In our last article we looked at the importance of accepting influence from our significant others, as well as the challenges it often presents for men. Further, and specifically to law enforcement officers of both genders who are generally confident and used to acting with autonomy and decisiveness, we explored how accepting influence is not always natural or even socialized into us; it is easier to decide and act, our partners feelings and input be damned! As you can imagine, though, the outcomes of such independence generally aren’t good long term.
To review, accepting influence from our partners is to “allow them to affect and change you without having to force positive changes to happen. Knowing what is important to your spouse and letting it affect in a way that something within you changes to accommodate their needs and desires is a critical adaptation for successfully working as part of a couple.” It requires we accept and respect not just the needs and desires of our spouses/partners but also their experience and knowledge, place trust in it, and be willing to share power and responsibility in the relationship. It sounds easy yet, as we cited before, up to 65% of men are incapable of readily accepting influence from their partners. One wonders what the percentage might be for police officers, even regardless of gender as female officers tend to share certain personality traits, quirks, and confidences with their male colleagues, and may take them into personal relationships when their shifts end.
And then we wondered how readily influence is accepted in the setting of law enforcement, between coworkers in a hierarchical, testosterone-heavy profession occupied by a supremely confident and autonomy loving workforce.
There might be problems…
Low morale among rank and file law enforcement officers is commonplace, an early and frequent topic of our writing and teaching, and well substantiated by research. The reasons are many and not every agency with low morale can point to the same ones but, for a lot of LEOs, a sense of being marginalized and disrespected within their own agencies, by administrators, bosses, and even peers – especially when they possess experience, skills, and insight they know to be valuable – is a leading cause. Being spoken at instead of with about policy, strategy, and the day-to-day operations of the department, having specialized skills and knowledge discounted or ignored, and being made to feel disposable or interchangeable – a cog instead of a cop – in someone else’s machinations carries a high cost. Police officers usually are supremely confident and autonomy loving – which is why the successful ones are able to do what they do and were hired in the first place – but the structure and culture of many police agencies serves to quash effectively or fully acting on those attributes. When departments actively recruit well-educated, experienced, and creative self-starters and then actively stifle their innovation, shut them out of decision-making, and sideline their innovation, burnout and depression result.
At least as far as this is concerned, law enforcement administrators, supervisors, and managers would be wise to learn and foster a culture of accepting influence within their agencies, and enacting certain policies and practices to this end should center around the following principles:
Recognizing and celebrating the many varied “experts in the room”
Front line supervisors, and the bosses just above them – typically equivalent of ranks of sergeant and lieutenant, in name or responsibility – have the greatest potential to know the officers immediately under them, learn their strengths and skills, and allow and help them to apply them to becoming more effective and happier officers. And they know a happy cop is a productive cop. Know their résumés, pay attention to how personality plays into their policing, and simply ask how they see their skillsets, education, personality, and interests helping and being of use to their jobs. Good supervisors will, knowing this about his supervisees, seek out opportunities to accept the influence of those under command, hold them up for recognition, and model to others how to accept influence.
Know what you don’t know, and defer to those who know it
Being able to acknowledge what you don’t know, areas in which you are weaker or less interested, and where someone else is the recognized expert or has greater experience than you, and then deferring to the stronger, more interested, and better experienced is a supervisory strength within itself. It’s also a strength all officers should cultivate within themselves.
Engage the newest officers with this right away to change the culture going forward
The newest officers, now all from the Millennial Generation, are likely to not only embrace the idea of accepting influence from peers and supervisors but to expect it as a matter of course; it is, in a major way, how they have been raised.
Applaud and nurture their technological expertise, ability to “multitask,” and easy portability between “real” and cyber worlds. Like everything else, crime has exploded online and it’s going to take adaptable, computer-savvy cops to combat it. And actively seek out their expertise and let them know you want to put it to use right away. Our newest cops are traditionally put in “watch, listen, and learn” mode, labeled “rookies”, “newbies” (or “newbs”), “FNGs” , or some other separating-from-the-real-cops label for a period of time, and looked upon as having little to offer seasoned officers. That really doesn’t work very well with this generation, many of whom will simply walk if they sense being degraded or marginalized. Tap into what they know, be it technology, cultural diversity, skills they bring from past jobs or education, or anthropological information about their own generation (young adults are who we also deal with and arrest most, remember). Give them chances to contribute early.
Being able to accept influence from peers, subordinates, non-sworn personnel, and even non-police citizens is a crucial skill that enhances your effectiveness as police officers. For highly confident and competent cops, it can be difficult. Learning the skill is, however, invaluable.
