By definition, the Unrestorable Spirit is just that — unrestorable. He refuses to be restored and enjoys being a Renegade. Outside of divine intervention, they are a lost cause. However, there is great hope for the other Renegade Spirits. Starting with the Rebellious Spirit, lets look at a character-based approach to restoration.

First of all, definitions are critically important. If we are going to incorporate character-based standards into our progressive discipline model, we have to be particularly careful to define and articulate the standard. Normally, we might define Obedience this way: “following the instructions of someone in authority…” But this is a behavior-based definition and it is very superficial. I like this character-based definition of Obedience better:

Quickly and cheerfully fulfilling the expectations of my authorities

Notice that “fulfilling expectations” is different than “following instructions.” It is entirely possible to be technically obedient in actions and be totally rebellious in attitude. We define character as “the internal motivation to do the right thing regardless of the circumstances and regardless of the costs.” A truly obedient person obeys in both action and attitude. And a good supervisor must have the discernment to look below the surface of behavior to determine the true attitude of the heart.

In this video, I also use a humorous example to illustrate how Problem-Oriented Policing can actually backfire on us if we do not communicate our expectations properly.

NOTE: I just returned from Romania this morning after conducting a number of Police Dynamics training sessions at the invitation of the Romanian National Police and their National Anti-Drug Agency. I hope to post some new videos and photos from there in the coming weeks…

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