How Police Leaders Can Boost Their Brain Excellence for Leading Innovation

Edward Brown, M.S.

The police profession can be conservative.  Although, police leaders have to juggle the competing interests of constituents, leaders can use innovation to become more effective. It has been said that the higher one goes up the police hierarchy, the less accountability there is. In other words, you cannot force police leaders to consider new ways of doing things unless they view change as aligning with their self-interest.  In keeping with this notion, police leaders who have climbed to the top of their organization should consider their legacy and how history will view their contributions to their department as well as the profession.  Are you satisfied with mediocrity?  Before police leaders can speak persuasively, they must first formulate compelling ideas through advanced critical thinking skills.

Police leaders, as transformational leaders, use their insatiable curiosity and ability to spot departmental inefficiencies to innovate services.  But, what is innovation?  Innovation is simply the foundation of new beginnings. In short, looking at old traditions through new lenses.  Through innovation, you can discover new ideas, learn new techniques, offer better quality, and even help personnel increase productivity.  However, what many police leaders do not realize is that innovation can be used to help move their department to the next level.  “Next level” sounds cliché, but the mission is really to focus on the ability to think about a police department as a living organism and feeding it the proper nutrients to grow.  Corporations are always borrowing ideas from other industries to improve productivity and profitability, which is part of their DNA.  Police departments shouldn’t be any different.

Police leaders can use critical thinking to innovate and transform their departments in several ways.  It can be as simple as having access to the right information so that they know what the latest and greatest schools of thought are. Taken from the IBAR Critical Thinking Method, formulated by Edward Brown, this is called “Benchmarking.” In benchmarking, you compare and contrast your departmental operations to industry leaders, standards, or best practices. By comparing departmental operations with these standards, leaders are able to select the options best suited for their usage.  

Think it is too difficult to manage innovation on your own? Simply send your most promising employees to a critical thinking class to encourage them to look at your internal operations differently.  Or, assign a  group of creative people to manage innovation independently. Leaders will be amazed at the services  that can be improved, as well as the efficiency of even the simplest of tasks, when innovation is encouraged. Leaders have to be secure within themselves when a transformational idea comes from someone else or the process is doomed for failure.

Because of the reluctance to change, innovating is a challenge to get started. But, there are enormous resources available to effectively begin the process. Start reviewing books, websites, organizations, and many more avenues that are available on innovative thinking.  Although you are spending time, resources, and money on finding the answers, learning how to make your department innovative, will enhance your department’s operations.  Innovation changes every single day. Have you thought about your true  contribution to the police profession and how your legacy will be viewed? If you haven’t, you still have time.

For more information on developing the critical thinking skills necessary for innovation, click here: 

http://policerecruitmentandselection.core-edge.com/events

5 Things Police Leaders Should Never Do When Speaking Publicly

Edward Brown, M.S.

  

Quite often, police chiefs who have come up through the ranks feel that effective public speaking isn’t necessary for doing their job. After all, they made it this far without being inspiring or persuasive in their communications. Besides, departmental messages can be handled by the police spokesperson. But, imagine if you could become a savior to your department when effective communication is most needed?  When a community leader galvanizes a group to protest a police action, what could you say to get that same group on your side?  Could you be more persuasive when attempting to get the city council to give your department more resources than fire and sanitation services? No matter what skills got you to the “Top Cop” position, the skills most needed in today’s society are the ability to persuade, inspire, and influence constituents under dire situations. The following are five (5) things police leaders should never do when speaking publicly:

1. Do not address an audience or constituent without adequate preparation. It is important for police leaders to become skilled at impromptu or “spontaneous” speaking. Having an outline that addresses a problem, its genesis, a solution, and a call to action, becomes essential under any circumstance where a department’s confidence and brand are on the line. You should never try to “wing it” or come up with something flat-footed. Even the best speakers make preparations seem spontaneous.

2. Do not leave critical messages in the hands of a police spokesperson.  A police chief should handle critical issues such as budget cuts, employee furloughs, injuries, and officer deaths. Departmental personnel and the public are looking for encouraging words to ensure that the department shows sympathy when an officer goes down and decreases the public’s fear when a dangerous person is running rampant.  These times are especially important for police chiefs and command staffs to rise to the occasion by possessing finely honed public speaking skills.

