January 2026 | The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine 19
Of course, direct personal experience is the best guide, but knowledge is usually limited in scope and is often in short supply. Theory is one substitute for experience but alone is far from satisfactory. Not nearly so neat and clear-cut as theory, but far more illustrative of the complexity of human factors, is history, which is nothing more than the experience of others. Changes in technology render some lessons obsolete, but lessons drawn from history and biography are timeless because they spring either from universal principles or from universal human characteristics.
It is with this in mind that NJSACOP has expanded our highly regarded portfolio of high quality, innovative leadership development experiences. All the way back in 2004 the NJSACOP inaugurated our NJSACOP Staff Rides for Law Enforcement Leaders 7 adapting the military staff ride concept for the needs of police professionals.
Based upon feedback from our attendees and input from our members, we added our one-day, locally and regionally based Staff Rides.
Why study the lives and careers of great leaders of the past? For the answer, we need look no further than to, well, one of the great leaders of the past. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was asked his opinion as to the essence of leadership. His response:“ Making decisions.” When asked how one develops as a decision maker, Ike’ s response was equally direct:“ Be around people making decisions.” In other words, the best way to develop as a leader is to“ be around” those who lead. That being the case, what could be better than to“ be around” history’ s greatest leaders? That is the premise behind our staff rides, as well as our presentations on other great leaders that are included in sessions of other NJSACOP Executive Development courses.
We can emulate the successful leaders of the past and learn from their mistakes as well. The study of the great leaders and decision makers of the past provides the raw material for wise decisions today and tomorrow, since all of us are prone to the same kinds of mistakes our predecessors made. Certainly, no great leader is a copyist. Those who have slavishly copied earlier leaders nearly always fail. However, a leader might be isolated in time from others but can achieve a unity with them by the responsibility they have shared. Most great leaders have, throughout history, studied the experience of those that came before, profiting from their mistakes, and capitalizing on their success.
Still, you may ask if even the study of great leaders can be effective in teaching leadership. This is, perhaps, the wrong question. According to two of the most prominent thinkers and writers on the topic, a more relevant question is: Can leadership be learned? The answer is a resounding“ Yes.” One of the tools at our disposal in setting out on the life-long effort that is learning to lead is studying the“ art of leadership” from history’ s great leaders.
Rudy Giuliani wrote:“ Leadership is mostly a skill that people learn. They learn from their parents, from their friends and colleagues, from their teachers, and from their clergy. But leaders also learn from leaders they’ ve never met – by reading about them.”
You supply the parents, friends, colleagues, teachers and clergy. We’ ll supply the leaders you’ ve never met – via the NJSACOP Staff Rides for Law Enforcement and our other presentations on history’ s great leaders.
A professional who stops reading stops learning; and a professional who stops learning stops leading
Part 3: A Leadership Reading List – Not THE List, Just A List
“ Thanks to my reading, I have never been caught flat-footed by any situation, never at a loss for how any problem has been addressed”