Sergeants Finding Their Niche

Probably the most difficult task for a newly promoted sergeant is to find their niche amongst supervisors. I am not speaking of the sergeants' club but rather your worth to the organization as a supervisor. If you ponder for a moment, most every supervisor has their specialty within the department's scheme of things. You know which of the staff is the go to guy on certain topics. Finding yours is not that difficult but you must take the logical steps in your selection and apply it well.

Young Buck Sergeants

I recall my guidance discussions with my sergeant major in the Army. One thing that CSM Gaddy did was to conduct his afterhours, young sergeant development chats. I will admit that I did learn more about real leadership from these than I have from most formal courses. One basic statement that he proclaimed to every newly promoted sergeant was to avoid the easy and the obvious things to fuss about. It was easy for an army sergeant to direct others about their haircuts, unkempt uniforms and boots not shined to a gloss. His direction to me was to seek an important skill or topic matter to assist your staff with and from that you will develop as a point person for this skill or need in their careers. Sage advice for a new Sarge!

If you are the newly promoted sergeant on your department, stop and revisit what helped your career to gain these stripes. Were you a detective, a trainer, FTO or what? Probably one of the most mundane skills that we deal with is report writing. If you have a detective background, then you know the value of an excellent preliminary investigative report. No, I am not talking about you fretting over if they should have used a colon or a semi-colon but is it a sound police report. All too often, we belittle the report to the investigative quotient (who, what, when, where, why and how many times). However, it is far more than that; report writing is the foundation for other important activities and accompanying reports. If you have this knack, share your insights.

Be a mentor

Another important insight I have learned is be approachable. So you have a needed skill, make sure you share it all of the time, not just when it is convenient for you. One key thing I have learned from supervisors who are mentors is that they are approachable at all times. They are a mentor and not a monster. They are someone you want to be around and share conversations with and learn from. If you are not a mentor, then you will have a growing problem about to nip at your heels. Your officer's successes will be similar to your mood swings. You are in a good mood this week then the officers will produce. You are in a fill in the blank mood and the officers will be afraid to approach you and productivity is diminished. Supervision is hard work, accept that now. However, if you are not approachable, then their little problem of today that they were afraid to bring to you, will in turn be your big problem tomorrow. I never said that three stripes was easy or glamorous, I did say it is work.

If you have been recently promoted or are about to, then relish the moment and make the big decision about your future. Your success is incumbent often on your squad's performance. Decide now how you want to help them. Decided now if you are the mentor that they need or will you dishonor those three stripes that others proudly wear.