3. Do not give perfunctory, emotionless presentations. When people experience a loss or hardship, they want to know that someone in authority empathizes with their pain. The standard, emotionless response that police chiefs typically provide does not help ease departmental or public pain. Furthermore, departmental good will is lost when chiefs lack the confidence to become emotionally vulnerable in a time of need. It isn’t necessary that a chief breaks down publicly, but there should be some evidence that he has a heartbeat.

4. Do not leave nonessential information unsaid. There are many times when an ongoing investigation prevents police leaders from divulging pertinent information. An active case requires that critical information remain sealed to either clear up a case or develop evidence for later prosecution. However, controlling public and media messages is all about controlling the conversation. Steer the conversation in a way where you control the tone and mood of the information that is revealed. “No comment” remarks create more intrigue and fodder for rumors than mere explanation of what can be disclosed. Always set the stage on your terms and emphasize a commitment to resolving the case, issue, or controversy as soon as possible.

5. Do not give the same exact presentation to different constituents. Although a message may be the same, the delivery and nuance of each audience requires changes based on constituent’s needs.  If you speak to the Rotary Club, change the same presentation to meet the needs of a Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU). By being aware of the subtle, yet important, differences between each forum, you won’t be labeled a mere politician who does not understand that audiences often overlap. 

The borderless Internet and the global media make effective public speaking paramount for police leaders. The days of police activities remaining local are over. Police leaders have to become acutely aware that while their jurisdictions may be limited, the reach of their messages is unlimited.  One day, you may be a police chief in a city or county with very little activity. The next day, you may be the face and voice of a monumental event.  Become a master communicator that constituents can be proud of rather than a police leader who is proficient at the administrative aspects of policing, but oratorically ill equipped.

For more information on how police leaders can become more persuasive and influential in their public speaking skills, visit: http://plr.coreedgeprivatelabelrights.com

How Police Chiefs & Command Staffs Can Add Flair and Charisma to Their Public Speaking Skills

Edward Brown, M.S.

What distinguishes those individuals who are at the top of their profession versus those who, while successful, may not share a similar position? The answer is flair, charisma, and showmanship! Personalities that revolutionize an industry are those who are able to capture the imagination of their audiences. The late Pop superstar Michael Jackson, magician David Copperfield, and animal trainers Siegfried and Roy, are a few examples of individuals who have risen to the highest heights in their fields by being expert showmen. Each day in police roll calls throughout the U.S., police managers and supervisors have an opportunity to inspire and influence police officers just before these officers hit the streets.  This is the best time to reinforce employee engagement and retention among the troops.

Like most things in life, people who possess flair and charisma are not born but made. The most mundane speaker can learn how to capture an audience's attention by adding flair to his presentation. Here are a few tips for engaging and inspiring an audience:

1. Bring or Create Your Personality on Stage- Speakers are closely aligned with actors and actresses because they are often required to re-create reality on stage. Speakers who are natural extroverts bring their personalities to the stage easily. Extroverts engage the audience by penetrating their audience’s emotions as well as their logic. These speakers add color and verve to their presentations by the use of stories, analogies, drama, and humor. The presentation takes on a life of its own. Extroverts are often jokingly referred to as "hams".

Speakers who are natural introverts can create an extroverted personality on stage. The introvert must see himself in a bigger- than- life role by envisioning how he wishes the audience to respond.   The introvert may be very different on stage than in private.  Through imagery, pauses, calculated movements, articulation, the speaker becomes anything he desires.  By saturating one’s mind with images of an ideal outcome, the introvert becomes an exciting speaker on stage contrary to his slight and indistinct manner off stage.

2. Develop Your Own Sense of Style- The speaker who develops a unique and authentic style will have more effective presentations than imitators will. A speaker's haircut, clothing, brand of humor, and animated gestures, become his trademark. The challenge for a speaker in developing flair is to constantly enhance one's true self.  If you push yourself too far out of the sphere of authenticity, you become a cartoon of yourself. Also, it is important that one's flair should remain in the realm of proper social etiquette.  Any behavior deemed "outlandish" might have a negative impact on the audience.

