The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | May 2017
Continued from previous page report for more information ).
Group-think : a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group , when the members ' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action .
In group-think mode , participants have no realisation of threats , are quick to explain away evidence not fitting with their viewpoint , and are blind to the moral implications of a policy . Furthermore , they tend to stereotype their enemies , and ignore evidence that challenges their thinking . Doubters have subtle pressure exerted on them to keep quiet , and a doctrine of collective responsibility is used to stifle dissent outside of the group .
Yet again , this harks back to Chief Williams ’ research . The 5 strings of his FACTS theory ( Fundamental Association of Control Trust and Success in LE ) is a type of group-think . Gordon Graham says that in our culture , as soon as you raise your hand to say there is a problem , you suddenly become the problem ! Good people leave , and there ’ s a reason for this , because they have identified problems lying in wait that no-one wants to deal with .
Raising your hand becomes a risk in itself ! However , think about this …. Risk is the currency of progress .
You are a leader and you should be confronting group think , not siding with it . This is one of the challenges of moving from Buddy to Boss ; you need to recruit good people , you need to listen to good people , and you need to retain good people ( that ’ s Rule 2 of Admiral Rickover ’ s approach to risk management ) – people running complex systems should be highly capable .
As a leader , it is your role to confront bad behaviour , if you continue to ignore any identified pessimism , you are not being true to a leader ’ s role . Either you use your position ( rank ) to change it , ( but be mindful that according to John C . Maxwell that is the lowest level of the 5 levels of leadership ), or to make a lasting change , you need to confront it . You need then to understand the issues and risks to the organisation , define it as accurately as possible so that you fully describe what is happening / could happen , and then search for a solution before agreeing a way forward . Gordon Graham reminds us that ethical leadership is about doing the right thing .
Gordon reminded us , too , that most people would love to do the job of a law enforcement officer , they would indeed offer good money just to go out for a ride in your police car , but they know they can ’ t do your job . The law enforcement profession is still a noble profession , just like West Point , let ’ s keep it that way .
Day Four was reserved for the annual leadership Staff Ride component of the NJSACOP Executive Institute . In the early 19 th century the Prussians / Germans pioneered the concept of staff rides with their own up and coming staff officers as the fledgling German Empire created its first General Staff . The concept has been adopted by the Americans throughout the late part of the 19 th and 20 th centuries , so much are they reliant upon the excellent learning in the field , that many US military leaders have studied leadership on the battle fields throughout the world , some large battles and some small , all are of value to the best leaders . Personnel selection , vision , command , decision making , motivation , logistics , communication , situational leadership and learning from mistakes are amongst leadership lessons to be taken from the field .
So it is with the Battle of Paoli ( later to be known as the Paoli Massacre !). But , what is there possibly to be learned from such a small battle , one which is relatively unknown , even in the psyche of Americans ?
General Anthony Wayne , fighting on behalf of General George Washington , camped comfortably at Paoli , Pennsylvania ; he was a local , he knew the hills well , and he knew the farmland and woods close to Malvern . He knew his people . He was on home turf . Paoli , incidentally , received its name from a local tavern , indeed many of these Philadelphia-area rural communities were named after local taverns that linked communities together over vast areas of farmland . His task was to get behind the British , harass them , and strike at General William Howe . He was only some 4 miles to the rear , it was night time , so he set camp , and lit fires around the camp on the hillside surrounded by woodland . He had no plans to tackle the British that night , despite being ordered to attack the British ( George Washington has already had a number of defeats of late , and he didn ’ t want more ).
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