I was in Home Depot the other day looking for some soundproofing material. I asked around and was finally spoke with a manager. She told me, “We don’t carry it in stock, but we can special order it for you.” After a polite “Thank you anyway”, I left the store thinking, “Well, I can special order it!” Sure enough, when I got home I went to Amazon.com and found a plentiful list of soundproofing material available for me to special order.
So, what does that have to do with leadership?
With the on-demand world that we live in, people can go elsewhere to find what they want. If someone is working under a poor leader, they can seek out resources elsewhere like the internet or a great leadership book (most end up leaving the organization). My point here is that we have to be constantly evolving as leaders and then passing down what we learn to those we lead. If we wait until we have it all figured out, we will never mentor the next generation of Law Enforcement!
Now I am a huge proponent of online learning. I am working on my degree online, I subscribe to leadership podcasts, and heck….I even have a website! But I think that the best way for people to learn is eye to eye and knee to knee. Close personal observation of leaders leading is the best way to mentor someone.
How are you leading this next generation of Law Enforcement? Leave me a comment below and share your ideas, tips, and secrets!
