The Way Of The Jedi: Developing Balance Between The Warrior & Guardian Mindset

Overview

Organizational Planning, Culture & Change

• ​Strategic Planning: Setting The Right Course For Your Agency
• Focusing On The Foundation: Developing Interpersonal & Organizational Trust 
• Emotional Safety: The Essential Element Of Workplace Wellness 
• Organizational Culture: Your Basis Of Success Or Failure
• The Hard Facts About The Soft Skills
• Are You Managing The Change Or Is The Change Managing You? 

Leadership & Supervision

• ​Strength-Based Leadership & Supervision
• Developing A Coaching Mindset
• Leading For Influence: It Matters What You Choose Each Day
• Getting Out Of Your Own Way: How To Take Your Leadership To The Next Level
• Beyond The Ordinary
• Perfecting Your Show

Communication, Conflict & Customer Service

• Turning Conflict Into Conversation
• Making Your Words An Asset Not A Liability: How To Improve What You Say & How You Say It
• Do Your Callers Think You Care? Making Customer Service Training A Priority 
• Turning Lemons Into Lemonade: Proving Exceptional Customer Service

Employee Selection, Promotion & Development

• Strategic Selection: Finding The Right Fit Every Time
• Securing The Future Of Your Agency Through Succession Planning
• Bringing Your Best To A Promotional Process
• Assessing Future Leaders: Implementing A Character-Based Promotional Process
• Dealing With A Weak Bench
• Carrots Or Sticks? How To Get Employees To Do What You Want
• Dealing With The Dark Side: How To Handle Your Most Difficult Employees
• What Road Do I Take? The Path To Effective Decision Making
• The Best Kept Secrets to Maximizing Your Agency's Training Dollars

Ethics, Bias & Diversity

• Identity Based Ethics 
• Ethics: It's All About The Little Things
• Implicit Bias: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
• Diversity

Warrior & Guardian Mindset

• The Way Of The Jedi: Developing Balance Between The Warrior & Guardian Mindset

Compassion Fatigue, Stress Management & Self-Care

• Keeping The Super Heroes Super

Marijuana Legalization 

• Legalizing Marijuana In Colorado: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

We are plagued with stories about police corruption, poor tactics, excessive use of force and as such public outcry for change is louder than ever. As a result, many agencies have attempted quick fixes (e.g., increased accountability, de-escalation classes, cameras) that have not solved the underlying problem. Additionally, there continues to be a debate about if officers should be warriors or guardians and these conversations tend to create division and foster extreme response options that perpetuate officer imbalance. We believe the true fix lies in an examination of the law enforcement culture and the training that emanates from it. As humans, we are only as good as our programming, and most of what we do each day is automatic and built on the habits we have created over the years. Officers are taught to be threat assessors and required to have proficiency in the hard skills (e.g., firearms, defensive tactics), but not the soft ones (e.g., communication, leadership, conflict resolution, decision making, ethics), which are the very ones that will enable officers to have a truly balanced approach. Additionally, a proficiency in the soft skills will allow officers to be more strategic in the use of their hard skills and make them more effective both inside and outside the building. This course uses the Jedi philosophy as a framework to explore the organizational changes (e.g., agency identity, training priorities, increased accountability, leadership/mentoring, community engagement, and managing your message) necessary for a cultural shift to occur. We also lay out specific steps your agency can take to manifest the cultural changes needed to both better equip officers and provide your community with a more positive experience of law enforcement.