Every now and again, in our lives as government
employees, we reach a place and a point in time,
a where and a when, that presents a singular
opportunity for us to make a personal
and professional difference.
Sometimes this opportunity presents itself as a vacancy
announcement, or a training class,
a special project, or a temporary assignment somewhere.
This year we find ourselves at that happy juncture of
time and circumstance that "when and where" of
opportunity that is all too rare in government service
Ladies and gentleman, our when and where of
opportunity is here and now.
This year, the Department is working with us on an
opportunity to focus on that set of qualities we often
describe as "leadership".
We've organized a comprehensive set of
leadership events that will give all of us an
opportunity to examine this leadership thing,
We will be able to take from these leadership events bits
and pieces of leadership that we can use to help
ourselves, the teams we are a part of,
and our organization.
At a minimum, our involvement will allow us to
confirm what we already know about leadership;
but for my part, I expect to find some new perspectives,
I expect to get some quotable quotes,
some examples, and concepts that will help me do my job better.
Our leadership events for the year are grouped under
leadership themes: The next grouping of leadership
events is built around the concept of "Leading From
Where You Are; that is Leadership at All Levels" I
think we all have some experience in leading from
where we are whether we know it or not.
In my own experience, I found my job of delivering
instruction to law enforcement professionals
was an important part of my professional development,
and development as a leader, and an example of leading
from where you are.
I found that my basic law enforcement students
expected me to deliver quality information to them,
information on which their jobs,
and perhaps their very lives might depend.
My students were a captive audience in some ways,
but they were very demanding in other ways,
they wanted to learn, they needed to learn and they
needed to have confidence that I could get them where
they needed to go, that I could give them the guidance
they would need to navigate their professional futures.
I learned to respect the importance of my position as
an instructor; like a thunderclap of cognizance: I
discovered that along with my authority to direct
learning activities in the classroom,
came the responsibility to provide the learning
environment, the learning tools,
and to use the most effective teaching
techniques that I possible could.
In my next stage as a supervisory instructor,
I found that I had the responsibility to inspire my
team with what I had learned about the relationship
between instructor authorities
and instructor responsibilities.
Lead from where you are: instructor,
supervisor, manager, team member,
advisor, and leader.
Harvest and share what you have learned about the
relationship between authority and responsibility
in the workplace.
Don't let these opportunities slip by,
there are those, like me, that can benefit from your
leadership experience.
Lead from where you are, come and join us in this and
future events, and let's see where this particular career
development path takes us individually
and as an organization.
See you there.