The Leaders Decision Making and Safety

Some times you wonder what people are thinking when they commit crime. Last week a guy went into a Walmart and shoplifted a realistic looking BB gun. He left there, walked a couple of hundred yards thinking to himself this should be easy money. He walked into the Fry Electronics nearby, produced the fake gun, the one with the tag still on it, and stuck up the Fry’s. It sounded like a good plan at the time.

Mr. Fake Gun left the store and walked through the parking lot, money in hand and gun in waistband. I’m sure vision of a thick sack of weed or a few bindles of meth danced in his little tweeker head. Two black and white patrol cars pulled into the parking lot and Mr. Fake Gun learned what real guns look like when they are pointed at you. Makes you wonder, what was he thinking? Sometimes leaders make decision, not quite that bad, but you scratch your head and wonder what were they thinking. I’m sure right now about ½ of my command is scratching their heads.

One of the most basic, yet critical tasks for a leader is to make sound decisions. Decisions that accomplish the mission and protect those directed to execute the plan. Many leaders lack in this area. I struggle with balancing the mission with the welfare of the employee. I tend to focus on the mission at hand, full speed ahead. Some times I feel like Admiral Farragut in the battle of Mobile Bay, “Damn the torpedo’s, full speed ahead!”

King David was that way. David’s rush to bring the ark back into the life of Israel cost Uzzah his life. David assembled the troops to bring back the Ark of the Covenant. He made a political deal they agreed with. “If it seems good to you” and “if it’s the Lords will”…lets bring back the Ark of God! Yeah…lets go! Charge. On the way back, the ox stumbled and Uzzah grabbed the ark. God struck him dead. When one reads this it seems kind of harsh. Touch a wood box and have God strike you down. It even appeared his intentions were good. As a result David did not bring back the ark to the city of Jerusalem, but to a town close by where it was guarded by a Levite.

Finally David got it. He ordered the ark to be carried as God prescribed. (I Chronicles 15:13) The Levites were the only ones who could carry the ark. There is a reason. They were the ones God prepared to carry it. The leader balanced the mission and the welfare of the troops. He made sure this time they were prepared.

The Levites went though a 7-day period of purification. The end of purification (Ex 30) they would anoint the priest with olive oil and spice. Only the priest could have this special oil. As they poured it over the head it would drizzle down through their thick beards. Once prepared the Levites could serve God. This process prepared them for the mission. God’s mission. They were prepared physically, mentally, emotionally and most importantly spiritually.

David should have known this was a Levite mission. Instead he picked Uzzah and Ahio, a different tribe. Maybe it was a reward as warriors of valor. They were doers. They got the mission done. They were powerful and lived on the edge, but they weren’t prepared for this task. It cost Uzzah his life. David failed his man. He failed to balance the mission with the welfare of his men through proper preparation.

As a leader of people who get the job done, it is incumbent on me to make sure they are prepared for the task. That means I need to balance the mission with their welfare. Question for you: Are you prepared for God’s mission? His Kingdom? In his prescribed why. Preparation begins by submission to Him and His will for you. He said, “I am not willing that any one should perish, but all come to repentance.” And again, “I am the way, the truth and life, no one goes to the Father (Kingdom) but through me.” Be a leader prepared for the most important mission in life.

The Morality of Leadership

I heard a chief officer tell one of his subordinates, “You don’t want to make enemies. You get enough naturally.” Your position makes enemies. You don’t need to make them on your own.

A few administrations ago it seemed there was crisis in moral leadership. Few of these police executives had the courage to confront issues on their own. Instead they had others do their bidding. One former captain told me he was directed by a chief officer to get next to a guy, gain his confidence and then submarine him politically. If he did, there would be reward down the road. The captain refused. The chief had a long-standing vendetta against the man.

We learn to lead from those who lead us. What they model, we often do. Rare is the person of moral conviction who leads through a sense of justice, fairness and gut wrenching honesty. I’m not talking about those who sit back and take pot shots at leaders through cynical negativism. That’s not leadership that cowardice.

As a young cop there were leaders I learned from and followed. Sometimes adapting bad traits and often adapting great ones. Leadership can bring improvements to a profession or danger to a team. You can see the result of leadership on squads. The squads where there is strong and positive leadership honorable policing thrives. I call it passionate policing. Where there is poor leadership the data shows lack luster performance, personnel problems and an identity crisis. That is the cops don’t understand their mission. It’s a paycheck.

