Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute Class #488 Graduation Speech
Welcome. I want to thank you for coming today to celebrate our graduation from this program, but more than that, I want to thank you for being willing to support this type of learning. If we are going to continue learning, and refining, and getting better at what we do, then courses like this, where we can experience open discussions about current and relevant challenging issues, where we can learn the lessons that those who came before us already overcame, then we can avoid repeating mistakes of the past.
Over the past eight months, we learned the golden rules of leadership, the habits of effective leaders, and how to institute adaptive change in our agencies. Plato taught us how to come out of the cave and into the light, in order to understand the challenges of the future. We learned about the importance of emotional survival, and we learned critical lessons in leadership from Easy Company in Band of Brothers.
But I would argue that even more important than the lessons we learned in this class, are the relationships we formed with each other. Through discussion and debate we were able to encounter a diversity of experiences and hear about the challenges, and the successes, other agencies are having across the state. We were able to learn where we are, and where we are going from each other, and I am here to report, after going through this experience with the fine men and women in SLI class #488, that the future of police leadership in California is in good hands. There are some incredibly intelligent folks in this room, who are filled with conviction and who are ready to take on whatever may come their way, but something else I noticed, which I think is even more critical than those things, is that this class is full of creative, empathetic, compassionate, and confident leaders, who are open minded, and ready for the unique challenges we will certainly face in these coming years. This is a class of thinkers… and doers. On many occasions throughout the course, I was inspired by someone else's comment or position, and I can say with conviction that I am proud to be a part of this group. We are certain to face new challenges, as we always have, and many of these challenges are still unknown as the public discourse continues to shift dramatically, with so much going on in the world.
But one thing I do know, is that it really doesn't matter what challenges come our way as we continue to march forward, deeper into 21st century policing, What really matters….is who we are when we get there. Because what are we if not problem solvers? It is what we do, and we are good at it. When we are faced with challenges, when the chips are down, when law enforcement has a black eye, or when we go through those periods where the public just turns against us, how will we respond? We will respond how we always do. We will rise to the challenge, formulate a plan, improve our training, improve our equipment, we will come up with creative, out of the box solutions to the worst of our problems, and we will overcome, like we always do. The future for policing in California is bright, but we must be prepared to make bold moves in these years to come, to bring the leadership lessons we learn in courses like this back to our agencies, to help cultivate amongst our ranks a culture of excellence, decisiveness, empathy, compassion and patience, for each other and for the public, a servants heart, and the disposition of guardians.
Thank you again for supporting us and thank you for supporting this program.
Captain at Foster City Police Department
2yNicely written Mike!
Alterations Derartment Manager at Neiman Marcus Group
2yCongratulations🙏🏻
Chaplaincy | People Development | Wellness
2yWell done Mike 🇺🇸
Assistant City Manager - Public Servant Leader - Passionate about Public Policy & Sustainable Communities
2yGreat insightful speech, Mike and congratulations!
Private/Background Investigator at SR James Investigations
2yWell said brother from SLI 232 💙🚔💙