Being the Chief Reminder Officer
Chief John Robison
Author and founder of the Table Group , Patrick Lencioni , describes one of the most important roles of a Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ) as being the “ CRO – Chief Reminding Officer ”. Never is that role more important than during a crisis . To say the law enforcement profession has been in crisis mode during most of 2020 would be a gross understatement . Between dealing with a global pandemic and a level of unrest and anti-police rhetoric , law enforcement leaders are facing challenges like never before in this great profession of ours . Most leaders would agree communication is one of the keys to running a successful organization . The problem is , so many chiefs are not as intentional as they should be and lose sight of just how important it is to communicate well and
50 FALL . 2020 often , especially when leading a team through difficult circumstances . Most leaders never purposely neglect communication , rather they get caught up in the minutia of the job as they are pulled in more directions than normal . There are two areas police leaders must especially act as CRO when navigating through a crisis . Both those areas center around the concept of value .
Remind your team of their value : In March of this year , our profession started seeing police officers being concerned not only about their health , but also the health of their families because of COVID-19 . For families of law enforcement officers , there is already a high level of stress due to the danger their loved one ’ s face while on the job . This danger and stress was enhanced by a new and unknown enemy in the form of a virus . Then , on May 25th , the horrific death of George Floyd occurred , and the profession was vilified nationwide . Officers went from being recognized as front line heroes to being accused of being abusive and reckless with citizens and government officials crying out to defund the police .
Now , more than ever , officers need to be reminded how valuable they are to their chief , department , and community . Most officers have gotten used to having to drown out the noise that comes along with anti-police rhetoric . However , every officer needs to know his / her chief and command staff support them , believe in them and truly value who they are and what they do .