George Tenet: Explained Ethical Dilemmas

Register to read the introduction… Well from reviewing his education, past endeavors as well as his term as deputy director of CIA some would say yes, but the majority would sound a gigantic No!! His tainted loyalties and ethical code dilemmas would give them pause. I will give an analysis of four cross-coded ethical dilemmas facing former CIA Director George Tenet and assess their impact on his leadership abilities, four ways in which Tenet addressed the prioritization of ethical concerns, Identify and explain four strategies used in competing ethical obligations in relation to the many intergovernmental organizations that overlapped his office and give an elaboration on four relevant notions for designing ethical maps for defining and prioritizing ethical …show more content…
As DCI, any type of security intelligence information was available to Mr. Tenet. Once there was a threat of terrorism to our nation or country he was obligated to upon receipt to act accordingly, whether that be notifying other parties or sending personnel into unauthorized territory. Another obligation would be the fourth, which is obligation to democracy (Waldo, 1980). The Constitution of the United States starts off stating “We the people….” and many people view this as the beginning documentation for democracy (Constitution of the United States). This obligation also intertwines with the obligations that were listed previously for the Constitution, law, nation or country. When looking at obligations one through four, they outline what a public administrator’s obligations are but not what to do when these obligations are questioned. This obligation listed on the list Waldo is the obligations organizational-bureaucratic norms. These obligations are listed under two categories: generic and specific. “Generic obligations are quoted as using words such as loyalty, duty, order, perhaps, productivity, economy, and efficiency. Specific obligation will depend upon circumstances: the function, the clientele, the technology” (Waldo, 1980). Mr. Tenet was very generic in obligation and tried to be specific in obligation when he came to his duties as …show more content…
When designing ethical map for defining and prioritized by the ethical obligations. One must look at themselves, position, agency, and duties within an agency. The first obligation to self is important because your consciousness will bother you if you make bad decisions. Mr. Tenet felt very uneasy about some of the decisions he made and stated so later (White, 2008). The second and third obligations are to the position and agency. As an employee of an agency whether it be private or public, you must be willing to abide by all rules and regulations of that agency. Becoming DCI placed Mr. Tenet as head of the CIA, which unofficially placed him in a political forum he did not want to be in. Mr. Tenet tried to avoid the political arena in the beginning and realized his position within the agency needed political