So, You Want to Be a Supervisor?

Who wouldn’t want to be a supervisor? There is more money and the additional prestige that comes with higher rank. More satisfying, perhaps, is the opportunity to have a positive effect on your campus and your department. You will assume greater responsibility, impart your knowledge to junior officers, improve their morale and job satisfaction, and have a forum to share your expertise and ideas with senior officers.

But, beware. The supervision coin has a dark side. First, you are no longer one of the troops. You are now a “company” man or woman. You are no longer responsible only for yourself. Now, you are responsible for what others do or don’t do. And, when your people screw up, you share responsibility, to include a write-up and even legal liability.

Further, you’ll face the unpleasant task of reprimanding and even punishing a former colleague you considered a friend. If this isn’t enough to dissuade all but the most lion-hearted, you will have to make a daily ascent up a mountain of paperwork. It was fun working the street, being on the front line of “protect and serve,” which included making traffic stops, arresting bad guys and serving warrants with your fellow officers. Now, you must abandon that for training records, evidence logs, personnel matters and every manner of documentation.

But wait, there’s more! In his book Escape from Freedom, Erich Fromm identified some downsides of increased freedom (i.e., control over one’s environment). In the world of law enforcement or any endeavor of command, the responsibilities that accompany greater authority create uncertainty and stress.

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Why would anyone ever want to become a supervisor in light of these negatives? Surely, the slightly larger paycheck doesn’t adequately compensate the irregular schedule, the aggravation, and the separation from the fun things that initially drew you to law enforcement.

The acceptance of the responsibilities of supervision must be based on four commitments:

1. To your own excellence
2. To your department
3. To your officers
4. To making a difference on a larger scale than can be made by a single officer.

So, what should you do and what shouldn’t you do to increase the chances of success as a supervisor? From the outset, you must understand that there is more to supervision than simply managing personnel. You must also become a leader who develops people and who imparts in them a passion for this exciting profession.

Success as a supervisor depends on your ability to achieve three goals: your own development and self-discipline, positive and productive relationships with your subordinates, and successful integration within your agency’s overall structure.

Here are some rules to help you succeed in each of these areas.

Self-Development and Discipline

1. Continuously seek self-improvement. Your officers will have greater respect for you and follow your directions if they think you know what you’re doing. Learn your institution’s administrative procedures. You will become involved in things you never had to do as a “slick-sleeved” officer; things like video policies, grievance adjudication, threat assessment teams and public speaking.
2. Become tactically proficient. You want officers to follow you because they have confidence in your decisions and abilities to keep them safe; not because they want you in front as a bullet-soaking shield.
3. Set an example and lead by it. What you say and do should be one in the same. You must “walk the walk” in addition to “talking the talk.”
4. Be consistently beyond reproach. If you break the rules (e.g., talk about others, tell inappropriate jokes, use profane language, wear a sloppy uniform, etc.), how can you discipline others for doing these things? Further, your behavior will be the first thing cited in a grievance after you have disciplined someone else for wrongdoing.
5. Listen! Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People said most people do not listen with an intent to understand, they listen with an intent to reply. If you don’t listen to people, you will undermine your ability to address their problems, understand their perspectives, and present yourself as a supervisor who cares. Failure to listen to someone is disrespectful and something that engenders resentment. Ultimately, people who are not listened to stop communicating altogether. And while you’re at it, also pay attention to others’ non-verbal cues (e.g., crossing their arms in a meeting, turning away from you), which may convey more meaning than their words.
6. Don’t become awed by your seniority. As you acquire more rank, you acquire more responsibility and authority. You have the right to make decisions. However, your ascent also puts you further from the trenches. In a dynamic social environment, things change, so what worked for you five years ago may no longer be effective. Pay attention to new officers in the trenches; they are a source of information and innovation.
7. It’s imperative to act. When someone tells you something or you see a problem, you may need to take action. As a supervisor, knowing about and failing to address misconduct can create serious issues with discipline and liability. “It’s not the problem that’s the problem; it’s failing to address the problem that gets people into trouble.”
8. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Officers recognize phonies and will call you out.
9. Seek responsibility and be responsible for your actions. Your boss is not interested in hearing why you failed. He or she presumably gave you the means to succeed. If you didn’t succeed, accept responsibility and tell your superior what you intend to do to fix it. Your willingness to accept responsibility is key to engendering within your subordinates the willingness to be responsible for their actions.
10. Learn to communicate. You will spend more time explaining what you do and what you want than actually doing it. Perfect your ability to write pithy and cogent prose, and learn how to speak in front of others. One who cannot express himself or herself clearly and convincingly will go nowhere.
11. Don’t lose your sense of humor. Unless someone is shooting at you, your problems aren’t so bad. The battles may be vicious but only because the stakes are small. Have fun. (Article continues on next page.)

