DIMENSIONS OF MANAGER WORK: EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06158528
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 21
• Document Creation Date: October 29, 2024
• Document Release Date: August 19, 2024
• Case Number: F-2013-00715
• Publication Date: June 1, 1980

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DIMENSIONS OF MANAGERIAL WORK:
EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS
Bernard L. Mooney, Ph. D.
Center for the Study of Intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
June 1980
(b)(3)
QNFflJEHTIAL
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Report #2: THE EXECUTIVE ACTIVITY LOG
This is the second of a three-part series. The first report
was entitled "The Executive Interview".
SYNOPSIS
The Pace, variety and pattern of activities recorded in the
Activity Logs when contrasted with the activities of executives
in business and industry indicate the following about the work
of Agency executives:
1. The pace is hectic and the sequencing of activities and
their duration demand high levels of flexibility as well
as the capacity for operating under tight time constraints
with minimal information.
2. The work is primarily oral and aural and it demands
effective communication and listening skills.
3. At the higher executive levels there appears a greater
emphasis upon the capacity for understanding the
"vocabularies" and perspectives of the many disciplines whose
efforts must be coordinated.
4. Executives expend considerable time directing the activities
of subordinates; success would appear to rest heavily on
supervisory and interpersonal skills.
S. The work tends to accentuate the "here and now" at the
cost of reduction in time devoted to planning.
6. Contacts with persons outside the Agency do not constitute
a significant part of an Agency executive's daily routine.
7. Agency executives appear to place more emphasis on acces-
sibility to employees than do their peers in business and
industry.
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About this study:
The Central Intelligence Agency, perhaps even more than other
organizations, has devoted considerable effort through the years
to incorporating within its selection and training programs the
latest and most effective concepts and procedures of management
science. A continuing expression of this concern and effort is
apparent in the Report of the Team of the National Academy of
Public Administration (NAPA Team, 1979). The team's recommend-
ations for actions to be taken by Agency senior management draw
particular attention to the development of executives and managers.
The feasibility of acting upon the many ambitious recommend-
ations of the NAPA Team involves the Agency's ability to develop
a taxonomy for executive management positions, i.e., the ability
to "sort out" key executive positions according to the essential
nature of their job demands. This project has been designed to
respond to the team's recommended "identification of the behavior �
demands of Agency executive positions." The project was organized
and conducted under the DCI Fellowship Program of the Center
for the Study of Intelligence, during March 1979 through May 1980.
The project design called for collection of data regarding
verifiable behaviors in which Agency executives, (defined for the
most part as supergrade or SIS positions), engage �as they
accomplish the requirements of their jobs. The history of re-
search in the area of managerial behavior has emphasized the
futility of using a single data collection methodology. Though
the need for multiple data collection methodologies has been
stressed (Campbell et al., 1970; McCall et al., 1978), to date
only one published study of executive managerial functioning
has included all three of the recommended methodologies,
i.e., the Survey, Interview and Activity Log (Lau et. al.,1979).
In keeping with expert opinion, the design for this project in-
corporated use of the Survey, the Interview and the Activity
Log methodologies. Given the resources available, it did not
prove feasible to include in the project executives serving
outside the Headquarters area. The most obvious impact of
this exclusion falls on the D Career Service. /
(b)(3)
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Though the three data collection methods are complementary,
the character of the data gathered via each does differ. As a
consequence, the findings derived from each methodology will be
presented as "stand-alone" reports. Within any given report,
where data derived from another methodology will help in clarif-
ication and explanation, these data will be provided,. The
three reports, then, consist of: 1) The Executive Interview,
2) The Activity Log, 3) The Critical Activities Survey.
Bernard L. Mooney, Ph. D
Center for the Study of Intelligence
2 June 1980
a
REFERENCES
Campbell, J.P., Dunnette, M.D., Lawler, E.E. III., Weick, K.E. Jr.
Managerial Behavior, Performance, and Effectiveness. McGraw-
Hill Book Company, New York, 1970.
Lau, A.W., Broedling, L.A., Walters, S.K., Newman, A Harvey, P.M.
The Nature of the Navy Civilian Executive Job: Behavior and
Development. Navy Personnel Research and Development Center.
