Leadership and Command

Co-sponsor: none

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Course Description

As law enforcement leaders progress up the ranks to the command level, it is imperative that they are provided with additional training to meet their advanced and increased demands. The need for leaders with adequate resources and equipment to properly and safely do their jobs becomes more critical. Meeting the diverse needs of the community requires that patrol officers are provided with appropriate guidance and strong leadership. The Leadership and Command training program focuses on developing skills important to protecting the community and enhancing the safety of the officers in the organization.

Penn State’s Leadership and Command course examines the science of leadership, principles of the brain, and effects of stress on the cognitive process. Students will learn to identify characteristics that affect the decision-making process. The program addresses the need for good communication and operational planning and the importance of delegation and problem-solving. Participants are provided real-life problems for which to develop operational plans that allow them to apply their learning of these areas. Policing involves a great deal of diversity within the department and the communities they serve.

Attendees will evaluate the needs of various cultures and generational concerns within their agencies and develop plans to enhance the productivity of the organization.

Morale and professional bearing can affect how an agency is perceived from both the inside and outside. Leadership and Command explores concepts relating to the benefits and drawbacks of performance evaluations. It not only identifies common problems associated with evaluations but provides strategies on how evaluations are completed and managed. Attendees will also develop strategies for performance development plans.

Planning is a critical responsibility of command personnel. Attendees will develop ideas for a strategic plan for their agency or a specialized unit. This course also takes leadership a step further by identifying the concept of shared leadership. The program allows the attendees to compare how this style relates to other forms of leadership and apply these concepts to their current role as a commander.

Key concepts and topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Psychology of leadership — brain functions, anchoring, adjustment, emotion, heuristics
• Leadership and command — definition, contrast
• Operational planning — goals, objectives, tools
• Communication — basics, barriers, platforms
• Problem-solving — manager’s role, identifying problems and causes
• Delegation — When and why you should delegate, barriers to delegation, accountability factors
• Managing organizational change — internal and external environments that require change, asking questions to determine the need for change, how changes affect dynamics, why changes fail
• Dealing with organizational diversity — identify generational cultures, compare and contrast differences/similarities between cultures, understanding generation Y (Millennials), create action plans to bring diverse generations together to support the mission of the agency
• Working with performance evaluations — common problems, rating characteristics, how they may affect performance and morale, rethink the way evaluations are completed and managed, create a performance development plan
• Strategic planning — purpose, vision and mission, SWOT analysis, develop timelines of a strategic plan
• Shared leadership — key steps, concepts, break down barriers

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Registration

Course: Leadership and Command (Course Description)
When: October 26, 2020 – October 30, 2020, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Where: Virtual Course (Zoom)