Archive for January 2019

Should the Agenda Pose Questions Instead of Topics?
One of my responsibilities as a Training Bureau Sergeant for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is instructor development. We offer classes to those who want to become better at the craft of instructing adults. Police officers and deputies may not be the easiest set of students to teach, but we owe it to them to provide quality courses and training.

Don’t Get Lost in ALL the Details of Your Vision
Setting goals for a team, organization, or yourself requires a number of questions to be asked. The questions need to be answered as honestly as possible by everyone involved in the process. Honesty is key while trying to be objective about our personal hidden agenda or the hidden agenda of others.

Creating Conversations for your Organizational Mission
Teaching and leading involve several similar skill sets. Many teachers prefer to “tell” their students what they need to learn.  Many leaders prefer to “tell” their employees what to do.  Why does this preference exist for leaders and teachers?  Probably because it is easy.

The Top, Middle, and Bottom Parts of Your Team
The ability to motivate people is an ongoing challenge for managers and supervisors. Having been a supervisor since 1998, I soon realized how important it was to keep your people working diligently and proactively.

Why do people move away from an organization’s mission?
Having worked for the largest sheriff’s department in the country for the past thirty years has provided me some perspective about how some people can lose sight of an organization’s mission.  As a training sergeant for my Department’s Training Bureau, I’ve had the opportunity to train a significant number of people. Many of those receiving my training are deputies and police officers of all ranks who have been disciplined.