3 Things We Need to Teach Every New Supervisor
By: Andrew A. DeMuth Jr.
Newly appointed supervisors will never be as impressionable or as moldable as they are when they are first promoted. For this reason, it is critical that they receive excellent initial training and enter their new role with the appropriate mindset, a leadership mindset.
Of course, there are numerous principles of leadership from which to teach, but there are three that will help good supervisors become great leaders.
1. It’s not about You!
This is the single most important concept for new supervisors and the first principle in becoming a truly exceptional leader. It’s simple: you put your people first.
Years ago, a mayor was elected in a town near where I worked. His first official act in office was to create a reserved parking spot for himself, the closest spot to the municipal building. To accomplish this, he eliminated a handicapped spot. Contrast this with Chief Robert Garofalo of another nearby agency, the West Windsor Police Department, who works the road on Christmas mornings so one of his officers could be with family.
In researching his book Leaders Eat Last, leadership expert Simon Sinek interviewed a Marine Corps general and asked him what made the Marines so special. The general replied, “Officers eat last.” The general further explained that when Marines line up at a chow hall, the lowest-ranked personnel go first while the higher-ranked personnel go to the back of the line. What an incredible gesture that sends a powerful message of putting your people first.
To be a leader means to lead. It doesn’t mean to see what perks are in it for you. Leadership is sacrifice and putting your people first. When the leader truly takes care of his or her people, it builds loyalty to both the leader and the organization. New supervisors, it’s not about you!
Security tape surrounding a law enforcement crime scene.
2. Become a Student of Leadership.
Scheduling personnel, setting up training, and completing performance evaluations are not leadership functions; they are management functions. They are absolutely critical to the running of the organization, but they are not examples of leadership. Leadership is much more than that.
Great leaders elevate their people. They help their people grow and develop and excel. Great leaders create a positive environment, promote a healthy culture, and they lead their people in accomplishing the mission of the agency. Ultimately, “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” An excellent quote by Ralph Nader.
But newly promoted personnel must understand that leadership is not just a word; it is an undertaking. Besides the training provided by the agency, leaders should take it upon themselves to learn about leadership every day. In this era of technology, we have almost unlimited access to some of the best leadership minds of both today and throughout history. There are more books, articles, and videos on leadership than one could ever complete.
Teach our people to commit 30 minutes each day to learning more about leadership from all industries. One of our greatest sins is, “That would never work in law enforcement,” or “That would never work in my agency.” We dismiss ideas, not because we truly believe they wouldn’t work but because we have never seen them successfully implemented within our agency and we are afraid to try. We need courageous leaders with ideas and vision. And we need exceptional training in leadership for new supervisors.
3. Know Your Job!
“Hey Sarge, am I allowed to ask the passenger to get out of the car on a motor vehicle stop? Sarge, I’m on a noise complaint call, and I smell the odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside the house. May I search? Sarge, may I seize and search a garbage bag left at the curb of a residence without a warrant?”
The questions will never end, and they won’t just be about search and seizure either. From agency rules and regulations to law to policy to tactics to best practices, leaders need to know their job. Their people must be able to trust them. As leaders in such a unique profession, they owe this to their people.
Newly appointed leaders should commit a part of every shift to learning and brushing up on general job knowledge areas. This should be a daily occurrence. They should strive to become the go-to supervisor in the agency.
As trainers, we have the ability to influence the direction of the ship in the form of suggesting, modifying, and creating training curricula. Leadership training is one of those areas that benefit everyone: the leader, the squad or unit, and the organization. Of all the training in our industry, it offers the most return on investment. From the onset, if we could get new supervisors to buy into making it about their people, a commitment to learning leadership, and understanding the value of job knowledge, that return on investment would be massive. LB – Stay with Leading Blue for more law enforcement leadership articles.
Andrew A. DeMuth Jr. is the founder of Leading Blue, a firm that provides leadership training for law enforcement and the private sector. He served 32 years in law enforcement with four different agencies in a variety of leadership roles. During his career, he served as an investigation’s commander, range master, agency training officer, press information officer, and director of the youth police academy program. He spent the last seven years of his law enforcement career managing CODIS, the New Jersey DNA program overseeing the processing, compliance, and training of more than 500 participating law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities. Today he serves as an adjunct professor for two institutions and speaks on law enforcement leadership and training topics throughout the country. He is a passionate advocate of strong training in leadership for new supervisors.