At over 5000 years old, the ancient pyramids in Giza are among the oldest structures in the world. They provided a great opportunity to talk about the importance of building structure in our lives.
The 4-sided pyramid is a good model to illustrate the power of structure. Imagine that each face (triangle) represents an important aspect of your overall strength and structure. One triangle represents the three aspects of your Integrity – character, competence, and communication. Another represents the importance of exercise – strength, flexibility, and aerobic conditioning. Another, the three components of nutritional health – balanced diet, hydration, and anti-oxidants. The fourth, Stress Management – sleep, rest, and recreation.
Balancing all four aspects of your life and building structure in these areas brings strength, integrity, and wellness.
In this second video from Giza, I use the Twin Towers of Integrity as a model to illustrate the relationship between character and competence.
Both character and competence (or as Noah Webster calls them, virtues and abilities) are critical for success and together they form the pillars that support our integrity. Our integrity, in turn, builds trust, which fuels relationships internally and externally. Trust-based relationships with the community are the foundation of the coactive response to crime-fighting.
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Our English word “integrity” comes from the Latin root “integritas” – meaning wholeness and completeness. We also get our English words integrated and integer from this same root. When I visited the ancient Roman city of Jerash near Amman, Jordan, I had the chance to tell another centurion story relating to integrity.
In the Roman military tradition, the soldiers would line up for inspection and as the centurion approached each man, the soldier would bang his breastplate with his fist and shout, “Integritas!” which meant, “I am whole. I am complete. And I am prepared for battle…!”
I was first exposed to this history in a speech by General Charles Krulak, then commandant of the US Marine Corps.
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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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“The virtues of men are of more consequence to society than their abilities; and for this reason, the heart should be cultivated with more assiduity than the head.”
— Noah Webster, On the Education of Youth in America, 1788
Another way of saying that character is more important than competence…
I was recently discussing with a viewer of the Police Dynamics website about incorporating character-based principles into tactical debriefings. Here is a series of short videos that demonstrate how to make the “character connection” in tactical debriefings, roll call training, and in-service training sessions. The first is a re-enactment of a canine-tracking exercise, followed by a roll call session featuring Lt. “Poncho” Villa, and then a couple of character recognitions with Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office personnel.
(Sadly, Michael Deese, the deputy on the front row/right side, was killed, along with his canine partner, in a tragic car crash some time after this video was filmed …)
There are essentially three keys to building a Culture of Character within any organization:
Develop a new Character Vocabulary
Make the Character Connection
Prepare for the Character Test
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“Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”
— Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
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In these two videos, one from the city of Beth Shaen in Israel and the other from Jerash in Jordan, I use the setting of these ancient cities to emphasize the importance of character in determining a man or a woman of integrity.
The first video from our visit to Beth Shean explains the importance of individual character qualities in defining a man or woman of integrity.
The second video was filmed at the ancient city of Jerash in Amman, Jordan. At the foot of the Temple of Zeus I found a great setting to explain the Twin Towers of Integrity.
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George Washington
“[T]here exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity.”
— George Washington, First Inaugural Address, 1789
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No, Beth Shaen is not a female colleague who has defined policing. Beth Shaen is an ancient city in Israel where King Saul’s body was hung on the wall after his death at nearby Mount Gilboa. The account of this incident can be found in I Samuel 31. The city was later controlled and developed by the Romans when they extended their rule into the land of Israel.
Years ago, I was challenged by a colleague if I had ever looked up the definition of policing. I told him of course not. I know what it means. It means law enforcement. In my view, policing and law enforcement were synonymous. He told me I should go look it up because I might be surprised. So I did. And I found this definition in the American Heritage Dictionary.
Regulation and control of the affairs of a community, especially with respect to maintenance of order, law, health, morals, safety, and other matters affecting the public welfare.
This is an expanded definition of what we might traditionally think of as the police mandate. But policing is SO much more than just enforcing the law. The Coactive approach to policing understands that just locking people up, merely enforcing the law, doesn’t solve the problem of crime. It might solve A crime, or it might solve a series of crimes. But it will not solve the PROBLEM of crime because it is not affecting the core issues that allow crime to flourish: Fear, Apathy, and Tolerance.
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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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Sheriff Ray Nash
