The FBI rigorously chooses and trains employees, scrutinizing agents before and after hiring.

The FBI employs over 35,000 people worldwide, but only a few ever get accused of doing something wrong. This rarity of misconduct is because of strict hiring screens and the deep-rooted values and culture taught within the organization. The FBI is its own toughest critic.

Central to the FBI's ethos is the "7 C's": Code, Conservancy, Clarity, Consequences, Compassion, Credibility, and Consistency. These principles guide the FBI's conduct policy, highlighting the importance of honesty, especially about being truthful under oath. Lying under oath leads to immediate dismissal, underscoring the seriousness with which the FBI views integrity. Every organization is encouraged to identify its fundamental values, create a conduct code mirroring these values, and pinpoint behaviors most harmful to its reputation and goals, setting clear penalties for such actions.
Effective Conduct: Core Values Alignment
An effective conduct code, like the FBI's, mirrors the organization's core values and outlines responsibilities that represent these values. For the FBI, this begins with adhering to the US Constitution.

FBI culture: Values-driven leadership, mutual accountability in conservancy.
The FBI maintains its values by teaching employees that they are part of something bigger than themselves – the organization's integrity. New agents start by investigating their colleagues' FBI vehicle accidents, teaching them about responsibility. Leaders also work in auditing and internal affairs, learning about the importance of oversight through the FBI’s Inspection Division. This division checks all offices and programs every three years, teaching leaders about accountability.

The idea of collective conservancy is central to the FBI. It means individual actions affect the whole organization. This comes with sacrifices, like missing family time, facing physical and mental exhaustion, and sometimes even risking death. FBI employees deal with stressful situations, like investigating tragic events. For example, they had to listen to the final moments of pilots in a 1997 cargo jet crash.
The Price of Commitment

Committing to conservancy can have deadly consequences. On April 11, 1986, two FBI agents, Jerry Dove and Benjamin Grogan, died in a gun battle with suspected bank robbers in Miami. This day marked one of the worst in FBI history. In honor of Dove and Grogan, the FBI named a field office in Miami after them. Collective conservancy can also cultivate excellence in a workforce. For example, giving each Bureau member responsibility for a larger mission can help achieve this.

Develop Core Values: FBI's 7 C's - Code, Conservancy, Clarity, Consequences, Compassion, Credibility, Consistency.

In the FBI, clarity is key to following the rules. Clear guidelines help agents understand boundaries, with dishonesty under oath being the gravest offense. In one case, an agent falsely claimed to use an FBI "bucar" for three daycare trips, but evidence revealed over 14 unauthorized uses, resulting in termination.

Leadership's inconsistent disciplinary actions undermine credibility and organizational compliance. The FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility outlines consequences for code violations, such as 30-day suspensions or dismissal for "bucar" misuse. Despite risking investigations, the FBI upholds its values by accepting organizational consequences for its actions.

FBI's Commitment to Values and Accountability

The FBI upholds its values, even when it means facing challenges. This commitment was evident after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The FBI and US intelligence swiftly identified the hijackers and their supporters, including Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks.

FBI's successful operation under stress is due to the workforce assimilating values.
The FBI shows compassion to crime victims through its Victim Services Division and other programs. For instance, families of Americans killed in terrorist attacks can get help from the Terrorism and Special Jurisdictions Program. The Child Victim Services Program ensures that interactions with children are appropriate for their age. Since 2003, the Innocence Lost National Initiative has helped the FBI recover or identify nearly 7,000 trafficked children for sex and convict over 2,800 traffickers.

Transparency is key to an organization's credibility and trustworthiness. The FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility reports disciplinary actions of unidentified agents quarterly. This transparency reminds employees of what misconduct is and what penalties to expect. The FBI also recognizes excellence through its Honorary Medals Program.

FBI's Credibility in Misconduct Cases

An organization's trustworthiness relies on how fairly it handles wrongdoing. The FBI is stricter with its leaders' misconduct than with agents' misbehavior. For instance, Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok was fired for criticizing ex-President Trump in texts while investigating Russia-Trump campaign ties in 2016.

FBI employees can report misconduct to various units, such as the OPR and the Inspection Division. Not all cases result in punishment; some end with counseling.

The FBI's credibility is crucial for its law enforcement role. In a test of this, the FBI once halted a passenger jet's departure in Atlanta, suspecting passengers in turbans planned an assassination. However, no suspects were found. Tragically, the official was later killed in India.

FBI stories demonstrate the 7 C’s; that leaders can apply for optimal performance.

The FBI takes its duty to investigate and uphold its standards seriously, as demonstrated in the case of Robert Philip Hanssen, an FBI executive who spied for Russia for two decades. He is now serving life in prison. Hanssen joined the FBI in 1979 and began passing secrets to the Russians in 1982. Initially, the FBI suspected a mole in the CIA before uncovering Hanssen's betrayal. 

The FBI suspected a mole in intelligence services, initially pointing fingers at the CIA before uncovering evidence against Hanssen. He leaked classified information including US nuclear war plans and identities of Russian spies, leading to the execution of up to 10 individuals by Russia.

Rebuild Credibility in County Government

Credibility is vital in FBI cases involving public corruption, such as Jimmy Dimora's tenure as Cuyahoga County commissioner from 1998 to 2010 and as a suburban mayor for 17 years. Dimora abused his positions to extort bribes from business owners, turning the county into a hub for criminal activities.

In July 2008, the FBI took action to restore trust in the county government. They conducted raids in Cleveland, seizing files, boxes, and computers with search warrants. Over 70 defendants, including business leaders, government employees, and judges, were convicted, with former county auditor Dimora receiving a 28-year sentence for bribery and racketeering. In response, voters approved changes to the government structure in 2009 to prevent similar abuses.

Leaders globally can adopt the FBI's approach for optimal performance.

When organizations or individuals neglect their principles, they harm themselves. In contrast, the FBI upholds its values consistently, especially during tough times, by promoting employees who embody its values and encouraging them to voice their opinions. After the 9/11 attacks, the FBI shifted its focus from investigating attacks post-incident to predicting and preventing them. During this transition, agents noticed that the military and the CIA had interrogation rules at Guantanamo Bay that would make any statements useless in a US court. To address this, President George W. Bush established the High-Value Interrogation Group, led by the FBI, to ensure consistency across agencies.

The FBI also fosters employee confidence through regular briefings at all levels. These briefings serve as platforms for agents to update their colleagues on cases, teams, and programs, turning them into decision-making seminars.

Despite criticism post-9/11 suggesting splitting the FBI into two agencies – one for arrests and one for intelligence – this idea lost momentum after lawmakers learned from the UK and Canada that such a division creates bureaucratic obstacles.

Spy Arrest and FBI Transformation

In Canada, the RCMP handles serious criminal cases, including those involving national security threats, often linked to CSIS. The RCMP was asked by the US intelligence community to arrest Jeffrey Paul Delisle, a suspected Russian spy working in the Royal Canadian Navy in Halifax. Delisle had access to secret information from Canada, the US, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. 

However, the RCMP waited for CSIS to gather evidence against Delisle, allowing him to continue leaking secrets. The arrest process took so long that the FBI considered luring Delisle to the US for arrest. Ultimately, he was sentenced to 20 years in a Canadian prison.

Instead of dividing, the FBI reorganized. New FBI agents and intelligence analysts now train together to improve collaboration. However, an internal barrier still separates the FBI’s Cyber Division from its Counterintelligence Division, despite both dealing with spies. The FBI has shifted its focus from investigations to intelligence-based domestic security. This adaptation shows that organizations must find new ways to uphold their values in response to changing circumstances, risks, and threats.