Technical Report 79-27. July, 1979.
McCall, M.W. Jr., Morrison, A.M. Hannan, R.L. Studies of Managerial
" Work: Results and Methods. Technical Report 9. Center for
Creative LeadeTS-Eip, Greensboro, North Carolina, May, 1978.
---corrtfrEst-T4A1--_
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Report #1: The Executive Interview
Synopsis
In the view of the Agency executives interviewed:
1. They work long hours (including long work weeks) and the
higher one's level, the more time given to the work.
2. Because of their extended workday, and workweek, they have
incurred the penalty of loss of earned annual leave.
3. Too much of their time is consumed in meetings and in re-
sponding to requirements for documentation of their activ-
ities.
4. If more time were available, they would devote it to dealing
with their employees, planning, becoming more informed in
the substance of the activities about which they must make
decisions and developing more understanding of other dis-
ciplines so as to facilitate inter-component cooperation.
S. The candidates for executive positions in the future are
bright, creative but lacking in breadth (lacking in the
ability to evaluate problems on an Agency versus a com-
ponent-centered basis) and in the ability to communicate
with components and specialties outside their own.
6. Previous superiors have exercised a more significant influ-
ence in shaping their present managerial style than have
previous assignments or training.
7. Shifts in executive roles and functions have included a de-
cline in the decision-making authority of the executive and
an increase in the demand for documentation of activities
(typically perceived as non-mission relevant).
8. The most consistent sense of accomplishment in executive
work has been derived from actions taken in developing and
advancing employees at lower levels.
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9. The most consistent critical problem faced is that of in-
creased work load coupled with limited resources and limited
authority to take direct action in remedying the situation.
10. Increased efficiency can be achieved either by restoring
authority to individual executives or by creating a "super"
Agency administrative officer.
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Executive Interview
I. BACKGROUND
'In the research focused upon managerial functioning, the lion's
� share of attention has been devoted to the problems of managerial
selection, placement, training, development and advancement. The
existence of managerial positions and the organizational climates
� within which they exist are seemingly dealt with in the research
as if they are fixed and universal constants. If there exists any
constant in the work environment of a manager it is the factor of
change in the numbers and characteristics of the persons available
for doing the work; change in the character of the demands of the
managerial position itself; changes in the fiscal and procedural
resources which are available and acceptable within the organiz-
ation.
Organizational climate and job situation variables are un-
questioned as critical factors influencing managerial behaviors
(Taguiri, 1961; Levinson, 1972), yet these factors have been
consistently passed over in research projects, largely because
of the difficulties in achieving reliable measurement of such
factors.
Throughout the past several years, critical shifts have
occurred within the organizational climate of the Central
Intelligence Agency, some as a result of conditions external
to the Agency and others as a result of internal restructuring
of elements and functions. To provide a framework within which
to evaluate data gathered via the Survey and Activity Log
methodologies, fresh information regarding the current influence
of the organizational climate and situational variables had to
be collected from Agency executive managers themselves.
Most of the current commercial, measures of climate and sit-
uational variables involve assumptions based upon the mission and
goals of the organization within which the measures were developed.
Few if any of these assumptions are applicable to the Agency.
Therefore, to provide the "climate" information required by the
project design, interviews were conducted with selected executive
managers.
A
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II. METHOD
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
A. Interview Design
�
The content of the interview includes both factual ques-
tions ("How long is your workday?") as well as open-ended
personal opinion questions ("What would you say are the most
important problems you face in your work today?"). Appendix A
contains a list of the 18 questions put to each executive inter-
viewed. The same sequence of the questions, as well as the word-
ing of each, was followed throughout the interviews. At times,
actual responses to a given item anticipated later questions.
At other times, in response to a given question, executives in-
troduced additional topics. Every effort was made not to inter-
rupt the flow of the interview and, particularly, to avoid con-
straining replies within any rigid format.
B. Selection of Interviewees
The focus of this project is on Agency executive position(b)(1)
rather than on the people in those positions, and the selection(b)(3)
of interviewees was based upon position rather than personal
data. Official records showed Headquarters executive-graded M(3)
positions across the five Agency career services. / (b)(1)
/of the 42 positions thus identified,
41 incumbents were available for interview. The interviewee
sample was designed to duplicate the career service and position
grade structure of the Agency. The degree to which duplication
was achieved is displayed in Table 1.
