Leading Blue

In our classes, we ask about various leadership books, and it is rare to find students who have read them.

Many organizations have recommended or required reading lists. Law enforcement should be a leader here, but we're not even close.

Here are five titles from our reading list that every law enforcement leader should read: (Have a suggestion? We'd love to hear it!)

It's Your Ship by Michael Abrashoff
Multipliers by Liz Wiseman
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Turn This Ship Around by David Marquet
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

ALARMING TRUTH: 70 law enforcement professionals have taken their lives in 2024 alone.

But there's hope. COPLine is a confidential hotline manned 24/7 by retired personnel for those in distress. We need to do better.

Facts.

As a law enforcement professional, what will be your Legacy?

Legacy really comes down to two things: your overall body of work and how you treat others.

See our article on legacy in American Police Beat magazine.

Legacy: Not just a stratum reserved for chiefs and sheriffs It’s a lonely feeling. You’ve submitted your papers to retire, and you’re slowly completing the final days of a career that has occupied more than half of your life. Colleagues […]

Never forget.

High Performance Leadership is a spectacular one-day program designed to be both a roadmap for new supervisors and a graduate class for seasoned leaders.

We examine the three core principles of leadership in depth and use case studies from both law enforcement and the private sector. (There is a lot we can learn from the private sector!)

Take your leadership and career to the next level.

For more information, visit www.LeadingBlue.com.

This quote has actually been around for years, but David Goggins recently used it while traveling through Bear Country. If you follow David at all, you probably chucked reading this and know how appropriate it is for him.

The takeaway from this and all of David's teachings is having a never-fail attitude. In law enforcement, it is often referred to as the winning mind. This concept must be a part of regular training for our people, and it should be frequently reinforced by the leadership.

Leading Blue is proud to be presenting at the Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) 2024 National Conference on Law Enforcement Wellness and Trauma this fall.

C.O.P.S. is a fantastic organization committed to helping the families of fallen law enforcement heroes.

The conference will be held in Orlando, FL, from October 31st to November 3rd and is open to law enforcement (active or retired), spouses, significant others, family members, communications personnel, and more. To register or for more information, use the following link: https://tinyurl.com/4tc8v8em.

If you are in a formal leadership role and have lost all interest, get out. There is just too much at stake, especially today. Our people need leaders who are engaged, proactive, and looking to build better teams and better organizations.

If you don't have the time to retire, you need to find a way to reignite the fire that brought you into this noble profession in the first place. We have every right to expect our people to be proactive in their jobs. They have every right to expect us to be proactive as leaders.

Treat them poorly, and they’re done. Maybe not immediately, but your people will not continue producing in a negative workplace environment with an abusive boss.

Second, don’t acknowledge or even notice their efforts. This might be the most common mistake made by poor leaders. According to Quantum Workplace, “...recognition is a top driver of employee engagement. “When employees are “recognized, they are 2.7 times more likely to be highly engaged.” Simply, when they know someone’s watching, they move into a different gear.

Finally, reward poor performers. Nothing destroys morale faster than promoting employees with little or no body of work or who bring negative traits to the team. The most eloquently written email announcing the promotion will fool no one. This single act undoes every rah-rah speech the organization has given about rewarding hard work.

Tony Blair, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, once said, "The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes."

Would you want to work in an environment where leaders pride themselves on saying "no" as much as possible? Does "no" create energy and positivity in your workplace? Does "no" give your people a sense of purpose? Does "no" breed loyalty or cohesion?

At Leading Blue, we define leadership as the ability to get the best out of your people. We don't accomplish this by creating an environment of "no." We create it by building an environment where our people thrive, are happy, and are engaged in their work. And this means saying "yes" whenever possible.

Vince Lombardi once said, "Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work."

Spot on. Exceptional leadership is a choice, but it is important to understand that leadership is a skill set that must be learned; it is not some energy force that materializes at the first promotion.

This is an excellent piece by retired LAPD Commander Keith Bushey. The first paragraph is an outstanding summary of one of the most critical leadership issues in law enforcement today.

Leaders are made – not born! My long-term passion for the art and science of leadership goes back to my early days in the Marine Corps. A painful experience as a private first class has stayed […]

If you accept a position in an organization where your leaders and colleagues are truly elite, you cannot help but strive to raise your game to their level. The example being set makes excellence the norm. The behaviors exhibited by the leadership are far more important than any rules or policies.

Leadership modeling is the most effective method for building exceptional performers and future leaders.

This truly is the essence of leadership; it is about your team.

If you have the ability to build great teams and great people, I cannot emphasize enough how much you are needed in law enforcement today.

