Self Reflection

 

Our Chief has just retired.  Several months ago, he made his announcement with an email outlining his accomplishments at our department and when he was with another police agency.  The email had no specifics, told no stories, and did not mention anyone other than himself.  At his cake and coffee, several months later, he thanked his family and again did not mention anyone at our police department nor speak about any positive experience here or at his previous department.  So, no one impacted him, nor did any event leave a mark on his life, nor did anything significant occur in his ten years with us?  It did answer the question as to why no one, ever, visited him at our department from his old department (two towns away), a department in which he spent 28 years of his life.  Needless to say, he will not be getting any current or ex-employees visiting him at his new home out of state.  He has only been retired for a few months, and it's as if he had never worked here. There are no stories, criticisms, or concerns for his well-being, just silence.

Obviously, this is a criticism about the retired head of our organization, who felt no compulsion to form any significant professional relationships, mentor, or invest in his personnel at any level.  That said, I have a personal policy that requires me to self-reflect when I become critical of any person or policy.  So am I invested in the well-being of my fellow employees?  I have friends I work with, with whom we go to dinner and interact socially. I have several work stories and have been impacted by and have impacted other officers in this police department.  However, where I missed the mark was knowing each officer equally, not just my friends.  I realized that I cannot name every wife, husband, or child for all the officers I supervise on my shift.  While prying into everyone's personal life is also not recommended, I should at least have a baseline knowledge of those underneath me, and by not having this understanding, I am not doing my job and am closer to being like my old chief than I am comfortable with.  So I have added this information to the file for each officer, and I have decided to ask how everyone is doing occasionally.  So, while you rarely can fix or alter a supervisor's style and quirks, what you can do is make yourself better by observing what they are doing right or wrong, and replicate the right, and modify your behavior to lessen the impact of the wrong.