Table 1
Agency Headquarters Executive Positions by Career Service and
Grade Level Compared with Interviewee Group
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
� Career oulvice
(b)(3) D (Operations)
E (Executive)
I (National
Foreign
-Assessment
Center)
M(Administration
R (Science and
Terlinellogy)
(b)(1) 100%
(b)(3)
Agency Interviewees
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
100%
-----gbWODENTIAL
4:0(3)
4
goiwtion Grade Level
`03i`piency orqi 51rviewe es
Executive
� Pay
Schedule
GS-18
GS-17
GS-16
Scientific
Pay
Schedule
100%
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
100%
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Table 1 data, when evaluated statistically, indicate that the
interviewee group does not differ significantly from the Agency
baseline of Headquarters executive positions in terms of either
career service location of the position or position grade level.
In �other words, the interviewee group is representative of Agency
executive Headquarters positions.
.�
C. Conduct of the Interview
With only two exceptions, all interviews were conducted
within the working area of the executive. Interviews ranged
from 35 to 110 minutes, averaging 51 minutes.
III. OVERVIEW
The tone of the interviews is as important as the findings
themselves and merits special comment.
Time is a precious commodity for Agency executives, yet
each participant was highly cooperative in adjusting schedules to
accommodate the interview. It was clear that they welcomed the
opportunity to describe their work, to comment on the Agency of
today, and to volunteer their views regarding the Agency of the
future. They pulled no punches in giving their impressions of
shortfalls in the Agency's systems and resources, but they also
conveyed a pervasive optimism about its future--a consensus that
while the world of Agency work may not represent the best of all
such possible worlds, there is more than sufficient challenge,
satisfaction, and promise of success to keep them motivated in
that work.
IV. FINDINGS
A. Time and the Executive
The length of the Agency executive's office workday ranges
from 8 hours to 11 1/2 hours. The average is between 10 to 10 1/4
hours. There is a clear trend for higher ranked Agency executives
to report longer workdays than lower ranked executives. Eighty-
two percent of all executives who defined their workday as 10 1/4
hours or longer are GS-17s or above. In contrast 90% of GS-16 and
SPS executives reported workdays of 10 1/4 hours or less.
�.C.041'-44�141-11CL-
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Unfortunately, comparative data regarding executives from
business and industry have been collected on the basis of the
workweek rather than workday. Executives from the private
sector include, in their workweek, time expended outside the
office area, e.g., work done at home during evenings or weekends
plus ?'business" transacted at social events after hours.
Agency executives, due to the sensitive nature of their work
materials, are as a rule unable to work at home on evenings or
weekends, nor do they characteristically exercise their job
functions at social events. Their only option is to return to
their offices on weekends. Seventy percent of those who reported
working regularly on the weekend, (every other weekend or more
frequently), were GS-17s or above. The average workweek of
these officers who return to their offices on weekends is 56 1/3
hours. The average workweek for those who rarely return to their
offices on weekends is 48 1/2 hours. Executives who report longer
workdays also more frequently report returning to their offices
on weekends. In other words, longer workdays and longer workweeks
tend to go hand-in-hand with higher rank.
An additional facet of the executive's time relates to the
loss of annual leave. When these interviews were conducted, regu-
lations regarding carryover of annual leave from one year to the
next were much more stringent. The average reported loss of annual
leave was 45 hours. Interestingly, the higher-ranked Agency ex-
ecutives (EP, GS-18, GS-17) reported a lower rate of loss of annual
leave (average 40 hours) than GS-16 and SPS-ranked executives
(average 58 hours). Agency executives GS-18 and above report an
average annual leave loss of 24 hours (50% report no leave loss)
while GS-17 and GS-16 executives report an average loss of 54 hours
(only 27% report no leave loss).
