Last week I posted pieces from an active police Chief, a pair of leadership researchers, and some self-evaluation questions for today’s police leaders. I hope some of you were able to carry through with this self-evaluation.
Again, here they are:
The Four Moments of Truth
- How you spend your time.
- The questions you ask.
- How you handle critical incidents or decisions, and
- The behaviors you reward.
[From Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 1987. }
The self-evaluation you need to do:
- Are leading or just managing? Is this you? How do you rate yourself on the “Ten Truths of Leadership” and “The Four Moments of Truth”? ( See last week’s post “Leadership Truths.”)
- How about those whom you lead? What do they have to say? Are you confident and humble enough to ask them how you are doing as a leader?
- How about your boss and those holding the same rank as you do? What do they have to say?
- When are you going to start — and how will you know you are improving your leadership skills?
- Having honestly answered these questions (and I hope you do), are you willing to change — to improve your leadership behavior this coming year?
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 