I have always said that leaders matter and they matter greatly. I once had one of my sergeants tell me that he didn’t matter to the men and women in his patrol team. My reply was that the members of his team were watching everything he did or said all of the time — so use it to teach them how to be the good cops they aspire to be!
I ran across two videos from a field (like policing) which is deeply in need of leadership today — epidemiology.
One was a press conference and the other an interview concerning the pandemic with Ohio’s Director if Public Health, Dr. Amy Acton.
What she does is exhibit the vital characteristics of quality leadership: vulnerability, the importance of team, brutal honesty, openness, and accountability.
If you want a quick primer on leadership during a major crisis, this is it!
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P.S. Of course there is always push- back even to the best of leaders. Here’s what happens sometimes when expert opinion clashes with politics. Just recently, the Ohio legislature has limited her and the governor’s authority to issue orders that last more than 14 days during a health crisis. You can read about it HERE.
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 