Though it is impossible to make direct comparisons between time
subsumed by work-related duties between Agency executives and those
in the private sector, it is clear that in the Agency (as in the
private sector) the higher one's executive level, the greatet the
amount of time given to one's work. However, it is also clear
that higher level executives in the Agency are more circumspect and,
perhaps, foresighted, in their use of leave than are lower-level
executives. Most higher-level Agency executives readily admit that
earlier in their careers, uncertainty as to the real criticality
of problems which arose tended to override decisions on use of
their annual leave. They stated they now feel more confident in
identifying real Agency crises. When these exist, they deal with
them accordingly, expanding the length of either their workday or
their workweek. Most higher level executives point to their
present use of annual leave as a positive indicator of their own
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increasing self-confidence, maturity and effectiveness as senior
managers.
If, per impossible, more time were available to Agency ex-
ecutiyes, how would they use it? The greatest number. (29%)
stated they would give the time to contacts with their employees--
both absorbing employee perspectives as well as educating employees
about Agency career opportunities.
Twenty-seven percent singled out the aspect of planning for the
future which they feel is presently shortchanged and to which they
would devote all additional time "credits" granted them. Twenty-
four percent indicated they would expend their additional time
"credits" developing greater in-depth personal knowledge of all
elements of the memoranda for which they must assume responsibility.
Most of this latter group is drawn from among NFAC executives.
Seventeen percent denied any need for extra time in their day
since they feel they presently give adequate time to each and
every job requirement. The remainder of the executives expressed
rather individualized uses of additional time credits, including
one whose stated goal was: "...to get my own work done."
If indeed 83% of the executives can identify activities to
which they would devote extra time "credits," then what activities
currently devour their time (for better or for worse)? A re-
sounding 61% stated that their greatest time-eater is meetings
(with their own staffs, with superiors, with Agency panels and .
committees, with other Agency components, with elements outside
the Agency). While these executives are split (50/50) on the
importance of their presence in these meetings, the great
majority believe there exists a more efficient way to accomplish
the goals of the meetings either without their attendance or in
less time than is presently demanded. The next most significant
time-eater mentioned (stipulated by 27%) is the demand for paper-
documentation ranging from personnel evaluations to detailing
current and future planned activities and contingency actions,
feasible under a wide variety of fiscal or procedural possibil-
ities. In regard to the two time-eaters of meetings and docu-
mentation, one executive stated: "...it seems now frills are
more important than substance.. .now it's less important what
you do and more important how you do it."
Given the executives' contention that time-eaters deprive
them of the time they feel they should give to other activities,
how do they attempt to cope? .Some 29% use the solution: "I just
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close my door." The vast majority (67%) attempt to cope by: ex-
tending their workday (early or late), coming in on weekends,
mentally working through problems at home--either in the evening
or upon awakening, or while commuting to and from work.
B. Required Traits
The numbers of traits or skills executives regard as neces-
sary in their work range from as many as seven to as few as two.
If one were to aggregate the references to the skill of: "getting
along with people; being empathic; being understanding," then
clearly every Agency executive cited the need for the ability to
relate to people. However, the nebulous quality of this "ability
to relate to people" hardly constitutes a clearly definable skill.
Among the variety of skills and traits mentioned are: integrity,
candor, stamina, good health, stability, common sense, thick skin,
decisiveness, patience, intelligence, self-confidence, confidence
in subordinates, ambition, objectivity, and equanimity. Of note is
the fact that approximately one in eight executives targeted the
area of communication skills (particularly writing skills) as
critical in their work. This matter of communication skills will
surface again later in executives' comments regarding perceived
assets and liabilities of those managers who will become the ex-
ecutives of the future.
C. Desired Traits
While 20% of the executives felt they currently possess the
skills and traits necessary in their work, 80% indicated a need for
additional ones. Of the latter, six indicated a need to update and
expand their current profegsional skills. The other 27 cited skills
from specialty areas outside their own, ranging through mathematics,
law, engineering, and fiscal matters. The most frequently cited
specialty area is that of computer science. Also mentioned were:
writing skills, skills in evaluating and utilizing employees, foreign
languages and knowledge of management science.
D. Executives of the Future
When asked their perception of assets and liabilities of the
human resource pool from which future Agency executives will be
drawn, most officials emphasized the intelligence, creativity and
impressive credentials of today's upcoming managers, but balanced
this by citing a number of perceived deficiencies.