The frontline supervisor might just be the most important position in the organization. Most often a sergeant, they are key to building culture, getting buy-in on the vision, and preventing high-profile nightmares like we have seen in recent years. To get the most out of them, they must feel valued. They must believe that they are an integral part of the organization.

There is no graduation in leadership. When executed correctly, it is a course of study for which you will never receive a certificate. Great leaders continue to develop both their leadership skills and their job knowledge.

Upon taking over a new unit, I encountered a member of my team who was great with people. She was warm, caring, and knowledgeable about our program. She loved it when others came to her with questions. She was always encouraging, supportive, and patient and gave as much time as they needed. She would also follow up to see if they had questions or needed help. She

Several months later, during her performance review, I mentioned that she had some outstanding leadership traits. She was floored and said she did not see it that way.

The previous leadership team ruled more than they led. They had high expectations, and when they weren't met, they would not hesitate to criticize publicly. And they held everyone to standards and rules they did not follow themselves.

Because this woman had been with the previous leadership team for so long, she thought what they did was leadership, which is why she didn't see herself as a leader.

We must change this thinking. In our classes, we define leadership as the ability to get the best out of our people. Belittling and disparaging them will not accomplish this, nor will public ridicule or failure to follow the standards we set.

Leadership is about building our people into the best possible versions of themselves. It is about bringing them to levels they never thought possible. It is about inspiring them and giving them a sense of purpose in their work. In our industry, our people deserve nothing less than the most spectacular leadership possible.

By the way, that woman turned out to be exceptional. Over the next several years, she ascended to become the deputy chief of that unit.

Management is the stuff; leadership is the people. Management often gets second chair when, in fact, it is just as critical as leadership. Our people need to be able to count on us to get things done.



Management is getting things right. Leadership is getting people right. You need to do both.

The most beautiful colors in the world.
The most beautiful country in the world.
Happy 248th Birthday to the “Great Experiment.”
God Bless the USA. ❤️🤍💙

In the past 12 months...
...How many leadership books have you read?...How many leadership classes have you taken?...How many leadership webinars/videos have you watched?

There is a world of leadership studies available on the Internet at no cost. Commit to at least one hour a week of leadership development. You owe it to those you lead and those who entrusted you with the position.

Illegitimi Non Carborundum is mock Latin for "Don't let the bastards grind you down." It originated as a saying between troops during World War II, and some actually had it inscribed on their headstones. It's also highly relevant to leadership.

No one wants to work for the doom-and-gloom, everyone's out to get me, this-place-sucks boss. Leaders must be positive. They must be optimistic and have great energy.

Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle to maintaining this positivity is often those with whom and for whom we work. But great leaders will focus on the positive. And when confronted with such negativity, just remember, Illegitimi Non Carborundum! Have a great week!

Always a great class and engaging discussion when visiting Fredericksburg, VA. And, as always, thank you to Tom Einwechter, the in-service training coordinator for the Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy. Just an outstanding and well-run law enforcement training facility.

Thank you to the following agencies for trusting the leadership development to Leading Blue:

Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office - Roger L. Harris Sheriff
Fauquier County Sheriff's Office
Office of Stafford County Sheriff - David "DP" Decatur, Sheriff
Goochland County Sheriff's Office
Rappahannock Regional Jail
King George County Sheriff's Office
Manassas City Police Department
Colonial Heights Police Department
Hanover County Sheriff's Office
Aquia Harbor Police Department
Orange County Emergency Communications Center
Richmond International Airport Police

It doesn't matter how many years you have been a road supervisor. It doesn't matter how many decades you have been a chief. Your accumulated time has nothing to do with your leadership.

The quality of your leadership is determined by your actual contributions to your people and your organization. As Mark Sanborn said, "The test of leadership is this: is anyone or anything better because of you?"

When I was promoted to sergeant, there was literally no training program. I was told to be patient and that I would eventually receive advanced training.

We must change this thinking. Our frontline supervisors must be fully prepared on the day they assume the role, not put into some protracted, learn-from-trial-and-error, half-assed attempt at training, or, even worse, no training at all, which is also prevalent.

If your agency falls into one of these two categories, we can send you a comprehensive new-supervisor training program that is fully customizable. There is no cost either. Just send us an email at [email protected] and put "Sergeants Onboarding Program" in the subject line.

High Performance Leadership comin' to Texas!

Leading Blue will present our High Performance Leadership class at the Jersey Village Police Department on November 18, 2024. It will be our first time in the Lone Star State, and we're super excited to be working with such a progressive law enforcement organization.

Registration information and additional training dates can be found here: https://leadingblue.com/class-schedule/