12 Traits of Effective Police Leaders
This article is an excerpt and is reprinted with permission from Police1.com.
When studies are done on leadership, one thing holds true: effective leaders focus on developing a culture of rewards versus a culture of punishment. Here is how they do it.
- Live their values: Effective leaders have a strong moral compass and have defined their values. They have a code of ethics on how to treat others and their behaviors back up their words
- Realize position does not define leadership: Leadership is not defined by a vertical position. Leaders who rely on their title or position to influence others just do not seem to work well with others. Leaders who lead by their hierarchal position do not lead well, according to John Maxwell, because they fail to acknowledge that leadership is about working with people.
- Set goals for interpersonal skill development: Personal development is ongoing, just like tactical skills, throughout our lives. Effective leaders see their personality strengths and talents and continually work on making them stronger. They also identify where they are not as strong and set achievable goals for improvement such as being slow to anger (less irritable) or listening more, instead of being defensive or treating others with contempt.
- Say “Thank You” often: Effective leaders take the time to appreciate the strengths of others with an encouraging word or gesture. Of course, it is their responsibility and expected of them to do their job and do it well, but a word of acknowledgment and gratitude goes far.
- Admit their mistakes: Effective leaders approach their mistakes with humility instead of justification and defensiveness. This allows an organization to move forward instead of becoming stuck on blame and shame.
- Strive to be mentors and coaches: Effective leaders believe in duplicating themselves so that others can rise up to be better leaders themselves. High-level leaders encourage the people around them to soar to their highest potential; by doing this they minimize their necessity at the most basic operational level, freeing themselves to creatively move the organization forward.
- Accept influence: Look for opportunities to learn and grow from anyone instead of criticizing another person’s value or assuming they know it all.
- Hold people accountable: Are able to lead in tough situations and able to negotiate conflict with authority and decisiveness without degrading another person.
- Delegate to the expert in the room: Are able to hand over projects to the most qualified instead of letting their ego or political ambitions hurt the culture around them. A true leader knows how to follow first and then steps up to lead when there is a gap in knowledge or skill level.
- Vision cast goals: The ability to set goals for a team or an agency that are clear and concise and done in a way that generates momentum towards productivity. Most leaders approach goal setting as a dictator rather than a vision caster. A dictator generates resentment and low morale whereas a vision caster generates excitement and buy-in of the goals.
- Forgive: In “Good Boss, Bad Boss,” Robert Sutton writes, “Do not hold grudges after losing an argument. Instead, help the victors implement their ideas with all your might.” Imagine how the police culture would be revolutionized if we learned from mistakes instead of them being held against someone for their career. A culture of forgiveness would heal a lot of angry cops.
- Are solution-oriented: Identifying the problem is easy. Finding a solution takes creativity and brainpower. Effective leaders do not complain, instead, they mull over the area that needs attention, involve others in brainstorming and work it over until a feasible solution is found.
True leadership is a lifestyle, not a position. Those who are effective know they are change agents and seek out to be “iron that sharpens iron.” To be an effective leader goes against human nature and definitely against standardized police culture for it takes humility, commitment, and a strong work ethic on personal development. So will you rise up and accept the challenge? ⭑