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Using terms like "lack of breadth, lack of experience, lack
of Agency knowledge," they observed that today's Agency managers
possess a decidedly narrow perspective which limits their effect-
iveness in dealing with specialties, disciplines and professions
outside their own. The executives emphasized that effective �
functioning at their level demands the capacity to understand
the views and-values not only of those people for whom they have
responsibility, but also of those with whom they must deal on a
cooperative basis. (Note under Section IV, C., the executives
who expressed a need for greater understanding of specialty
areas outside their own, typically explained their needs as:
"...to improve my ability to Understand and communicate with...
scientists...computer specialists...economists...etc.").
The officers who cited "lack of breadth" as a deficiency
of the Agency's executives of the future feel that greater
breadth (greater understanding of other disciplines plus insights
into the "big picture," i.e. how the Agency should operate as a
total organization) is developed solely as a function of on-the-
job experience. These same executives feel that the younger ex-
ecutives of the future have been advanced with such rapidity that
. the requisite foundations for effective interdisciplinary com-
munication have not been laid.
E. Influences Upon Managerial Style
Over one-fifth of those interviewed stated that their present
managerial style has emerged independent of Agency-related experi-
ence. Most of these individuals indicated that the essence of
their style emerges from their own personal value system--a system
which has been evolving throughout their life span.
Whether cited singly or in combination with other influences,
the factor cited as exerting the greatest influence on present
managerial style is that of people�typically the model set by one's
superiors. This "influence by example" of superiors is described
as selective rather than total. In other words, Agency executives
selected only those elements of their superiors' styles which they
chose to imitate. In several instances, executives identified
certain elements in the style of previous superiors which they re-
solved would never become a part of their own.
Next in order of importance as an influence upon present
managerial style is training. Of all references to training
(18 persons), four cited previous, external graduate studies,
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six cited internal management training (Managerial Grid = 3;
Levinson Institute = 3) and eight cited external Agency-spon-
sored management training (the several War Colleges, Harvard,
Columbia, and the Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro).
Of those who cited Agency-sponsored external management training,
there was consensus that exposure to managers from other .
federal agencies and the private sector was a key element in
their positive evaluation of the training experience.
Last in order of importance is the influence of specific
assignments (in terms of the job demands as distinct from the
influence of one's superiors). While high ratings on the in-
fluence of people and training are rather evenly distributed
across career services, high ratings for the influence of as-
signments are concentrated in the I (NFAC) and R (DD/ST).
F. Shifts in Job Demands
Over 85% of the senior officers responded that they had
experienced definite shifts in their roles and functions. This
question stimulated unequivocally negative responses. The ex-
ecutives emphasized.shifts for the worse rather than for the
better. In this vein two topics were accentuated: 1) a perceived
decline in the authority of the executives accompanied by an in-
crease in responsibilities, and 2) a dramatic increase in re-
quirements for documentation of decisions, actions and plans.
Expressed in several ways, these two topics account for over 78%
of the shifts in job demands cited.
The first perceived shift--decline in authority with in-
crease in responsibility--is set in the context of control of
human resources. To a greater extent than executives in other
federal agencies or in the private sector, Agency officers feel
skilled in rapid analysis of problem elements, quick and incisive
decision-making about what is to be done, and lightning-fast
organization of the resources necessary to get the job done.
The present emphasis upon panels and boards as the appropriate
mechanisms for human-resource management is perceived by the
executives as contributing to a reduction in their quick-re-
action capabilities particularly in regard to mustering the
resources for doing the job. This perceived stumbling-block in
the management of human resources is magnified by the fact that
their substantive work requirements are, on the increase while
opportunities to expand their work force are almost non-existent.
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No executive rejects the need for an equitable human re-
source management system. In fact, as a group, they heartily
endorse the concept. They do feel, however, that present mech-
anisms do not give proper weight to their understanding of work
priorities or to their grasp of the capabilities of their em-
ployees. As one executive put it: "It's like being the coach...
but Someone else selects your team.. .and everybody blames you if
you don't take the championship!"
