Leadership can be challenging, and leadership in policing is especially challenging. When you are responsible for sending your colleagues out each day into potentially life threatening situations, the challenge is huge.
Stress, personal wellbeing and demands on your time, impact your personal life and your opportunities for rest. Left unchecked, a failure to manage the complexities of demanding leadership can result in unwanted psychological and health issues, not to mention declining performance in the workplace.
As a leader, you will face many pressures to manage competing priorities and demands. How you manage these pressures is the key.
Practice Self Awareness
As a good leader, you should be aware of your limitations and personal stress triggers. No one is immune to the impact of stress, nor the continuous demand presented by leadership. We all need to take reasonable breaks and time for rest. As with so many things, the key is to acknowledge the challenges or problems in the first place.
Never be so proud or afraid to say you need help or its time to change your approach. Don’t underestimate stress and the numerous ways it will affect you. Left ignored it can be very dangerous.
Resilience is a skill and strength that needs to be continuously practised at and never neglected. As a resilient leader, you need to learn to identify what you can control and what you cannot.
Police leaders in particular cannot control, for example, what criminals will do or how they will react to situations. What they can control is how they themselves react and how their officers react, and by focussing on that, it is possible to formulate a positive and resilient response. It is important also not to dwell on your problems for too long, try to set them aside as quickly as possible, work to rise above them and lead with purpose. Learn to take authority over your own destiny and don’t allow others or the situation to steal it from you.
You need to learn to overcome discouragement and disappointment quickly, enabling yourself to refocus on your priorities on the things you can control.
Managing Pressure
How does a resilient leader overcome and survive under these pressures? There are various strategies that you can consider using to help you manage pressure.
Focus on what is important, and do your best not to give in to fear or discouragement. Carrying all the pressure is a choice, but letting it go is also a choice. Learning to let go is an essential skill and only once you can stop sweating the small stuff and let the pressure go, can you prioritise what’s really important.
Preparation and self-confidence is also key. You should constantly be thinking ahead to what may happen next, and you should almost never be surprised by the problems you face in your leadership role. Remember, others have recognized your skills, experience and personal qualities and appointed you to the role of leader. Draw strength from that knowledge and face the problems knowing that you have thought them through and are best equipped to lead the organization to finding the solution.
As a leader in a high stress role like policing it’s important to take stock from time to time. As you do, consider these important tips:
Take time to rest, think and recalibrate.
Be clear on your own purpose, and personal vision.
Delegate effectively, no one can do everything themselves.
Exercise regularly.
Get the right work-life balance.
Try not to fight every battle, pick your fights carefully.
Sometimes you need to say I can’t do anymore. We all have our breaking points!
Build a good team around you and use individual strengthens to offset your own areas of weakness.
Mentoring and coaching can also be an invaluable tool to help you succeed and take a fresh approach - both on a personal basis for yourself, and as a management tool for managing staff and critical situations. Remember that no one knows everything, and from time-to-time it’s valuable to have a fresh perspective on what you are doing, and how you are doing.
Play the long game. Resilient leaders know that not everything can be solved in one day. It is important have a broad perspective and to have patience. Set realistic goals with realistic timelines and remember to celebrate the victories (also with your team) when they happen.
By paying attention to these crucial factors you will ensure that you are physically, mentally and emotionally able to withstand the rigours of leadership. As a leader of a Policing Organization you have the responsibility of the safety of your officers and the safety of your community to add to your burden. These are not easy things to manage, but by practicing self-awareness and managing your pressure you will be able to ensure that you are in a position to give of your best at all times.
Stephen Cargin and Mark Albon
Stephen Cargin is a highly experienced former senior officer of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
His 34-year background includes roles as Head of PSNI Service Improvement Department, Legacy and Justice Department and District Commander of one of the most challenging District Commands in Northern Ireland and United Kingdom, due to constant threat from terrorism and community unrest.
Mark Albon spent two decades in the South African Foreign Service, serving in Africa, The Middle East and Europe before leaving to work for FTSE 500 companies in the Private Sector. He has spent the past ten years as a senior manager in a variety of International organisations.
He holds an MBA in Corporate Governance and Strategic Corporate Finance
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