OPINION — As a mere “wretched pensioner” in retirement (words taken from my good friend and former CIA colleague Doug Wise), I spend a great deal of time talking to recently retired CIA officers about the state of the outfit today, particularly in the Directorate of Operations (DO).
A side of the CIA that inspires myth and legend, it is a unique and relatively small club of individuals that battled the Soviet Union and helped the US win the Cold War, worked assiduously against a global terrorist threat, saving countless US lives, and now has been front and center in resisting Russian aggression. All of this was done in the shadows, mostly with little fanfare. Saddling up to tackle our nation’s greatest challenges was the hallmark of a DO officer. Our nation calls, we answer.
Yet something appears to be off in the DO workforce today. As I make the rounds, common themes have emerged about the new Generation Z (‘Gen Z’) officer cadre that I find both encouraging but also troubling. They are smarter than ever. They are tech savvy. More than likely, many of us old timers would never have made it through the recruitment process. It is harder to get in to the CIA than it is to be admitted to Harvard. It is not the intellectual acumen of this new generation that is an issue.
Yet a complaint I hear on a frequent basis from fellow veterans from CIA’s senior operational management is that the young officers are also more entitled than ever. My peers complain that Gen Z often demands to know why decisions are made, and at times are unwilling to put in the hours of sacrifice required to help defeat our adversaries. They are super “woke,” (a term I dislike as I don’t really know what it actually means, yet hear it all the time) and file complaints against their managers, as they are too thin-skinned that even the slightest criticisms result in protest.
At this rate, according to my peers, one would not be surprised if the young officers unionized, with work stoppages and demands for better working conditions becoming more important than stealing secrets and penetrating terrorist networks.
For what it’s worth, there has been voluminous reporting in the media and academia on this issue of intergenerational conflict in the American workforce today. What worries me is that it is affecting the sacred mission of the CIA.
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Quite troubling, perhaps as a natural reaction to these Gen Z upstarts, many of the former senior managers with whom I speak, seem to have a longing for the past. “Back in the day” is the catchphrase used for a time when (in their view) the CIA took risks, working tirelessly to protect the homeland with a dedicated workforce that understood the sacrifices required. We received orders, executed our tasks, and life was simpler as there was no “noise” of entitlement.
I listen and nod respectfully, making an occasional joke that we all sound like our old grandmothers and grandfathers complaining about the “new” generation. I use the term “fuddy-duddies,” probably something that Gen Z would not even recognize.
That said, this narrative of an entitled and spoiled generation bothers me. So, at the end of each of these interactions, I ask a simple question – what exactly are you pining away for? Was it really so great “back in the day?” The time when officers worked round the clock, sacrificing their family lives. Where troubling divorce rates and pervasive alcoholism were the norm. Sexual harassment was at times openly tolerated both in the field and at headquarters. Female and minority officers were not hired in adequate numbers (my training class in the late 90s was 90 percent white males) and rarely made the senior grades. Senior managers berated and scolded their officers, often with no sanction. So I ask my friends, would going back to that ‘Make CIA Great Again?’
The answer of course, is no. Sure, there were many extraordinary operational successes, but the DO had serious issues that cannot be condoned. We can and should do far better.
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The solution, I would argue, is not to look to the past for answers. We need to look forward, reflecting America in 2024 and beyond. Gen Z is the generation we are passing the torch to, like it or not. Their time is now.
Yet one cannot dismiss these senior officers’ complaints about a changed workforce. If I was still in government service, (despite my rejection that CIA’s past is not something to harken back on) I may have the same criticisms of Gen Z.
So how do we tackle this seemingly dysfunctional relationship before it’s too late?
Is this simply an older generation of officers resisting change, or is there merit to their complaints about entitlement and lack of work ethic?
Like all controversial issues, more than likely it’s a combination of both. One Agency veteran noted to me, regarding Gen Z, “I sort of resent them, yet sort of respect them at the same time.” Meaning, they are right on some things, but a giant pain in the rear on others. Perhaps the divide is not so great.