King David learned about the morality of leadership. Bad behavior was modeled for him and he adapted those same traits at the worst possible time. In I Sam 18 King Saul saw David as a threat. Saul looked for a weakness in David and leveraged it to get rid of him. It was a conspiracy to commit murder. Saul had one of his confidants tell David (a lie) that Saul wanted him as part of the royal family. What an honor of wealth, position and power. David refused saying he wasn’t worthy. They reality was he did not have the money for the dowry. Saul knew it. So he told David the price would be 100 foreskins of his enemy. (A little twisted) That David could do. He was a warrior. Saul’s intent though was to get David killed. “I will not raise a hand against him, let the Philistines do that.” Immoral leadership has others do their dirty work.

Now speed ahead a few decades. 2 Sam 11 David is now the king. In the spring when kings go to war. David stayed behind. Ego. Self entitlement. Desire. Personal passion as opposed to professional excellent. David sees a beautiful woman and used his position and power to seduce her. He has an affair with her. She got pregnant and now David has to problem solve.

David brings her husband home from war. Of course any guy coming home from war or a long time away wants one thing first. Bathsheba! David feeds him, gets him drunk hoping this will put them in bed and cover his immorality. Instead the husband refuses and wants to go back to the troops. David sends him back to the war with orders to put him on the frontlines, in the heaviest of the fighting. No surprise. Bathsheba’s husband was killed.

David made two huge errors during his kingship. Both behaviors he learned from Saul. When the arrogance of leadership got to David, the modeled traits of immoral leadership came flooding to the forefront of his decision making process. He became manipulative and wouldn’t listen to loyal subordinates. One decision cost him a son and the other his favor to build God’s temple. Costly mistakes!

As I examine the leadership I have seen over the 35 years of policing I realize there are some good traits in most and some moral failures in a few. Some were excellent leaders with vision, clarity and purpose. Others were about personal power, position and self promotion. One thing I do know. When I get manipulative or quit listening to loyal subordinates, I’m in trouble. Those are mistakes I cannot afford. There is too much at stake.

Get Up. Go Out and Encourage

The word flu is in the middle of the word influential because even as a leader sometimes you feel like crap. There are days you just don’t want to perform but you know you must. So you drag your sorry butt into work and act like you don’t want to be there and everyone else learns to adjust to your mood. That’s unfortunate and poor leadership.

I was awoken early Saturday morning by a phone call. The lieutenant on scene was getting ready to call an incident a SWAT mission and was notifying me. It’s that time of the year and I had a nasty head cold. The kind where it feels like Manny Pacquiao punched you in the forehead and nose.

Edward Scissor hands had tapped two large knives to his hands and went on a meth binge. He barricaded himself in a truck and held off cops who were trying to help him. He fended off two Taser strikes, pepper balls and hours of talk. I rushed to the scene to manage and coordinate with Emergency Negations and SWAT. I was acutely aware that people were looking to me for leadership and decision-making. They were not concerned if I had a cold. They wanted to execute the mission as safely as possible and go home. That meant someone making clear and decisive decision. Edward the Claw eventually came out of the truck without his scissors and was taken into custody. I went home and crawled into bed.

Saul was an erratic leader. How many times did he chuck a spear at David? Try to hunt him down and kill him? He murdered others who brought bad news. His advisors had people pay music to lighten his spirit. He was a self centered and erratic leader.

David lost his son Absalom in battle. (Minor point that Absalom was trying to mutiny against David’s kingdom.) David cried, hard in a room over the gate of the city. He was shaken to his soul, publically. So much so that the men (2 Sam 19) slid into the city as men who are ashamed when they flee from battle. In my minds eye I can see these battle hardened warriors proud of their accomplishments and valor only to see their leader, the one they respect, lamenting their victory. Confusion, anger, embarrassment, kind of like when our troops returned from Vietnam.

Joab went to the King and lit into him. This was not popular at the time. It might cost one his head. So why was Joab willing to risk life and limb to tell off the sobbing king? He had seen David in all of the seasons of life. He understood David and could judge him as just. Great leadership is open to correction and makes needed adjustments. David was not perfect, but just.

Joab told the king, “you have humiliated your men…you have made it clear that your men and commanders mean nothing to you.” I cannot think of a worse indictment as a leader. Your men mean nothing to you!

Joab continued, “Now get up, go out and encourage your men.”

Look what David did, He went to the gate (a highly visible place where the men were) and took his seat and the men flocked to him. Men respond to great leaders who are fierce in battle but humble in spirit.

