Hans Christian Andersen s taleThe Emperor’s New Clothestells the story of an emperor who loved wearing fine clothes and spent all of his people’s money on them. One day, two swindlers claimed they could make the lightest, most magnificent cloth the world had ever seen and, amazingly, the material was also invisible to anyone incompetent or stupid.
The vain and foolish emperor decided he could use such clothing to weed out undesirables. He paid the swindlers an enormous sum and they began “creating” the clothes. The emperor sent advisors to gauge their progress. Because they didn t want to appear unworthy for seeing nothing, all the advisors reported the nonexistent cloth was magnificent.
Finally the clothes were “finished.” The entire city gathered to view them. The people, having heard of the cloth’s claimed properties, offered thunderous applause to the now beaming Emperor. No one was willing to admit they didn’t see a thing: If they did, they were either stupid or incompetent for the jobs they held.
Then, in the midst of the admiration of the emperor s new clothes, a small boy cried out, But the Emperor has no clothes!
Chief s Disease
Chief s Diseaseis the information quarantine created around a leader when people withhold important (and usually unpleasant) information.
Sometimes the disease is self-inflicted. Punishing people who bring you unpleasant news certainly discourages them from telling the truth. Also, if officers and staff believe the leader can t or won t change, why go through the trouble of providing awkward, potentially negative feedback?
But there s also a natural isolation that stems from the eagerness of subordinates to be the bearers of good news.
How s it going? the chief asks.
Great, says the patrol sergeant.
Good, keep it up, replies the chief on her way to a meeting with the mayor.
Seek & Ye May Find
In their seminal bookPrimal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence,Daniel Goleman, Annie McKee and Richard E. Boyatzis note:
To become more effective, leaders need to break through the information quarantine around them and the conspiracy to keep them pleased, even if uninformed. Rare are those who dare to tell a commanding leader he is too harsh, or to let a leader know he could be more visionary, or more democratic. That s why emotionally intelligent leaders need to seek the truth themselves.
Getting information from officers and staff isn t just about being a more effective leader, however. It s also about not stepping into a big pile of consequences as you proceed blithely through your days at the department.
No news isn t good news. It s just ignorance. Although ignorance may be bliss, it is a precariously temporary state just ask the emperor. The end of such bliss may come not just with embarrassment but with a riptide of disaster that could have easily been averted with some forewarning.
How Do Leaders Get the Truth?
They ask:
- Those above them:If you re the chief, this may be the mayor, city manager, city council or community leaders and members.
- Those below them:Officers and staff.
- Their peers.
Leaders interact with each of these groups. They must know how they re perceived by each group to be effective with all of them.
This takes courage. I m consistently awed by the physical courage of law enforcement officers at all levels of the profession. But it seems what I m urging takes even more courage, given the number of leaders in policing who seem willing to risk it. I don t have to tell cops thatcouragemeans facing your fear and going forward anyway.
Some leaders hide their fear behind arrogance: I didn t get all the way to the top so I could ask my subordinates their opinions of me. Well, there s a leadership maxim that says, There s not a lot of oxygen at the mountain top.
Asking how others perceive your leadership doesn t just take courage. It also takes maturity. Some of the feedback will be subjective. Some leaders use this as an excuse not to ask. But asking for feedback isn t just about you. It s also about those you must have follow you. Their perceptions are your reality, whether you know them or not.
Even the military with its rank and order traditions has embraced the value of leaders getting feedback from many sources. It s called a 360-degree review because after you evaluate yourself on a set of leadership criteria, you get feedback from all around you.
Check outSubmarine Squadron 20 to Conduct 360-degree Review of Commanding Officers.And note the date March 29, 2005 more than four years ago.
Capt. Steve Struble, commodore of the squadron, noted that the 360 assessment gives commanding officers a more realistic idea of how their ideas and actions are perceived by subordinates, peers and higher ups.
This is an investment in the future of the Navy, said Struble. But the windfall is that participants will certainly benefit on a personal level.
More How To
There s a ton of information about 360-degree feedback reviews.While this process has spawned a whole cottage industry of developers, implementers, evaluators and coaches, you can develop your own feedback process. Here are three guiding principles:
- Confidentiality is crucial:This is the only way to ensure honest feedback.
- Feedback is perception not proof:It doesn t mean you re a good or bad person or leader. It does mean that something in your behavior is triggering certain perceptions and you may wish to modify your behavior.
- No blaming:If you blame the raters, you ve missed the point and need to work on the threshold requirement of maturity.
You don t have to get overly complicated to start. For example: If you were to ask a representative number of your officers, staff, higher ups and community members to rank you on just the following 10 items on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest, how would you do?
- Invites feedback good and bad with a genuine commitment to self-improvement.
- Makes decisions in the best interest of the department, even if they aren t personally advantageous.
- Develops trust with officers, staff and the community.
- Communicates openly and honestly.
- Disciplines fairly.
- Listens genuinely to others to understand their needs and concerns.
- Explores new ideas for departmental development.
- Makes people feel proud to be part of the department and community;
- Provides people the support and training needed to accomplish the mission.
- Makes people and their families feel appreciated.
It s past time for police leaders to invest in the future of law enforcement and, if they re brave and mature, to experience their own personal windfall. The alternative is a precarious ignorance.
As American editor, publisher and writer Elbert Hubbard said:
The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.