Do They Care...
Could This Simple Concept Revolutionize Law Enforcement?
I recently interviewed Sergeant (ret.) John Kelly for an upcoming episode of the Courageous Leadership Podcast and he said something to me that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.
As we discussed law enforcement leadership and how we can turn the tide from weakness to courage, he simply said that “leadership is about caring.”
In a world of leadership gurus and thousands of books on the subject, it sounds crazy to think that it is that simple. After all, caring for others is a trait that should be taught to us as children but as I thought about what John said, I came to the conclusion that indeed, it is that simple.
What Does It Mean?
While there is a simplicity to “just care for others,” the practice is often times a different story in law enforcement. I completed by dissertation almost a year ago and while my brain hasn't recovered from that exercise in torture, I decided to go back and read it with the concept of caring that John mentioned.
I studied a major law enforcement agency looking at how the lack of communication affected the overall performance and goals of the agency and while I couldn’t recall the issue of caring for others in the findings, a quick word search revealed that John Kelly is not fake news.
Ouedraogo and Ouakouak (2018) concluded that an increase in organizational performance flourishes when employees believe that the organization cares for them, and subsequently fulfills several needs.
Chen et al. (2012) concluded that the success of transformational leadership can be attributed to the way that transformational leaders communicate in an authentic way to subordinates and expressing care and trust.
Maslow’s (1943; 2013) Hierarchy of Needs, where the employee feels they are being cared for by the leadership, and leadership, therefore, appears trustworthy and reliable.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the academic literature stresses the importance of caring but what do law enforcement professionals say about it? Here are a few excerpts from the interviews that I conducted:
“While the lack of communication was the most cited reason for the lack of morale, some participants lamented that they believed that leaders did not care for their well-being.”
“…if they (officers) feel that they're not being appreciated, or they feel like they are not cared for, what happens is that their performance kind of slows down.
“A lot of people feel like our leaders just really don't care about us and therefore they're not going to communicate with us and they're not going to care about what we feel, what we think, what could be improved.”
“we feel like no one cares about us.”
“I think it's important for administration to make the officers feel like they're heard and feel like they're listened to and feel like they care.”
“I think leadership, in my opinion, is not about being in charge, but it's about taking care of those in your charge.”
Not Caring=Total Destruction
I’m not going to name the agency I studied but I will tell you that it is a major agency that all of you have heard of and they do not have a reputation of cowardice. In fact, prior to the research, I would have guessed that none of the findings would have been present at the rate found.
94% of the participants said that the agency did not define goals.
76% of the participants cited a lack of morale within the agency.
71% of the participants cited low performance within the agency.
71% of the participants cited a lack of communication within the agency.
If you’ve made it this far, I’m certainly not going to put you to sleep with more academia but I’ll say this when it comes to findings in qualitative research. Those percentages are off the chart (themes could emerge at 25%) and if you believe that I somehow rigged the study, it’s quite the opposite.
I had no clue and unless you go to Harvard, doctoral research findings are scrutinized by a host of professors and chairs that aren’t exactly winking and nodding in their criticism which is why 50% of those that start, never finish.
Simplicity
As I examined the direct quotes from the participants, it was hard not to see how a lack of “caring” did not create the significant issues the study found. John’s simple but elegant explanation of what a good leader was really is the solution to what the law enforcement profession has been enduring in recent years.
I walked off a stage in Pinal County (AZ) last fall and a veteran officer walked up to me and thanked me for being there. As I often do, I asked how he was doing and how the job was going. His beamed with pride as he said that he was having the time of his life. I asked him to explain and he told me that after 17 years, he was loving the job more than ever saying that “the leadership supports me, they care for me, and they genuinely want to see each employee succeed at the highest level.“
There isn’t a pill for caring and you can’t fake it.
But it’s not as easy as you may believe.
Caring for others often involves sacrifice.
Rather than making a decision from an ivory tower, leaders that care need to consider how that decision could impact others.
Rather than lumping every policy violation into harsh discipline, leaders that care should evaluate the action as a mistake surrounded by human performance factors or an intentional act to do harm.
Rather than ignoring the lies told by the media or activists, leaders that care understand that false allegations impact their employees and they need support.
Leaders that care place others above their own personal interests and as former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani once said, “funerals are mandatory and weddings are optional.”
Final Thoughts
To summarize the importance of leaders caring, Patterson (2010) may have said it best when he wrote that leaders “lead with love, are motivated by love, and serve their followers with love. This love is a force, a force so intense that it changes lives – the lives of the followers, the life of the organization, and even the life of the leader.”
Are you providing a force so intense that lives are being changed?
If not, your opportunity to do so begins now.
Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.
References
Chen, Z., Lam, W., & Zhong, J. A. (2012). Effects of perceptions on LMX and work performance: Effects of supervisors' perception of subordinates' emotional intelligence and subordinates' perception of trust in the supervisor on LMX and, consequently, performance: APJM. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 29(3), 597-616. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-010-9210-z
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
Ouedraogo, N. and Ouakouak, M. L. (2018), "Impacts of personal trust, communication, and affective commitment on change success". Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 676-696.
Patterson, K. (2010). Servant leadership and love. In D. Van Dierendonck & K. Patterson (Eds.), Servant leadership: Developments in theory and research. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Not surprisingly, I just had a conversation with the senior lieutenant in my police department about this very issue! We framed the conversation around the idea of trust and equity. When any leader has enough emotional investment into someone that trust is built through empathy, then performance increases. Leadership hammering numbers with performance metrics before considering the human factor is immature and arrogant at best. Great article that I’m looking to send my entire police Dept.…
Thank you for the insight my brother. When my boss acted if they cared whether I lived or died, or at least made me think they did. I worked harder for them.