Leaders

I had a good week last week...a little weird...but a good experience.

For work I was in the panhandle at a summit that brought public safety officials from across the country together to learn about how agencies handled situations in Ferguson, Baltimore, Sanford and other locations of civil unrest in the country. This summit was more focused on Law Enforcement Activities, but really spans across the spectrum of Public Safety.

To get us kicked off was Former FSU Head Football Coach Bobby Bowden. Many know that I am not a big college football, but Coach Bowden is a really great speaker and he is not afraid to put it out there and I like that.

The one thing that all of the speakers have in common is that they all had great presentations about leadership. This summit was good for me to listen and learn a little something more on leadership. One can't learn enough.

I think that I am a pretty good leader...not perfect...not great...but pretty good. Teaching courses for the Sons give me a new outlook on leadership as I am trying to give instruction based on my experiences as a leader.

We all know that there are bad leaders out there and I am sure that we have all had one or more in our careers. I know that I have. Some think they need to bully their employees or threaten their employees. As unfortunate as it is, people like these are often in a position of power and they exert it negatively and it usually makes for a hostile environment to work in.

One of the things that I learned last week is that there are 3 virtues of a good leader. I was kind of taken back by this as but after giving some thought, reflecting on it and remembering some of the things that I teach, I agreed that these are key.

1. Compassionate
• A good leader needs to show compassion for their fellow man, employee, teammate and etc.
2. Integrity
• Yep - agree 100%. Without integrity it is my opinion you are done as a leader and not very credible.
3. Courage of Conviction
• A good leader should have the courage to stand up for what is right and what they believe in.
• Good, bad, or indifferent.

I do a lot of teaching for the Sons of The American Legion and most pertains to leadership. How effective I am - I do not know. However, based on evaluations I am doing better than average which is good for me...I think.

Douglas MacArthur said it right when he said "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent." I know that I couldn't have said it any better and the really cool thing is that it is right in line with what I learned last week.