3. Develop a Regimen that Enhances Flair- Athletes often take ballet and dance lessons to become more graceful and coordinated.  As a speaker, the most essential part of your presentation is your non-verbal communication. Ballet and dance enhances a more rhythmic flow of natural gestures. For those who can’t afford ballet and dance lessons, your living room and a good CD player will suffice.  Dancing to your favorite songs positively affects your body movements and gestures.  Furthermore, you may alter voice rate and variation by reciting alphabets or reading aloud from your favorite novel. A practiced ritual helps condition the mind to duplicate efforts when giving a presentation even with very little notice and preparation. The more you adhere to a regimen to enhance flair, the natural it will become when it’s time to give a presentation on-call.

4. Study Entertainers in Different Fields- Effective entertainers and speakers share certain traits. One trait is their ability to captivate the audience through emotions. Another trait is the ability to produce memorable performances and experiences for an audience.  You expand your imagination by viewing personalities in other fields. These diverse personalities have an uncanny way of maintaining audience interest for long stretches of time.

Putting flair and charisma into your presentation is a learned art. A boring speaking style does not have to be a way of life. If you want to give more dazzling presentations in roll calls, community meetings, or city council hearings, discover how to speak with flair.  With flair, you will talk your way into the hearts and minds of your listeners.

Discover how to speak with more flair and persuasion by visiting: http://policerecruitmentandselection.core-edge.com/events

Self-Assessment Through Critical Thinking is a Key to Productivity Within Police Departments

 Edward Brown, M.S.

What would inspire police personnel to dig deeper in providing better services to the public? Does policing cause employee burnout or is the employee doomed for failure from the start?   The sad fact is that many people are unproductive, because they have not developed the critical thinking skills to become more productive.  In part, it isn’t their fault.  My teachers up until college seldom asked me what I thought about anything. Kindergarten to Grade 12 education is fundamentally about remembering—facts, dates, and people.  It wasn’t until I went to college and later graduate school that I began improving my critical thinking skills. Fortunately, part of my graduate school experience included law school, where critical thinking is the core of the curriculum. So if I had to go to law school and later receive a master’s degree before I became an effective critical thinker, how could the average person become a better critical thinker without enjoying similar experiences? 

Whether you have a college or graduate degree or no degree at all, it is important to determine whether you truly have developed the critical thinking skills to be productive in the workplace, particularly within police departments.  It all starts with an adequate assessment of yourself.

Getting started

Although self-assessment, for some people in group settings, can be a good start in building a positive attitude and outlook in life, this might not be applicable to all people, especially to those who prefer to do things on their own. 

If you are one of these people, who would rather do things on his or her own, then now is the time to realize how a big self-assessment can contribute to your being more productive. Experts say that if one starts with the process of self-assessment now, it will be easier for him or her to be productive and accomplish greater things for themselves and for the people that they love in the future. 

Experts agree that for one to excel and be successful in life, the concept of productivity is very essential. This is because knowing how to be productive, even when you’re down, creates unforeseen opportunities unavailable during any other time.  Being productive also serves as an inspiration that keeps your spirit high no matter how challenging the times may be. This rang true when I served as a police officer with the Atlanta Police Department. At a certain point, most officers want a new challenge or change from the norm. Although policing is one of the most fascinating professions you can experience, after some time, activities can become routine. On many occasions, officers wanted more opportunities and felt these opportunities would somehow fall into their laps. Of course, that’s not how it works. Consequently, many police officers became less productive and did just enough to get by.  If critical thinking skills training was offered in the police academy or during In-service training, it could create a win-win  situation.  Police officers would know what to do to create opportunities within the police department that were self-fulfilling. And the police department would encourage innovative and ingenious ways for getting the job done.  