These words struck me. Get up. Go out. Encourage your men. Too often leadership sees problems, policy and obstacles. Solid leadership is counter balanced by getting up, going out and meeting with the men to encourage them.

God new David’s pain. Losing a child can never be easy. 2 Sam 18:33, “If only I had died instead of you.” Compare that to the intentional pain God suffered in John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he “gave his one and only son” that who ever believes could have life everlasting. To encourage us God got up, went out and sacrificed for us. Be encouraged.

Ruler or Leader?

Why is it that when units are unfocused problems start? Even agency wide, we can be busy but still find time for problems. As a young cop in Battle Creek, Michigan, I learned this lesson. A senior officer told me they were going to raid a gambling house. Coming from the farmlands of Michigan this sounded fun. A new cop getting to kick doors and take crooks to jail, what could go wrong? This was the same crew that drove through slush puddles spraying pimps with melted snow. I think the record was spraying one guy three times in one block.

It was early in the morning, complete darkness surrounded the small team of cops, and of course no sergeants went along back then. The door was kicked with a mighty thunder. Tables got turned over; dope, guns and dice hit the floor. Everyone went to jail. It was a good night! Until.

Until we drove proudly into the sally port from our big game hunt. We may as well have tied the prisoners on the hood of our patrol cars like a slain deer with huge antlers. Immediately the watch commander, a lieutenant who spent most of his time reading Playboy, came running into the booking center. You “Sons-of Bitches” get them out of here; let them go. The outburst of curses continued unabated throughout the booking process.

Afterward the senior guys told me that that sergeant protected the house and they hit it just to mess with him. That sergeant dared not discipline them. He was a ruler, but not a leader. Over the years I have worked for leaders, rulers and some in between. I have worked for and with people I adored and others I loathed. Some I had to work around as obstacles to good policing and others I would have run through a wall/fence for…literally.

In 2 Samuel 5 we read the following: “While Saul was king…you (David) led.” Saul had positional power but David got the mission done. The men respected him for it. Follow him into battle, you bet.

David had a righteous mission, a clearly defined mission worthy of dying for. He wanted to take Jerusalem for the Jewish nation. For God. It ended up being his legacy even until today. It was his first mission after being anointed king. He marched the men to attack the Jebusites. They were to take Jerusalem.

Jebusites were most likely a Canaanite clan who worshiped Zedek. It is similar to the wording used for Melchizedek. (Heb 7:10) and Adoni-Zedek in Joshua 10. It means lord-king and denotes worship of one who is both priest and king. Something the Jews were forbidden from doing. (I Sam 13) and was the reason Saul had his kingdom taken from him.

From behind the walls the Jebusites mocked David and his army. “Even the blind and lame” can ward you off. This was most likely a reference to the patriarchs of Israel, Isaac and Jacob. One rabbinical scholar states there were statues in Jebu of Isaac and Jacob showing them blind and lame. David used that as his key. He focused in like a laser on the mocking and used it to motivate his men. “Use the water shaft to reach those lame and blind who are David’s enemies.” Vs. 10 the Lord Almighty was with him (David). God gave David the vision, trigger points for leverage and ability to motivate men for battle. With each victory he grew stronger and stronger as a leader.

The Jews easily won the battle, but the mission was not over.

As soon as they took the city they built up its natural defenses. They built a wall from those who would attack. He built up the supporting terraces after he took residence. Its one of the first historical mentions of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. (CPTED). There was a mission, a righteous mission, a clear objective the men were willing to fight for it.

As I look back at leaders I respect and was willing to go to battle with and for were those who had a clear mission that made sense. It was a righteous mission I was willing to vest myself in. More importantly it was a mission worth doing. Those leaders identified trigger points to motivate and we got the job done! A righteous mission that made the community better, safer and stronger.

Hey! Be Careful Out There

Before each shift cops sit down for a pre-shift brief of crimes that may have taken place the day before, the latest gossip and training. The person leading the brief, normally a sergeant, reads the incident log and discusses crime trends. Its like a scene from the old TV show, Hill Street Blues. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2QApwtE8zQ&feature=related
Line-up ends with a surly sergeant pointing his finger at some young hard chargers exclaiming….Hey! Let be safe out there.

