(Part two of four part series on promotional examinations) In our first article we looked at five tactics for taking civil service multiple choice tests. These tips were classified as tactics because they were immediately deployable to the situation. Like field tactics, they are something you learn and then use when they apply. Studying…
You can increase your score on almost any multiple choice civil service exam or test by employing five simple “tactics for test taking.” In fact, it is likely that you could increase your final score by between five and ten percentage points by using these test taking tactics! That means if you studied enough to…
Karl Von Clausewitz, a Prussian military general and military theorist, identified morale as a fundamental military principle. Since Clausewitz published On War morale has developed into a concept seen as critical to organizations, including law enforcement. Unfortunately, morale is difficult to define and in many circles has become somewhat synonymous with motivation. In this article…
Leadership is a skill required not only at the workplace but also at home, school and everywhere. It is showing the way something should be done instead of commanding people. However, not many people in figurehead positions have mastered the skills that go along way into becoming a great leader with whom everyone would want…
Sergeant Joan Smith arrives for work at her police department fifteen minutes early. She likes working midnights and enjoys working at what she feels is an excellent police department. Most of all, she enjoys the teamwork of her shift, because she has a motivated group of officers working for her. Sergeant Smith is a good…
Unfortunately, all supervisors or managers are not leaders. A good cop is genuinely a leader to the community they serve. But everyone in a position of authority is not really a leader. A well rounded leader possesses the 3 Cs: character, charisma, and compassion. These are the core foundation of ethical leadership. Character Character starts…
The Use of Power Its your first day in your assignment. Perhaps you are a newly appointed leader, or you have been transferred into a new assignment. How do you establish leadership? How do you get things moving in the right direction? You have the positional authority, the stripes or bars or whatever symbol of…
Times are getting tougher. Most of us are not the top person in leading our organization; we are line supervisors and middle managers; but it’s still getting tougher. While we don’t make the big decisions we have a responsibility to provide leadership for our organizations and for our followers. Indeed, if enough of us in…
This series of articles is about small unit leadership. Not leadership in a wider organization sense, but leadership down in the weeds. We will be looking at the kind of leadership necessary for employees involved in highly complex problem-solving tasks (tactical situations to interpersonal communication skills). The primary focus is for those leaders practicing their…
