Conduct evaluations are important because they enforce discipline, as does a chain of command. A system that continues to keep the balance and respect amongst all personnel will develop an ethical work environment. Working as a team is important in law enforcement because as I mentioned earlier, having to trust someone with your life isn’t easy to do. Knowing the person(s) you are completing a mission with will determine its success. Conflict is inevitable. Conflict management styles that would be ideal for these positions are “chains of command”. There always has to be a set level of authority in order to insure structure and discipline. In the Marine Corps, when there was conflict, we would report the issue to the next in our direct chain of command. For example, I was a Sergeant and belonged to a specific “squad”. If one of my Marines had an issue, I would take it up to our Staff Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (SNCOIC) and it would go from there. Usually it was handled at that level, however there were instances that resulted in more drastic measures. We had what was called “Request Mast” which meant we were asking to speak directly to one of the officers in charge of our company. Skipping all the ranks and talking to the man in charge. This was done when we felt our problems weren’t being handled or the issue was beyond the control of the other Marines within the chain. In my opinion, this was always an effective tool for resolving conflict. Potential barriers to communication would probably be terminology, or the use of jargon. This was something that took getting used to and now regularly used amongst fellow Marines. Another is differences in perception and viewpoints, since everyone has their own opinion and expresses them freely. Especially in environments that are male dominated, it becomes hard for a female to have to earn their place and sometimes never be accepted. Although they say times are changing, some things (or some people) never will. “Adapt and overcome” is what we always say! Cultural differences are major since we are in such a diverse society. We need to learn how to understand and respect other cultures. These barriers may impact group and work team performance based on personal beliefs. For example, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan led to the hate towards Arabic people. Not by everyone of course, but there were certain Marines that could not overlook working with an Arabic Marine simply because they felt they had bad intentions. Stereotypes hurt everyone. In an environment like the CIA where they are worldwide, having an open mind and the discipline to work with everyone is important. Plus, with the extensive background screenings conducted before you are accepted to be an agent, one should feel safe around those they will be working closely with. Although this isn’t the typical company someone would choose to work for, it is the ideal organization for me only because I have adapted to the Marine Corps lifestyle. Some people find a niche and stick to it. I completed my enlistment and tried several positions in the civilian workforce, but have failed to find the unity, discipline, pride and commodore I had in the military. The only field I see close enough to that is law enforcement, so I will continue to pursue that path.

References
Central Intelligence Agency. (2012) Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/careers/opportunities/index.html