Category Archives: Dynamic Leadership
Another training video from my trip to Israel. This one was filmed at the Sea of Galilee and I use it to explain the Police Dynamics version of the Peter Principle as related to me by my Chief of Staff, Barney Barnes.
My friend and colleague, Ron Ward, wrote a book called the Dirty Side of Leadership in which he explores a number of key leadership principles he calls “Dirty Lessons.” He asked me to do a short video segment on one of them and I chose Dirty Lesson #70, “Get off your high horse and mingle with your team.”
Seasoned law enforcement leaders recognize that there is an intricate link between officer morale and performance. Consequently, the morale of any law enforcement agency impacts the crime rate.
Those of us in police leadership must be actively engaged in showing our police officers, deputy sheriffs, and correctional officers that they are appreciated, encouraged, and motivated to fight crime and maintain the law, order, health, safety, and morals of their communities, whether on the streets or inside the detention facility. Making the Character Connection by praising them for the character quality that produced outstanding achievement is an excellent way of improving morale and fighting crime. Remember,
“Failure to Motivate Is Failure to Lead.”
The Second Law of Thermodynamics, also known as the Law of Entropy, states that all matter and energy is in bondage to decay. It always tends toward greater levels of disorder and chaos. Our law enforcement organizations and communities are the same way. We have to invest time and energy to maintain order, establish peace, and prolong stability. This training segment discusses the Law of Entropy as it relates to police management and leadership theory.
Many thanks to Kaelan Patel for serving as my videographer during our “Kabul Reunion” at Watts Bar Lake in Tennessee.
In conjunction with the International Academy of Public Safety and the National Sheriff’s Association, we are embarking on a new leadership development program called E5 Leadership. This training video was filmed at the George Washington House on the island of Barbados.
Let us raise up a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The results are in the hands of God. ~ George Washington
When you boil down most of the leadership principles that we teach through Police Dynamics or the Institute for Credible Leadership Development, they center around the Standards of an organization. We often think of a standard as a flag or banner being carried into battle. When the standard-bearer goes down, another soldier will immediately pick up the flag. Why? The flag itself is just a piece of material. It’s not what the flag IS that is so meaningful. But what the flag REPRESENTS that makes it so important. The same is true of our badge, our patch, our uniform and the other symbols attached to the law enforcement profession.
It also applies to the standards of our profession and our agency. A standard is a measure of quality, a model or ideal of what is true, right, and just. So E5 Leadership focuses on the standard or identity of your agency from 5 different perspectives:
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E1 – Establish the Standard
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E2 – Embrace the Standard
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E3 – Embody the Standard
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E4 – Encourage the Standard
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E5 – Enforce the Standard
In coming posts, we will look at each of these elements in more detail…
A friend and colleague of mine from Colorado, Dr. Lloyd Thomas, is a licensed psychologist, accomplished author, and life coach. He recently posted an article on Effective Family Leadership. The principles are so consistent with Police Dynamics and other principles of organizational leadership that I asked him for permission to include them on the Police Dynamics site, which he graciously granted. Since it is the day after Father’s Day, I thought it was particularly appropriate to post this new video today…
To subscribe to Dr. Thomas’ weekly leadership newsletter, go to: http://lists.webvalence.com/listmgr/subscribe?lists=practical_life_coaching
You can find his book, “Total Life Coaching: 50+ Life Lessons, Skills and Techniques for Enhancing Your Practice…and Your Life!” on Amazon.com.
Here is the complete text of Dr. Thomas’ article:
EFFECTIVE FAMILY LEADERSHIP
By Lloyd J. Thomas, Ph.D.
Whether you like it or not, when you become a parent you become the leader of your family. Children learn by observation and imitation. Parents are the “models” that children first observe and begin to imitate. You need to engage in the behavior you want your children to imitate and learn. As a parent, you become your children’s primary leader. It is a powerful and often difficult responsibility.
