What Do Great Sergeants Do Differently

What Do Great Sergeants Do Differently?

Wally Bock, Oakland, CA.

Great Sergeants show up a lot.

 Show up on calls  Catch folks in hall and table  Car-to-car parking lot chatting  Get to know each person  Create a comfort zone

Great sergeants rehearse mentally

 Think about personnel situations might face in detail  Imagine a run-through  Constantly play “what if?”  Keep focus on future - prepare  Think more in advance than peers

Great sergeants manage the consequences of their behavior

 Don’t think about rewards and punishments they deliver  View on terms of natural consequences to behavior  Manage consequences so it is in the best interest of the subordinate to do what is right or needed by the agency  Starts with clear standards and expectations  Make sure people understand the consequences  Stay focused on behavior - don’t talk about attitude  They talk to subordinates about behavior only

Great sergeants do lots of supervisory interviews

 An interview is a discussion with someone about changing behavior  Make small corrections early  Take plenty of time for interviews - whatever it takes  Annual performance evaluation takes 55 minutes per officer compared to 15 minutes average for all sergeants

Great sergeants critique their own supervisory behavior

 Believe that supervision is most important thing they do  Believe improvement in supervision is important and takes hard work  Continually do after - action critiques  Pay attention to items under their control and try to do better  Monitor the results of their actions and make modifications to get the results they want  Use a wider variety of supervisor tools than do less effective peers  They are not afraid to experiment and admit mistakes