Colonel Jeffrey Katz, Chesterfield County Chief of Police outlines what makes the mettle of a good leader.
In 1993, Celine Dion released a memorable single entitled The Power of Love. It’s a fairly sappy ballad, but the title is both useful and memorable.
I ask for the sake of all involved that you consider only the title of this song as we delve into this concept together because any guidance taken from the song’s lyrics will undoubtedly land you in your agency’s human resources department or as the defendant in unsavory legal action.
Please, heed this warning. Okay – let’s move on with a little thought experiment.
Imagine, if you will, you’re standing atop a 20-story building in a grand metropolis. Directly across the street from you – say 100 feet – is an identical building to the one you’re standing on. Spanning across the bustling street that separates these two buildings is a solid steel beam.
For the purposes of this exercise, let’s imagine the plank is a full 16” in width. Again, this beast is solid. It can easily handle 1,000 lbs. at any point across its span. The beam is securely bolted across the ledges of the building you’re on and its companion structure across the street.
The reliability of this beam is undeniable and so we are going to take that variable out of your decision-making equation.
Question one – how much money would someone have to put on the roof of the other building for you to walk across this beam and enrich yourself beyond your wildest dreams?
Depending upon your temperament – your personality – the amount you come up with will likely range from several million dollars to a response that sounds a little like “…dead people can’t spend money they never reached; I’m fine right where I am.”
This is a philosophical exploration, so it is important for you to know there is no right or wrong answer. Nevertheless, it is valuable to clarify what threshold you’re comfortable with before we move on to the second question.
Question two – imagine that instead of the offer of a pile of money, you now look across to the other rooftop and see the person in this world you love the most. Think of that person now. Identify them. That person has been tied to a pole and they are gagged, unable to say a word.
You can look into their eyes. They are terrified. Strapped across their chest is a large digital clock with a three-minute countdown. The clock is wired to what appears to be an explosive device. For the sake of this exercise, let’s imagine you know you can turn this device off if you reach your loved one within this three-minute threshold.
What do you do? Who goes? Who doesn’t go? Quickly! Every. Second. Counts.
During in-person lectures, I’ve asked hundreds of people these two questions and I’ve made the following observations:
Why? Well, it is entirely true that humans will do more to avoid loss than to achieve gain. This is known as loss aversion and it’s generally the motivation behind things like negative political attack ads. Loss aversion is real.
However, looking deeper, what about this scenario causes people to universally spring into action, at great risk to themselves, without hesitation? It’s the power of love.
Love is the strongest force in our nature. We will do more for those we love than for anyone else. Why does a soldier lie across a grenade in a crowded foxhole? Love. Why are people willing to walk across that steel beam to save their loved one? Love.
Within my organization and during talks I give on leadership, I repeatedly remind people to “love those you lead.” When you think about it, loving someone who isn’t a parent or sibling with whom you’ve known since early childhood – or even loving something, such as a pet – is a decision one makes.
You pick up Fido from the local shelter one day because Fido is cute and has a good personality. Fido comes home with you. He chews a few shoes, poops on the carpet… you know, do what puppies do and one day you realize you love Fido.
A decade or so goes by and you have to say goodbye to that special member of your household and it’s one of the worst days of your life.
You made a choice – a choice to love a domestic animal. Now, if you can choose to love a dog, cat, bird, iguana, snake or even a rodent (I’m not judging, we are capable of doing so) – what excuse do we have for not choosing to love those we serve through our leadership endeavors?
As we have established, the power of love is like no other and when you think about what you’d do for those you’d love – those are the things you must be willing to do for those you are asking to influence to often act against their self-interest.
Stay late. Push harder. Lean into discomfort to achieve the desired outcome.
A great leader achieves superior output from their workforce. Not out of coercion but out of loyalty. Out of love. They see greater engagement. Higher retention. Stronger investment. More robust innovation.
They can attain these outcomes because they give love to their staff. They are willing to get to know them and they take an interest in those within their charge on a personal and appropriate level. They know their motivations, aspirations and trepidations. They can tell when they are “off.” They might need a helping hand, a day off or an empathetic ear.
They pitch in to help make deadlines and don’t ask their people to do anything they aren’t willing to do themselves.
A loving leader pays attention to whether people are living up to their potential, stretches capacity, notices effort, coaches, mentors, holds their staff accountable and positions their people for success.
They find the balance between flooding their team with support and driving the highest expectations of performance, knowing that with success, increased momentum and a sense of personal ownership, people can accomplish remarkable things.
A loving leader encourages people to move on, spread their figurative wings and soar to their full potential – to lead others, elsewhere even.
If you’re charged with accomplishing work through others, the endeavor is far more rewarding and your internal inclinations are far more aligned with best practices for influencing others, if you choose to love those you lead and tap into the power of love.
On 4 January 2018, Colonel Jeffrey Katz was sworn into office to serve as Chesterfield County’s eighth Chief of Police. Jeffrey began his career in the city of Plantation in 1989 as a Police Cadet and went on to join the City of Parkland Public Safety Department as a Police Officer and Firefighter before accepting a position in 1998 as a Police Officer with the Boynton Beach Police Department in Palm Beach County, Florida – where, in 2013, after a series of progressive promotions, he was appointed to serve as Chief of Police. In 2022, Jeffrey was elected President of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, where he has been a member of the Executive Board since 2020. Also, in 2022, he was appointed to serve a four-year term on Virginia’s Criminal Justices Services Executive Board.
This article was originally published in the July edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.