Recently a reader called me and wanted some leadership tips. The reader had recently been promoted in his department out west. Now first of all, I am grateful whenever a reader contacts me for advice but this was a tough call. The young supervisor was in a smaller department and had never experienced good leadership. He was young, read a few books and was geographically isolated from larger venues where some quality training could be obtained. We had a nice chat, gave him a few pointers and as always a fewHarveystories but he must be doing well for himself for his last email was positive.
There is thing about leadership that I learned years ago. Great leaders share. They will share little insights and tidbits about life and leadership. If you are in their circle or close enough to absorb these pearls of wisdom, take them in and use them in your future. Now, I know that there are a few doubters who will say to avoid the boss or you will be labeled a suck-up. If you believe this, you could be very wrong and limiting your career. Being close to the decision process on how to lead officers can be frightening but also enlightening. Don’t pass up a chance to learn and never relinquish the opportunity. One thing that I am blessed with is good memory, it allows me to go back and apply past experiences (good and bad) to future applications.
There are lessons learned in the pressures of leading others. Some are so simple but some are extremely valued. Years ago I learned from a captain that I worked for one of the basics. Praise in public and chastise in private. Every one of us enjoys being praised, whether it was by your teacher, your parents, a coach or whoever that is important to you. When you receive praise before your peers it means a lot to most all of us. Job recognition is a performance enhancer. Again, do not overdo it to where the most insignificant of things are praise but concentrate on the important stuff. A side bar of this is failure to praise is a critical fault of a supervisor. Quick story, another cop and I made a rescue of a distraught subject off of a bridge one night. We talked him down to a position where we could hold him and remove him away from peril. Couple of officers who were assisting us praised our efforts. Peer praise is very important. However the sergeant overseeing this stated that we were only ‘doing our job’ and drove off. He later put himself in for a letter for his direction of this rescue, Brady and I still are waiting to hear our praise or letter. Lesson learned here, always praise your staff in public and always seek out occurrences so you can praise them for their efforts. You do not put yourself in on their efforts.
Chastise in private is a basic. Nobody has ever enjoyed an “alpha charlie” but to have one administered to you in front of your peers, never. Never dress down a staff member before the public, this lessens their confidence in police response and capabilities. I had one platoon sergeant who could give you the reaming of your life. Never raise his voice, do it so privately that you would wish for the earth to swallow you up. Nothing negative in front of others, but in private you would rather die than to hear his evaluation of your poor performance. Learned a lot from George, if you do it, do so quietly (private) but do it very effectively.
Share the knowledge. No book is going to give you insights of application. Nor will some training class in an air conditioned classroom give you the secrets. Sharing the knowledge in the heat of decisions and direction is invaluable. You are there feeling the pressure, seeing the situation and knowing this is real world (no tapping out). If the supervisor leans over to verbalize the process, it is not for your validation but to give you insights into the process. These are teaching moments, stop and seize these opportunities. You are there for a reason with this leader, if you are being groomed or in a shadow stage of your career; pay attention. What is important here is for you to listen and comprehend. Also just do not watch at this point but observe from a higher viewpoint, get a 50,000 foot view, see the entire picture. Another captain that I worked for in my past would lean over and ask you if you knew what he was doing. At first this seemed strange, for if he did not know what he was doing then who am I to ask about this scenario. In his own way he was asking if I understood the direction that this situation was going and how his thought process was. No, he was not messing up, not wanting my corrective thoughts for he was pretty much on target.
Bottom line is that quality leadership is a “SCART”. It is a combination of science and art. Yes, there is a science to leadership. Understanding how an organization/personnel works under pressure. Perception in distinguishing how your staff can stand up to challenges and finds brilliance under extraordinary demands. The art form of leadership is the how and when to say those words that encourage your staff to achieve maximum performance. This to me is an art within itself. The real leader knows when to speak to get the job done. My old sergeant major told me leadership is “10% telling and 90% checking”. If you check to see if your staff is tactically and technically trained, then properly equipped to perform the job, then this it is only one order you will have to give. The majority of your task is to position them towards greatest, and then it is only one order to perform. Good leaders are trainers and/or training focused. Well trained staff perform better, safer and more successfully. Training equates to success.
These are but a few insights that I have gleaned from my leaders of the past. It is important to learn from your good and bad leaders. Take your skills, knowledge and abilities and add some of your past leadership lessons. Make the future for law enforcement a bright one, we need great leader to ensure our future success.
