Permission To Make A Mistake

A mistake of the heart is vastly different than an intentional act

There is an epidemic in law enforcement leadership that is not often discussed but after recently speaking with a room full of law enforcement professionals, I was reminded of this crippling issue.

The Inability To Make Decisions.

It seems odd that I would talk about an issue that should be the backbone of leadership but it seems to only be getting worse.

There isn’t a leadership seminar I do where I don’t hear this complaint but it’s nothing new. I spent 26 years as a supervisor, middle manager and upper manager and I dealt with this issue at every rank.

As a sergeant, it was the officers calling me asking basic questions. I thought it was a problem with line personnel until I made Captain and I quickly saw the issue with sergeants. It didn’t get any better at the Commander rank and I doubt it ever improves, even at the top.

Why?

I believe the reason is pretty simple. The scrutiny on the profession is at an all time high and the first day rookie has an incredible amount of autonomy. What should be one of the coolest parts of the job, is a liability to many…The individual officer is concerned about making decisions because if the decision is wrong, they don’t want to be blamed or worse.

We even have a term for it…..CYA. Everyone in the profession knows what this is and as I’ve said many times before, if we have a slang for something you can bet that we should stop doing it.

Solution

Just as the reason why is simple, so is the solution. Anyone posed a basic question, that is easily answered in policy or through basic repetition in the past, should simply not answer the question.

I said “look it up in policy” a few thousand times in my career and I even challenged the person posing the question to answer themself. 99.9% of the time, they already knew the answer.

They were just scared to do it on their own.

As a leader, you must give those under you the permission to make a mistake. The reason you must do this is because they will make mistakes and so will you. There isn’t a profession on the planet that doesn’t make the occasional mistake and there has only been one human being in the history of the world that was perfect and HE doesn’t work for your department.

The difference is in the mistake and how we handle it.

A mistake of the heart is vastly different than an intentional act. The first one should be dealt with using empathy and used as a learning tool. The second goes to internal affairs. The problem is that when an agency or a leader treats every mistake like an intentional act, the entire culture of the agency is quickly destroyed and fear rules the day.

Trust me, I watched a great department be destroyed within months when a hammer was used for every mistake, regardless of the intent.

Opportunity

Leaders have an incredible responsibility and thus, an opportunity to use mistakes as a learning and training tool. Rather than stoking fear, this builds rather than burn relationships while increasing trust.

Don’t waste another day.

Encourage your officers.

Empower your officers.

And watch your culture build!

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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.