The Leadership Crisis
/The Leadership Crisis
By Heather Glogolich, Ed.D.
We are losing members of this profession at astounding rates, and it is harder than ever to find quality people who want to be a part of this thin blue line family. We will never be able to recruit the right people if we are not retaining our current team members. It is critical that we create a culture people want to be a part of because we sacrifice so much of ourselves to succeed and serve. How do we lead a team of people who are overworked when we are understaffed? Where should the priorities shift? Can we deliver effective services to our stakeholders while also working to support our officers through resiliency and heart-led leadership?
I don’t know the right answers for you, because it relies directly on your specific agency, its leadership, its team members, its internal dynamic and the current culture. As you read this article and think about all the issues facing your agency, self-reflect and ask yourself - Are you a part of the problem? The honest answer is yes - because we all are. That answer of “yes” comes down to us all having different levels of motivation, self-discipline, experience, and perspective. The balance between the needs of your people and the needs of the community you serve is forever teetering back and forth. There is no finite solution for balance, much like that of work and home life. It is a constant give and take for which area needs you and your attention more without completely ignoring the other.
So where do we start as leaders of our respective organizations to build a culture of retention and resiliency in order to help with the recruitment aspect of qualified people?
Get to know your people. All of them. Help them understand the needs of the agency on an administrative level so they can fully work up to their level of internalization regarding the mission and vision. Understand what motivates them. Figure out how they learn best. Help them develop their own “why” as an individual and as a part of your team. Learn their strengths and utilize those strengths to enhance the agency’s professionalism. Understand where they have areas that are in need of improvement and help them without the fear of being mocked or ridiculed.
Lead by example. Continue to do the work that you expect your team to do. I understand that as you promote through your career many added responsibilities and collateral duties are placed on your task lists. Don’t forget where you came from, and while you may feel as though you have put in the work throughout your career and earned the right to not complete the same details as newer officers, the best way to earn trust and buy-in is by walking the walk.
Adapt and display a positive growth mindset. To constantly look for positives while also understanding we need to address the negatives takes a lot of work in a profession like ours. If we expect to be seen as law enforcement professionals then we need to be professional and have that expectation of our entire team. Create and share your goals with everyone and have your officers create and share their own goals. Allow your officers to know that failing is OK and we will never be perfect. The focus should be on failing forward. Try to adapt the mindset that nothing is truly a failure if you learn from it and grow. You succeed or you learn.
Treat your team how you want them to treat others. There is no room for yelling and berating people. Again - professionalism. Para-military or not, we as leaders have to employ empathy toward our people. They need to feel that you are approachable, balanced and fair. Without these three leadership traits, are you really an effective leader or are you gaining compliance through fear? Fear-based leadership may be effective in ways that get the job done to standard, but it is also effective in maintaining a culture within your agency that leads to citizen complaints, excessive use of force, resignation, burnout and unfortunately officer suicide.
Be the leader you would want. This is the simplest aspect of how to address the leadership crisis and is also self-explanatory while encompassing all the previous points. Be the example so that others get rid of their excuses. Be the best version of you in order to allow for the best versions of them.
You will not see change overnight and, depending on your current relationship with the people in your agency, it may take a lot longer for them to trust the process of redefining the culture. Gone are the days of continuing to do things one way because that’s the way they have always been done. The world is changing constantly and asking more from law enforcement than ever before, and we need to adapt our models of leadership to respond in a way that is inclusive, respectful, and effective. It starts with you as the leader by focusing on your team so they can deliver on the front line.
Heather Glogolich is a 20-year NJ law enforcement professional. She recently transferred from the Morris Township Police Department at the rank of Lieutenant. Heather is currently a Captain with the New Jersey Institute of Technology Department of Public Safety and holds a Doctorate of Higher Education from Saint Elizabeth University. She is an instructor for the NJ Chiefs of Police Command & Leadership Training Course, and is a PTC Certified Police Academy Instructor.