I for one, am confident that the current DO senior leadership – whom I admittedly know well and very much admire – can get this right. One thing is for sure, if we don’t fix this, Gen Z will walk away.
My sense is that those officers indeed are dedicated. But they also want better work-life balance for their families and for their own mental health. They understand duty to country, but they also want to be treated with respect. They will hold senior officers to high standards. Are they different than previous generations? Sure. Different is not necessarily bad, however. It is just different.
The fact is that there are more Gen Zers than there are old timers.
Perhaps a surfing analogy is in order. That wave is coming, as sure as the famed 100-foot waves off of Nazare’, Portugal. If the senior managers don’t learn to surf, perhaps it’s time for them to grab the binoculars and watch from the sidelines.
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As a public speaker, I have become adept at using catchy phrases to help motivate and teach leadership. In this case, I’ll suggest the CIA follow these “three L’s,” when it comes to tackling motivation and management of the Gen Z population. Listen, Learn and Lean-in.
The are all intra-related and in fact build on each-other. Of note, both sides need to adapt.
Listening: For the senior officers, do not to be judgmental. Be curious and ask questions. Gen Z are tech savvy, for example, and tech is an area where the CIA needs their help. A willingness to be curious also means that perhaps there’s a different way to do things. Moreover, senior managers do need to be accessible. Gen Z is different, so take the time to explain decisions; the “why” does matter. And in fact, some of what Gen Z wants is very much similar to what many officers have wanted for so long, and what I worked on toward the end of my career- a better work-life balance, within reason for a very difficult and arduous job. And for Gen Z, listening on your end is critical as well. Your bosses have decades of experience. They are a wealth of operational knowledge for you to learn from. I think back to one of the legendary Arabists of the Near East Division, Charlie Seidel. Charlie had forgotten more than I’d ever learn on the middle east. I wisely listened to him, all the time. As a former senior CIA officer once told me, “If you are talking, you ain’t listening.”
Learning: Perhaps we need to revamp our selection and training criteria; everyone needs to be on the same page in terms of what a successful foreign field tour for a case officer entails. Yes, senior managers can be more accessible, and an understanding of work-life balance is important. How is it that case officers at stations are (if these charges by my peers are even somewhat correct) not working hard enough? Whose fault is that? The mission is a sacrosanct part of the job. If you don’t want to work at night, don’t join the clandestine service. Let’s make sure during onboarding into CIA, selection into the DO, and tradecraft training, it is very clear that a tour in Europe, for example, is not a vacation. Expectations are everything-let’s get this right from the start. Results matter-case officers need to be judged by the quality of the foreign intelligence they are producing and by new agents they are recruiting.
Leaning-in: DO officers have a unique job, and no, it is not 9-5. They work at night, often on weekends, and frequently are required to spend significant time away from home. Risk is real-both personal, and to the United States (if they are caught). If we get the Listening and Learning part of this right, the Leaning-in will come naturally. A former CIA manager once explained to me that a CIA station has a “soul,” and it’s extraordinary what you witness when you walk into a high-performance station. You can actually feel the vibe of an elite unit, when it is operating on all cylinders. The officers want to be there, and work is a calling, not a chore. This always works best if the officers are self-motivated, vice being pushed by station management.
My travels around the country guest-lecturing at universities has given me a pretty solid view of Gen Z who will soon join those already in the national security workforce. And I am incredibly impressed by so many of these young Americans who are committed to public service. I really believe that America will be just fine, including at CIA. I am convinced that we will be in good hands as the old guard passes the torch.
But CIA needs to fix this divide between Gen Z and the older generation that threatens the indispensable mission of the DO. Both sides must make this effort to listen, learn, and lean-in.
Iran, China and Russia loom large; they certainly are not waiting for us to correct this pressing issue in the workforce.
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