I sat in the line up room with some hard chargers. A 70 year old woman ran this line-up. She looked more like a librarian than a cop. She had pepper gray hair, bi-focal glasses and a chain holding the top of her sweater that was draped gracefully over her delicate shoulders. I expected a small child to run in crying for grandma. Instead she discussed crime trends in a residential neighborhood peering over her glasses; the latest incidents from patrol, where to write good handicapped parking citations and YANA’s. She is a Retired Senior Volunteer on Patrol. They are part of what makes San Diego work. They bring a sense of social justice to an agency that enforces the law and brings justice based on the rule of law.

YANA’s are senior citizens confined to their homes. Alone and often afraid they reach out to day care providers and are often the victims of crime and theft. These seniors who are the bedrock of our society and the target of God’s affection are our responsibility as cops, society and especially followers of Christ.

A RSVP told me that Beth Ann is 95 and waits by the door every Tuesday, sitting in her wheel chair looking out the window. It’s the highlight of her week. When they are late, even by 10 minutes, she lets them know. The thought of their visits keeps her alive, interested and connected.

I believe it is God’s desire for each of us to bring justice. When we do our cities prosper. It feels that all is well deep in our souls. As you go through your busy week think about how you can bring justice to the weak, alien, widow and elderly. It’s God’s plan for our society and our duty as believers. When you see a RSVP in their white cars with little yellow lights wave to them, they are a source of justice for San Diego.

James sums this idea of justice up best: James 1:27, religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Loyalty of Leadership

The Occupy movement, modeled after the anarchist have town hall meetings. These meetings are interesting because they don’t believe in structure or governance or leadership. They are loyal to themselves, what they want and desire. To communicate they yell “mic check.” Then they give their speal. Some rap their speech. Some read it like a poem. Some pontificate on and on and on. They try to make a point not too many care about or agree with, unless it’s against the police.

They feel (lots of feeling going on there) everyone should have an equal say in the life of the community. When one person tries to take a leadership role it quickly devolves into chaos. No one will agree to the leadership and each goes his or her own way. The police don’t even know who to negotiate with because as soon as one person steps forward to lead the rest will disagree because there is no loyalty to leadership, only to themselves. It’s a dysfunctional community that has devolved into a transient encampment. It is a weak and ineffective movement.

As I think about policing in comparison to groups like occupy, we have a tendency to go the opposite direction. In a paramilitary structure we have a tendency to be hyper-loyal. What is the right balance and what does God expect? If you were to consider groups like the 3% crowd who believe they must revolt against leadership. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e-6qh9Mnko&feature=related to them violence is justified against the government. An off shoot of the Oath Keepers many are military and police officers.

At what point does a cop, especially a follower of Christ take a stand against the leader because of immorality, bad policy or poor leadership? Certainly we as individuals have a mandate to live righteously, act justly and be moral agents of God by our lifestyle. However, when this conflicts with leadership how does one handle it?

I was challenged by the story of David, Jonathan and King Saul. David was a hard worker for the King. He took huge risks and strove to the highest level of excellence possible. He was a warrior! Jonathan was Saul’s son, David’s best friend and a loyal warrior of the King. Saul was an egomaniac who was in complete control of his kingdom. People feared him and his spear. His temper was out of control and his passions never quenched. He was violent and always at war.

Each time David went to war and “struck them with such force” the enemy fled before him, Saul got jealous. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, not once but twice. He saw David as a threat. His advisors out of selfish interest told Saul, David was trying to take the kingdom. There was little good about Saul’s leadership. David was on the run for years trying to avoid being killed by a terrible leader, yet he remained loyal. Why?

Jonathan was a key advisor of Saul. He told him everything, but Jonathan was an informant for David. In I Sam 19 Jonathan warned David of Saul’s intent to kill him. In I Sam 20 Jonathan had a sophisticated plan to warn David of Saul’s intent by shooting arrows. Then it said, “Jonathan loved David as himself.” There was loyalty for David over the current and God ordained leader of the nation. Yet, still Jonathan laid his life on the line for the King and country by attacking the Philistines by himself. Ultimately Jonathan gave his life protecting his father in battle. The heir to the throne gave his robe (symbol of authority) to David. He was loyal to David, but protected the king. He gave his life for an unjust man but protected the man of God.

David, in spite of Saul trying to kill him countless times did not retaliate. One time David had the opportunity to kill him, in a cave at En Gedi, while Saul slept or took a dump. David crept up to Saul, cut off a piece of his robe and retreated to the corner with his commandos. I can hear the conversation, “Why didn’t you kill him? Of all the caves in the desert, Saul came in here to sleep. Run him through.” David refused (a leader with a moral compass)

The robe was significant because it was a symbol of authority for a king. It is like a rank insignia on a uniform. It was four stars on a collar. It was as if David cut the Chief’s badge off of his chest. When Saul left David spoke up, showed him the badge. He confronted him about his bad advisors, his intent to kill and horrible leadership. Yet he “bowed down before him, prostrate to the ground.” An act of total submission, although at a safe distance. No sense tempting a violent man.

