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| Leadership for Challenging Times [part iv] |
| By Tracy E. Barnhart |
| Published: 03/16/2009 |
 Tracy Barnhart is a Marine combat veteran of Desert Storm / Desert Shield. In 2000, he joined the Ohio Department of Youth Services at the Marion Juvenile Corrections Facility, a maximum security male correctional facility housing more than 320 offenders. Barnhart works with 16 to 21-year-old, male offenders with violent criminal convictions and aggressive natures. In his monthly column, he discusses everyday issues affecting corrections professionals. Editor’s note: In part three last week, regular columnist Tracy Barnhart wrote about different leadership styles. This week he concludes the with part iv of his leadership series. In the past I have been fairly critical of the supervision I have seen within the law enforcement and correctional community. I have given very graphics examples and descriptions of the poor efforts being applied by many managers in all aspects of the administrative roles of our agencies. And yet I have been given an opportunity to offer a solution to the problems administrators of today as well as the supervisors of tomorrow will experience. An action plans so to speak, a detailed roadmap to deal with change and how to become a better decision maker and a leader whom your officers will want to follow and excel for. They will sacrifice and extend loyalty and they will grow and develop. The first thing I would tell all new and present supervisors is this; “Teach your job to someone else and learn someone else’s job.” Take a minute and ask yourself this question, “Are we a Para-Military organization or are we just playing military?” In no other profession do we promote people into supervisory roles within our agencies and then we might give you the training on how to do their job. Our supervisors are so poorly trained that most of the training is left up to “on the job training” to fulfill the education aspects of a supervisor. The actual military has found out that this little bit of leadership information could lead to either a victory or failure within their organization. Each member must know how to do everyone’s job in case the inevitable ever happens... In our agencies it seems that administrators are afraid that someone exhibiting a greater knowledge will take their job so they keep their information secret in an attempt to seem more knowledgeable that the rest. In reality smart leaders surround themselves with people that are smarter than themselves. Realize, each of us are no better than anyone else in the room, we all just have different experiences. A leader’s goal is to do three things for their officers:
Am I doing the right thing?
Not everyone can be a leader; in fact, very few true leaders exist. Most are found in the business world, military services, law enforcement, or corrections where the rubber actually meets the road. In the real world of success and failure; life and death, competition separates the leaders from the managers and their close relatives, the supervisors. There’s a distinct difference between these three concepts. You may have good managers, even good supervisors, but leaders? That’s something special. You don’t inherit this quality, delegate it or have it handed to you. Neither do you have it by virtue of promotion or election. You can’t buy it or give it away. The essence of a leader is mixed and molded by physical and mental traits, intelligence level, aptitude and temperament. Leaders inspire others forged by the strife of life; leaders learn to set an example. Not only do they care about the people they lead, they also possess a genuine compassion for others, and are not afraid to accept responsibility. They embrace the concept of being held accountable and accept the consequences of such. A sense of decisiveness pervades their thinking, enabling them to get things done, and they aren’t afraid of making mistakes. They’ve accepted the fact that mistakes are a part of the job. Despite obstacles, leaders normally prevail against the odds. Leaders believe in the ability of their subordinates in the process, subordinates learn to believe in leadership. Leading by example is crucial to the leadership continuum. Leaders know when to take charge and when to delegate authority. Leaders know when it comes to work-related productivity; a leader’s subordinates always get credit due. Leaders are not afraid to get their hands dirty and effective leadership encompasses tactical and technical proficiencies. True leaders do not forget where they came from, regardless of rank. Ranking officers have a unique responsibility to demonstrate leadership and this is their primary operational function. In discussions about leadership characteristics, people often cite such things as honesty, integrity and reliability. Things like “adherence to a code of conduct” and “honor and consistency” comes to mind. This is the result of a well grounded sense of self worth. “Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are.” Julius Charles Hare Keep your people safe is the first thing the leader must accomplish establish a problem assessment to determine what your people are facing. Is this a hostile inmate? What is that brown gooey stuff running out from under the kitchen door? How many people could be in that building that was just collapsed by a tornado? Most importantly, how does this threat endanger your own officers? You all know that the aforementioned scenarios are horribly panic ridden and confusing. At one point during the Columbine school attack; as many as eight shooters were thought to be active in the building. Always remember, the officers under your command come first and they should always know that you hold their safety and security in high regard. The word "courage" usually conjures visions of performing dangerous acts of valor in the midst of hazards or threats. However, there is another realm of fear that rarely involves physical risk, but does require great moral courage. Those in leadership positions face various kinds of real fear from this realm, including the fear of failure, the fear of criticism and the fear of rejection. In fact, these fears prevent many people from assuming leadership. Leaders combat these fears with the courage of conviction. Leadership requires making decisions. A decision always entails the possibility of error or the risk of criticism when additional facts come to light. The acute fear of failure can paralyze you into inaction. Leaders learn to make decisions without the benefit of all the facts. Doing so makes you a true leader. Leadership is easy, being a leader is hard. Other articles in this 4 part series by Barnhart: Leaders vs. managers [part i] More Leaders vs. Managers [part ii] Lions for Lambs [part iii] |
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