For those who want to start being more productive, it would be best to begin with a self-assessment by following these two tips:

- Discover and re-discover your purpose in life. Indeed, the most powerful thing that can help a person get started with self-assessment is discovering your cause or your purpose in life. Once you are able to do this, you can find a reason in your heart for becoming more productive. The reason may be for the betterment of yourself or for your family.  No matter what it is, it is important to anchor yourself to a motivation that promotes productivity. 

- Be thirsty and hungry for something. For people who are just starting out with the process of self-assessment, enjoy the process for the end result. This is because wanting to learn the concept of productivity alone would not fuel your drive to aim for greater things or heights.  If you really want to use self-assessment to excel and be productive, don’t be content with what you have right now nor merely go through the motions without an objective.

It is best to always be hungry for knowledge as fuel for learning. If you are consistently learning new things (inside and outside of policing), you will be able to acquire new skills and even boost your self-confidence in the end.  Although it may be unlikely or impractical to immediately enhance your critical thinking skills through formal education, if you can engage in some form of critical thinking training to improve your productivity, you are encouraged to do so. One of the greatest yearnings we have as human beings is to be seen as significant as well as leave a legacy that defines our life.  If we can understand and embrace our unmet need to create legacies, we will be moved to become more productive.

To gain the tools for becoming more productive through critical thinking, visit: http://policerecruitmentandselection.core-edge.com/events

How Using the Best Practices of Transformational Leaders Can Help Command Staffs & Police Supervisors Inspire Employee Productivity

Edward Brown, M.S., of Core Edge Police Professional Development provides answers to questions on the strategies for law enforcement leaders to improve productivity within their departments.

Q: Based on your research on transformational leadership development, what is the single most important trait transformational leaders exhibit that can help senior managers and police supervisors inspire employee productivity?

Brown: Based on my research, transformational leaders have a preternatural ability to read people. I was in a meeting once where police supervisors were trying to persuade an officer to consider their perspective on a policy change.  It was an attempt by the incoming police chief to solicit more officer feedback when drafting new policies that affect police officers.  A captain who had been quietly listening all along tapped into the officer’s concerns. He essentially asked, since you are in the shoes of the people impacted, how will you feel and what aspects of the policy would you change? Those two questions changed the whole dynamics of the meeting. The captain honed into what the officer was feeling, which is the reason the officer was asked to attend the meeting. Transformational leaders are adept at getting to the core of a problem by uncovering the nuance of nonverbal communication.

Q: So, do police managers and supervisors need to listen more to the nonverbal cues of police personnel?

Brown: Active listening is part of it, but it is broader than that. Police supervisors could benefit from a paradigmatic shift that suggests that self-interested, motivated employees will either make or break departmental productivity.  The “Inside game” in today’s economy is all about tying the self-interests of employees to departmental missions. Psychological contracts between police supervisors and employees have to be formed during the hiring process with benchmarks along the way.  

Q: In this context, how is “Psychological Contracts” defined?

Brown: A psychological contract is a mental agreement between parties that address the self-interests of each party and the expectations derived from the relationship.

Q: Why is this doctrine important for police supervisors?

Brown: It is important because during the hiring process, the hiring agency carries a great deal of power. The best way to wield power is acting as if it does not exist.  By tapping into the self-interests of employees, as they enter into the department, you make it about the rewards for specific performance. As a superpower on the world’s stage, the U.S. does it all the time. In reality, the U.S. can forcefully persuade most countries to act according to U.S. interests. However, the U.S. has learned that gentle persuasion is a better way of influencing foreign policy, particularly when the rest of the world is looking. The same is true at the individual level. A police department can persuade a new hire that his or hers self-interest, as a means of growing within the department, is part of the department’s mission.

Q: So, by emulating the persuasiveness of transformational leaders in gaining follower loyalty, police managers can inspire employee loyalty?

Brown: Yes. By understanding that the objective of police departments is about getting personnel to do what they sometimes do not want to do.  Although police department have SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and employee manuals that govern the department’s personnel, there is an honor system based on the nature of policing. Police officers are still responsible for adhering to these edicts even in the absence of direct supervision.  However, police officers will model their behavior after the actions of the supervisors they respect.   

For more information on becoming more persuasive in your communication and leadership skills, visit: http://policerecruitmentandselection.core-edge.com/events