David finishes by saying, “From evil doers come evil deeds” so my hand will not touch you. No doubt David is thinking about what he wrote in Ps 7:8 Judge me o God by my integrity- you God search the heart and mind. Or maybe Isaiah 32:8 “The noble man makes noble plans and by noble deeds he stands.” David was honest. He spoke up. Too many are disloyal by keeping quiet in the kings presence and speaking up when he is not around.

When I consider that God puts people into positions of power, even if I disagree with them or view them as immoral, it is important for me to think clearly about my actions and relationship with that leader. David’s actions showed a clear line of loyalty to leadership.

Pant Less Leadership

A really smart, young officer came and spoke with me this weak. The officer is working on a PhD and we discussed the program and how much effort it takes to complete it. As the conversation ended, the officer commented on a painting hung in my office. It’s the Norman Rockwell painting, The Problem We All Live With. It disturbed the officer at first until an Internet posting on the original painting explained a few things. This evolved into a conversation about the whole idea of justice and what that looks like.

I explained to this officer, to me there is criminal justice and God ordains that. Psalms 10 speaks of this. There are predators that need to be taken off of the street, sometimes violently. There is also this idea of Biblical or Social justice. That too is spoken of in Psalms 10. God defends the fatherless, oppressed, weak and victims. It seemed every time Israel got into trouble was because they forgot the Biblical justice side of the equation. Isaiah 58, 59. I enjoyed the mental challenge from a smart, caring officer. When the officer left, I thought for a few moments about the challenge to my painting (me). It was uncomfortable. Being challenged or corrected is never easy as David and Saul demonstrated In 1 Sam22.

Saul sat under a tree with spear (offensive weapon) in hand. He called his leaders around him and said, “Who made you rich? Who promoted you?” No one responded. It was a trap and they knew it. He was the emperor who had no pants. He was a guy you did not bring bad news to. Nor did you ask pointed questions of or try to correct. Then he accuses them of collaborating with David in a conspiracy against him. Remember these were “mighty and brave men.” I Sam 14:52. Finally, one person spoke up and said it was the Priest of Nob who supported David and warned him to flee. Saul called Ahimelech, the priest, to a meeting and he brought 85 of his family members, all wearing Ephods. According to some Hebrew traditions the word Ephod stood for revelation and truth. The priest told the truth.

As a result of hearing news he did not like, Saul ordered his “brave and mighty” men to kill Ahimelech. The men refused, showing strength and moral character. But this is an interesting point. When the leader is a dictator doing things dogmatically, people are afraid to speak out. People who respond by not executing the plan is the hallmark of pant less leadership.

This caused me to stop and look back at how many times people did not speak up but just didn’t do what I asked. Was it a matter of my pant less leadership that people were afraid to speak up and thus spoke up by not executing the plan?

David on the other hand learned of the senseless deaths and took personal responsibility for his decision-making. He let the Edomite go when he had a chance to kill him. The Edomite was the one who told Saul what he wanted to hear and killed the Priest. He was a contractor who saw financial gain.

Edomites were a group of nomadic people often the mercenaries of the Levant. They held the trade routes like a drug cartel in Baja. Pant less leaders surrounded themselves with people who hold profit over principle.

On the other hand people were willing to give David bad news without him blowing up. He was willing to take responsibility for his mistakes and remedy the situation as best as he could. “Stay with me, you will be safe.” 22:22.

In 2 Sam 12, David let power go to his head. He had an affair and then set up her husband, Uriah, to get killed in battle, so David could cover up his sin. Nathan came to tell David he was wrong. Here is a man who already had one person killed to cover up his sin, now Nathan goes to confront the king. David’s response, “I have sinned against the Lord.” No arrogance. No excuses. No lies. No testifying before congress, I did not have sex with that woman. Just, I did it and I am wrong. He was a leader with pants.

As I looked at the Rockwell painting I reflected on the officer’s words and my internal reaction. I am learning its good to be challenged as a leader to make sure I’m wearing pants, that I am remaining humble and honest, before my people and my God.

Come on back in, I have another Rockwell on the West wall.