The second perceived shift--the increase in demands for
documentation of decisions, actions and plans--was described as
particularly onerous since most executives do not see �this as
related to the mission of their component. In'other words,
executives see documentation requirements as eating up the time
they would otherwise devote to the mission itself. Of equal
importance is the fact that most executives state they receive
minimal or no feedback from their documentation efforts. As �
one executive said: "All that documentation must go to some
administrative staff somewhere which keeps gathering data...and
if that staff ever comes to any conclusions, I never hear about
it." When nominating time eaters in their workdays, executives
had earlier identified the two most exorbitant as meetings,
specifying particularly panels, and documentation requirements.
G. Shifts in Managerial Style
As is apparent from the foregoing, events have combined to
alter the job demands made upon Agency executives. But what of the
executives themselves? To what extent has the total experience of
operating at the executive level influenced their managerial style?
Some 40% insist their managerial style has remained basically
unchanged. One in five executives have detected changes in terms
of having become "more cynical, hard-nosed, bureaucratic, driven."
However, one in three feel they have become more "ready to listen,
mellow, relaxed, self-confident, able to delegate work and likely
to spend time with my people." The impact of the executive experi-
ence is hardly a constant, universal experience.
H. Proudest Accomplishment
Of all questions in the interview, the query about the
executive's proudest personal accomplishment seemed to have had
the greatest impact. As several stated: "I'll have to think about
that.. .no one has ever asked me that before."
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As might be assumed, accomplishments cited are as varied
as the achievers themselves, ranging from "establishing a tech-
nical collection program...producing several critical intelligence
papers... saving the Agency several millons of dollars" to:
...establishing effective collaboration with other Agency elements
...being trusted by my employees" and, finally, in a...somewhat humor-
ous vein: "staying alive as an executive."
In spite of the variety reflected, 45% of the executives
singled out personnel management as the one topic area reflecting
their proudest accomplishment. Activities described here ranged
from the one-on-one experience ("helping to develop a person I
selected and then seeing that person replace me as I moved up")
to the more impersonal program-oriented accomplishment ("selling
the idea of competitive promotions for clerical personnel rather
than seeing people promoted just because the grade of their slot
is geared to their boss's GS-level").
I. Current Critical Problems
Responses to the qUery regarding current critical problems
were as varied as the position titles of the executives. Answers
ranged from: "Everything and nothing is a critical problem" to
"There are just too many demands to do everything well." Defin-
itions of critical problems do appear to involve three major
areas: dealing with limited budgets and resources in the face of
burgeoning requirements; managing people; and planning.
.As to the first problem, it is the universal plea of
managers everywhere that if only they had larger budgets or
larger staffs (or both), they could carry out their duties more
effectively. In the Agency context, however, the problems of re-
sources are grounded in reality. Budgets have been reduced, man-
power resources have declined, and requirements have increased
(both substantive and, most particularly, documentation require-
ments).
The critical character of the human resource management
problem is described as "how to attract good people within salary
and grade limits imposed...how to keep the good people I have in
view of grade-level ceilings...how to ration the good people I
have in order to cover priority projects.. .how to remove the
inept performers to make room for top performers...." In this
problem area, senior managers are particularly prone to point
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up what they perceive as their lack of authority. As one ex-
ecutive put it: "With all the limits now placed on my authority,
I don't know how to do what I know needs to be done."
Finally, many executives reiterated their earlier
comments about a lack of time for effective planning.. Beyond a
lack Of time for planning, several executives (who do set aside
time) expressed frustration over their inability to adhere to
plans once formulated. As expressed by one executive: "In the
Agency, there seems to be an unwritten priority--you must always
deal with the present crisis, even at the cost of your long-range
plans."
J. Surprises
As with the statements regarding critical problems, the
response to surprises encountered in the executive's present
position were expressed in a highly individualistic fashion. The
responses include: "the unbelievable volume of work.. .the import-
ance of trivia.. .the number of panels to which I'm appointed...
the real satisfaction I get from the job...how much easier the
job is than I had imagined...."
Statements about surprises in the current position do not
show any clear tendency to cluster into categories. Of the 37%
who indicated they encountered nothing unexpected, most had pre-
viously served in the position immediately below their present
job, i.e., in an understudy role.
K. Proposed Agency Changes
The question regarding proposed Agency changes was phrased
to suggest creation of a new position title in the Agency in order
to increase Agency efficiency as well as that of executives like
themselves. Interviewees, however, did not constrain their responses
to a position description only.
