I write this message for the February Police Chief just days after watching the rioting in the U.S. Capitol that tallied its damage in the unforgiving cost of lives lost, iconic property destroyed, and a national—if not international—psyche affected.

And, if the start to 2021 has not been difficult enough, the beginning of each article in this issue talks about the unrelenting onslaught of crises in 2020: a pandemic, civil unrest, calls to defund the police, economic upheaval, political polarity, recruiting and retention problems, concerns over officer wellness, and morale issues within our departments—the list goes on.

In the midst of what can feel like crushingly insurmountable times, this issue is dedicated to the topic of leadership because we lead, now, through new and uncharted territory. And while leadership can quickly feel like an overused term, think, instead, of the personal traits and skills that police leaders need in order to move from one day to the next in these trying times. For me, the following comes to mind: resiliency, grit, determination, strength, optimism, empathy, and the discipline to apply critical thinking skills to the truly wicked problems we face.

We can look back at 2020 as a year fraught with unprecedented challenges that demanded heavy costs from many communities, organizations, and police personnel both professionally and personally, or we can look back at 2020 and realize how strong we became, how much we experienced and grew, and how ready we are to face the unknown challenges of 2021. We know what chaos looks like and we have a roadmap of what we did well—and what we could have done better—that can help us navigate the challenging road ahead.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines resiliency as “the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress; an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change,” while the Cambridge American English Dictionary defines it as “the ability to be successful again after something difficult or bad has happened.”¹ Law enforcement executives must lead, in this moment, from a place of personal and organizational resiliency, for it will be through the ability to try, succeed, fail, recover, and try again that we will forge a path forward that serves our communities, protects our officers from harm, and grows our profession in the coming years and changing environment. We must lead in the now in order to police for the future.

“We must lead in the now in order to police for the future.”

Let me confess that I am not formally nor academically versed in the subject of leadership, having read only a select handful of books on the topic. I speak from no place of authority, only my own experiences forged of some successes and many mistakes through the years. But several lessons from past great leaders have always resonated with me. President Abraham Lincoln believed, “You must have stamina, fortitude, and self-confidence. You must believe in yourself…. Ignore most of the attacks if they are petty, but fight back when they are important enough to make a difference.”² And the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”³

Taken together, these two sentiments speak to me of grit, determination, strength, and empathy. And while leadership has been studied and debated for thousands of years, these traits seem foundational because one thing remains unchanged no matter the theory posited: leadership involves people. And people are not easily categorized, nor do they follow set patterns. What works well in leading through one situation might not work in the next because the people may be different or the people may interact with the fact set in a way that completely changes it from the last time that fact set was dealt with. This creates an environment in which leaders thrive through resiliency, grit, determination, strength, empathy, and the critical thinking skills that will enable us to find new solutions to new problems.

As so, in my introduction to this month’s Police Chief magazine and its topic of leadership, I can offer only this: no matter the challenges ahead, we stand together in the work we do for those we serve—in strength and resilience—and as leaders in our profession.

Pax et Bonum. d

Notes:

¹ Merriam-Webster Online, s.v.“resiliency”; Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, s.v. “resilience.”

² Donald T. Phillips, Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times (New York, NY: Warner Business Books, 1992), 74.

³ Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row: 1963).

Please cite as

Cynthia E. Renaud, “Standing Together in Leadership and Service,” President’s Message, Police Chief 88, no. 2 (February 2021): 6–7.