10 Mistakes Police Leaders Need to Avoid to Eliminate Team Burnout

If you spend some time and look across the breadth of “leaders” you know in law enforcement, you’ll likely see some strong, some not so strong, and some who have no business in the position they are in. I’ve long written about the difference between a manager and a leader, but it occurred to me that some leaders have potential if they’d just avoid some of the most common mistakes. What would those be? Let’s take a look at some of the behaviors a leader can exhibit that will hurt the team and, as a result, hurt the leader’s reputation not to mention the level of respect his/her team carries for them.

1. Dealing with toxic team members

One of the biggest challenges a team leader can have is in how to deal with toxic team members. In today’s world it might even be the team member that is accusing everyone else of being toxic that is actually the toxic one. For the team leader, an objective evaluation of all team members’ behavior is necessary to identify who is bringing negativity to the team. This is law enforcement. There is always potential negativity in a patrol shift, but sharing that and discussing it isn’t toxicity. So what is? It’s that one team member that barely performs to standard but always wants to go to every school and is upset that he’s not being promoted. It’s the team member who barely handles his own calls for service and actively avoids calls that might bring him extra work. The toxic team member is the lazy, unmotivated patrol officer who creates work for everyone else while demanding recognition. The team leader has to address that, and to some extent do so publicly, so that the rest of the team doesn’t take a hit to their morale because of that one toxic team member.

2. & 3. Lack of communication and ignoring feedback

Two other mistakes leaders commonly make are lack of communication and ignoring feedback. Going back to that toxic team member, if your team is telling you about the one person that’s creating challenge and they never see you doing anything about it, they feel ignored. If you ARE doing something about it and whatever you’re doing isn’t communicated in any way, it may still appear that you’re doing nothing - and the team is being ignored. Remember that communication isn’t just listening. It’s listening, taking into consideration what you’re told, integrating it as appropriate into your decisions and then communicating those decisions/actions back to the team.

4. Perceived information control

Sometimes the ineffective communication results in perceived information control. Certainly in our profession there is sensitive information and a leader has to know what should and shouldn’t be shared, but there are times when information doesn’t get shared, comes to light later, and gives the appearance that the leader was simply trying to use the information to leverage more power or control. That perception is demoralizing and can be avoided by clearly sharing and communicating any information of value to your team and not just on a “need to know” basis.

5. & 6. Unnecessary urgency and constantly shifting priorities

Two other common mistakes also go hand in hand: Creating a sense of urgency when it’s not necessary and the appearance of always changing your mind about priorities. I am familiar with a patrol area outside a big city where it was common for the on-coming patrol shift to already have calls waiting; sometimes several dozen of them. The patrol sergeant could take two approaches: 1) He could encourage his officers to handle the calls as quickly as possible without compromising their safety, or 2) he could voice his expectation that ALL the calls, plus any that came in during their shift, would be cleared before the end of shift, creating pressure to rush and potentially increasing the officers’ risk. That unnecessary pressure to rush, creating potential risk, when it’s identified by the officers is, again, demoralizing. That same sense of pressure to perform under tight timelines can be created by changing priorities mid-shift. Certainly sometimes this is unavoidable, but when it can be avoided, it should be avoided. Almost by definition law enforcement professionals have to be flexible and adaptable, but it’s a skill that should be demonstrated when it’s unavoidable - not when the supervisor changes his mind about something.

7., 8. & 9. Showing team members support, appreciation and respect

The next three go hand in hand: A leader supports his team, shows his appreciation for his team, and respects his team. It’s vital to understand that your team makes or breaks your reputation UP your chain of command. How YOUR supervisors and leaders view you depends completely on how your team performs and how you treat your team will directly affect that. A good leader recognizes this and takes care of his team as best he can. That means supporting them by making sure their work needs are met, showing them respect and by recognizing the necessary work/life balance we all need. When emergency circumstances mandate your team working extra hours, it’s understood and sometimes expected, but it also helps if you express your appreciation for their willingness to do so and try to find a way to give some of that time back if you can.

10. Micromanaging

The final one can often be the biggest challenge: micromanaging. Don’t do it. Your team is trained and you know their capabilities. Give them assignments. Let them do them. Don’t micromanage and nitpick. It’s an insult to them because it implies that you don’t trust them to do things right. If, after the tasks are complete, you identify shortcomings in performance or results, then plan remedial training as necessary, but don’t micromanage.

If you pay attention to your leadership methods, keeping the above in mind, you can go a long way toward motivating your team without specific motivational speeches, rewards, etc. You can also grow the loyalty they feel toward you because you will have, along the way, demonstrated your loyalty to them.