Approximately 35% stated that no new position is required.
The majority of these executives expressed the view that a new
Agency position would simply "add another layer to be dealt with"
and would prove counter-productive. .Most emphasized the need for
a return of authority to the individual executive.
Of those who stipulated a position title or, in some cases,
an entire staff, the emphasis rested upon the concept of a "super"
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administrative officer dedicated to the day-to-day operation of
the Agency thereby relieving the DCI and DDCI of attending to
repetitive minutiae. Those who commented on the need for such
a position also underlined that success would depend largely
upon the individual selected. Particular emphasis was placed
on the individual's decisiveness and willingness to take risks.
Above all else, however, it was felt the individual selected
should be thoroughly familiar with the Agency and its history
in order to provide a sense of continuity both for Agency ex-
ecutives in general as well as for Directors and Deputy
Directors of Central Intelligence.
V. COMMENTARY
The present report is but one element in a larger explora-
tory study of executive functioning within the Agency. As an
exploratory study (and the first of its kind in the Agency) no.
specific hypotheses were structured for evaluation. Consequently,
no mathematically precise, objective results can be reported which
would support a specific set of recommendations.
This report on executive interviews does paint a picture of
the Agency work environment from the standpoint of the executive.
It can be of assistance in understanding the situational and
environmental factors which affect the job functions of Agency
executives and can serve as important background for understanding
the findings of the Survey and Activity Log methodologies, which
are being published separately.
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REFERENCES
Levinson, H., The Exceptional Executive. (Cambridge, Mass:
Harvard University Press, 1968).
Taguiri, R., Research Needs in Executive Selection: A Symposium.
(Boston: Harvard University, 1961).
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Appendix A
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Every interview was preceded by a 7 - 10 minute background
briefing by the interviewer. At this time, the statistical
procedures used in selecting interviewees were explained. The
confidentiality surrounding the identities of the interviewees
as well as the precautions which would be taken in reporting
interview findings to erisure that confidentiality were also
stressed. Any procedural questions the executive might wish
to raise were then dealt with. Questions about the project
itself were handled at the close of the interview.
SEQUENCE OF QUESTIONS
1. At what time does your typical workday begin?
2. At what time does your typical workday end?
3. Often starting and quitting times vary. Considering
that, what do you estimate is the length of your
workday?
4. On how many occasions do you find you return to the
office on weekends? For how long a time period?
S. If prior regulations on the carryover of annual leave
were still in effect, how many hours annual leave would
you have lost this leave year (1979)?
6. If somehow it were possible to add more time to your
workday without extending the workday, to what would
you devote this additional time?
7. What activities do you find absorb inordinate amounts
of time in your workday? Do not judge the value of the
time expenditure; simply identify the "time-eaters."
8. All executives require uninterrupted time for pure con-
centration on a problem or -for planning. Do you find
this time in your office? If not, where do you find it?
9. What skills and traits do you feel are absolutely
necessary in a person who would attempt to handle the
responsibilities of your position?
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10. 1Based on your experience with this executive position,
have you ever desired additional skills or traits which
might make you more effective in handling the job re-
quirements?
Most executives have some familiarity with the "pool"
of managers who evidence high potential for becoming
Agency executives. As you perceive this group of
future executives, what do you see as their assets
and liabilities?
'12. Managerial style is shaped by many influences. Among
these influences are: people you have worked with; as-
signments you have held (apart from the people they
brought you in contact with); and training experiences.
Of these influences, which do you feel have been most
important in shaping your managerial style of today.?
13. Since the time you first advanced
in the Agency, have you perceived
demands the Agency makes upon its
14. Since the time you first advanced
in the Agency, have you perceived
personal or managerial style:
15. Of what personal work accomplishment are you most
proud.
to executive level
any shift in the
executives?
to executive level
any shift in your
16. What do you perceive as the most critical-problem
facing you in your present executive position.?
17. Before you assumed your present executive position,
you probably had some expectancies about what the
job would be like. Did you encounter any "surprises"?
How did the job differ from your expectancies?
18. Can you conceive of a change in the Agency--perhaps
creation of a new position--which you feel would
increase the efficiency of the Agency and be of
benefit to yourself in carrying out your responsi-
bilities?
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