Most of us never learned the skills of effective leadership. In our culture, we have been regularly exposed to the notion that we should become “child-centered” or that “children should always come first.” If we make children the leaders of our families, our family structure will disintegrate. As parents, it is not our job to imitate our children. It is not our job to behave like children. It is not our job to be our children’s “best friend.” It is not our job to adapt to their behavior…it is their job to adapt to ours.
As parents, we need to become fully responsible leaders…responsible first for our own health and well being. Otherwise, we offer less than healthy leadership to our children. Teaching our children leadership and self-responsibility is only accomplished by becoming the best example of leadership and self-responsibility ourselves.
Here are ten time-honored principles of effective leadership. To become your children’s best leader, learn and practice these principles.
1. Your children are sometimes illogical, unreasonable, self-centered, disobedient, stubborn, and defiant. Love them anyway. (more…)
After my unsuccessful run for Congress, I finally got around to recording a new Police Dynamics training video. I based this one on a post by Dan Weigold on his blog Coach With Heart. I’ve been following Coach Weigold’s blog for a few years and we have sometimes “chatted” about principles of ethical leadership. And his recent post on Authentic Leadership is so consistent with the principles of Police Dynamics and the SHIELD Program teachings on Reflective Leadership that I asked him for permission to use it in this training session.
Coach Weigold identifies six components of authentic leadership (the components are his and the commentary mine)…
1. Compelling vision (does it inspire others, creating meaning)
The ability to impart vision is a key leadership skill that is often overlooked. A carefully crafted vision and mission statement, founded on the core values of an organization, are essential for inspiring others and setting expectations. For those of you interested in building a culture of character within your agency, I suggest you take this vision-crafting process one step further by identifying 10 essential character qualities that you consider absolutely critical for success and include them in your policy or standards manual.
2. Employee input and participation (leaders need to listen) (more…)
The Peter Principle I am referring to here is not the one you may have read about in leadership literature. The one I am talking about references the Apostle Peter, one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus who lived at Capernaum and was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee.
After feasting on some St. Peter’s fish at a nearby restaurant, I took the opportunity of our visit to the Sea of Galilee to bring you three important leadership principles: The Jethro Principle, The Solomon Principle, and The Peter Principle. Giving credit to Barney Barnes, my Chief of Staff at the Sheriff’s Office (every Sheriff needs a Barney) who first taught me these principles…
Chief Barnes has written an excellent book called Born to Be a Warrior. You can learn more at his website: http://borntobeawarrior.org.
The other Peter Principle is attributed to Dr. Laurence Peter and states:
”In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”
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During my trip to the Holy Land, we visited the Kidron Valley in the City of Jerusalem. Right at the base of the Temple Mount can be found the remains of the City of David, built by King David. Before he became king, he was hiding out in Ziklag where he assembled an army to defend against King Saul. In the 12th chapter of the book of I Chronicles, the Bible records the number of soldiers who came from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, with only one exception – the Tribe of Issachar. In this case, the Bible only records the number of “chiefs.”
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I hope you are enjoying this series of Police Dynamics teachings from the Holy Land. I am working on some new training resources behind the scenes so I haven’t been producing any new videos for a while. Hopefully, these resources will be available to you soon.
The first video, “The Path of MOST Resistance” was recorded at the Siq (narrow passage) leading down to the ancient city of Petra in the nation of Jordan. As rushing water followed the “path of least resistance,” it carved the Siq from the limestone substrate. Barney Barnes, my Chief of Staff when I was Sheriff (every sheriff needs a Barney, and I NEVER get tired of that joke…) often said, “Following the path of least resistance makes rivers, and men, crooked…”
BTW: Barney has written an excellent book called Born to Be a Warrior that you might want to check out…
“The Mark of Character” was filmed in front of the Treasury at Petra, made famous in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” which was filmed there. In it, I talk about the meaning of character and living your life “within the dash” which will be engraved on your tombstone.