Relationships with Subordinates

12. You have the authority to command, but people want explanations. Influence others. This is the information age. When time and circumstances permit, tell people why you are doing something or asking them to do something. Harkening back to your childhood, remember when you asked you dad “why?” about something and he said “because I am your father, and I said so.” You may have complied, but you weren’t happy about being treated like a child.
13. Spend time with the troops and look out for them. Spending time with the troops does several positive things. It shows you care, it keeps your own skills sharp, it’s a great source of information and it creates a team. On occasion, you will need to stand up for your people and maybe even take a few shots. This is why leaders wear red capes.
14. Establish expectations early and enforce them consistently. Tell your troops what’s important to you and your standards so they understand what’s permissible and what’s not. If someone fails to meet them, intervene early and facilitate a course correction. Postponing criticism or discipline rarely makes the problem go away, and once you allow substandard behavior to persist, correcting it in others becomes impossible.
15. Praise in public but criticize in private. Publicly acknowledge exemplary behavior. However, when you need to crack the whip, remember to do it in private. There is a saying that six months from now, people won’t remember what you said but how you treated them. This is true. Animosities generated by arrogance are long-lived.
16. Create a team (“we” instead of “I”). Keep your team informed and develop in them a sense of responsibility. Multiple people, working together, bring multiple perspectives that will improve performance and decision-making. Share your vision, and lead your team in that direction.
17. There is a difference between being a friend and friendly. Friendship generates bias, and bias undermines fairness and consistency. Always be friendly and courteous, but remember that you’re at work, not a social function. The mission comes first; it’s more important than your sentiment of friendship.
18. Different people have different needs and expectations. Motivate them differently. Young officers just starting out will be motivated by overtime, for instance. Many older officers, whose kids are grown, will resent the requirement to work OT. In short, treat all fairly but not necessarily the same.
19. Trust your subordinates. The higher you go, peripheral and non-operational tasks will consume your time, and you will begin to lose proficiency in basic skills. You will have the authority to make decisions but not always the expertise; not only because you’ve lost your edge but also because what you remember may now be obsolete. If you have developed a good team, you can trust and rely on your subordinates.
20. Nobody wants to criticize the boss. Search out bad news; otherwise, you will not have all the facts and perspectives to make good decisions. If you want to encourage timely and full information sharing, be open to criticism and don’t kill the messenger of bad tidings. Additionally, keep your supervisor advised of problems on your home front. (See Rule 27.)
21. Give your team the independence to accomplish their mission, but keep an eye on things. Your people may make every mistake once because that’s how they learn. When they need your help, they will ask for it but until then, get out of their way. They will appreciate your confidence in them. Your goal is to ensure they don’t make the same mistake twice.

Relationships Within the Organization

22. Your goals, those of your officers, those of the department and those of the community you serve may be different, even mutually exclusive. Further, they may vary over time. Your law enforcement agency does not exist in a vacuum. You have to deal with PIOs, IT, legal, public works, the chief executive’s office, etc. Your specific goals will not always coincide with those of your non-law enforcement colleagues. Further, their goals (and yours) are likely to change in different phases of a crisis (i.e., prevention, response, mitigation and recovery). A strong leader will not only focus on his or her goals; he or she will find ways to integrate the goals of all concerned to advance the overall goals of the organization.
23. The same action will be interpreted differently by others. Words and non-verbal cues may mean different things to different people, based on their race, gender, age, culture, religion, nation of origin, etc. Don’t assume everyone views things the same way you do. This assumption robs you of all the information you need to make many decisions.
24. Document everything. In general, if it isn’t written down, it never happened. On the other hand, sometimes it’s better to communicate orally and not commit something to writing. A good supervisor will learn to know when to do each.
25. Control your ego. If you let your ego get in the way and make it about you, then every interaction becomes a contest, with a winner and a loser. Who wants to be the loser? Nobody! Don’t take yourself too seriously. If you do, you will generate resentment and undermine future support from and loyalty of others.
26. You owe your people loyalty, but your job is to explain command’s positions and rationales, as well as garner support. What command wants and what officers want and the best way to obtain these goals may diverge on occasion. It is your job to explain the rationale for command decisions and ensure compliance. This will not always be popular or easy, which is why supervision is called work. At times, you will think a command decision is ill-considered. Remember: with your troops, your decision is not your own. You are a cheerleader and a facilitator. By all means question decisions you consider bad, but do it up the chain and in private.
27. Don’t be the highest ranking person with a secret. Keep your boss informed, especially about things that can come back to haunt you or your agency.
28. The world is not black and white; it is 50 shades of blue. Internal agency goals, community goals, emotions, and competing responsibilities to the troops and command may conflict; and often do. You must be able to discern priority goals, goals you can affect, the resources needed to achieve them, associated consequences of not addressing them, etc.
29. Your time is not your own. Competence is its own punishment. The better you perform, the more will be asked of you, and this will divert your attention from what you consider priority tasks. You must delegate (and work longer hours)!
30. You need some money in the bank. As you achieve more successes, your reputation as a leader who gets things done, your loyalty and confidence by your superiors will accrue, like money in the bank. A fat savings account is nice, but sometimes, you will have to make a withdrawal to get something you really need.

Affect Positive Change as a Supervisor

As Casey Stengel once said, “The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided.” Stengel was a winner, and you can be too. Supervision isn’t easy, but what challenge is? Get out there and make a difference!

Daniel A. Dusseau was formerly the chief of police for the Northern Virginia Community College Police Department, and Lt. John M. Weinstein, Ph.D., was formerly commander of the NVCC PD Eastern District.

Note: The views expressed by guest bloggers and contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, Campus Safety.