Leading Diversity: Mentoring Women Police Commanders

During the ten years I spent as a member of an executive team in a major city police department, I learned a great deal about management and leadership and the difference between the two. I learned the critical importance of engaging my team and tapping into the knowledge, skillset, and strengths that each of my team members brought to the table. I learned that it was my job not to solve problems for my team, but rather to define organizational problems and engage the team in developing solutions at the functional level, where buy-in from mid-level managers and rank and file personnel is so crucial for success. 

What I found most valuable as I evolved into an effective executive leader, was the diversity of thoughts and ideas that came from a diverse executive team. That diversity was an organizational strength and helped me to be a better leader. No two members of the executive team were alike, and the more diverse the group was, the more varied the range of ideas and opinions were. 

During those ten years, the diversity of the executive team ebbed and flowed, as some members retired, and new members joined. The team’s composition changed multiple times over the years. At times it was more diverse and at other times less so, with much depending on the pool of available candidates to move from division/district commanders into the executive ranks. However, there was a strong commitment to diversity and leadership development from the Chief of Police. During periods of greater diversity, it was less likely that “group think” would set in, as the vast range of personal and professional experiences that people brought to discussions in the executive boardroom helped to avoid it.

One of the most significant opportunities I had over the ten years was the ability to mentor subordinate commanders and prepare them for executive level rank. My mentor/mentee relationships crossed racial, ethnic, and gender lines. The diversity of people I was able to mentor made the experience for me very rewarding. I learned as much from those I mentored as I hope they learned from me. I was able to look at myself more critically and see some of my weaknesses and areas where I could improve. I changed some of the ways I operated based on my mentoring experiences. Seeing those I mentored successfully move into executive level positions was my final reward. I reminded them that they did the hard work to move up in the organization, not me, I only provided them with the tools to help them achieve their goals.

As an executive leader, I had the opportunity to mentor several women command officers, who were often either under-mentored or not mentored at all. These mentorships were some of the more interesting of my mentorship opportunities. The career experiences of the women I had the chance to mentor were eye-opening for me. I had been in the organization for decades, yet somewhat blind to many of the challenges faced by women officers and supervisors over the years. Most of the women I mentored had joined the department in the 1990s, during a period that was less friendly to women in policing and with few women in that era ascending to formal leadership ranks. The women I mentored reflected on their own experiences, both professionally and personally, and shared how their experiences both informed who they were as leaders and how they operated within their areas of responsibility within the organization. Most of them were champions for policing and women in policing. They were not going to let the challenges they faced in their early careers derail their success to move up in rank and take on significant leadership responsibilities later in their careers. They had much too offer and brought a very different perspective to the executive team. Their presence and voices on the executive team brought a balance that was needed.

I joined my department in the 1980s when there was not a single woman officer in a supervisory role. My early upbringing within the department was one in which the widely held belief was that policing was a man’s job, and only men could lead men. Unfortunately, in my early career, I believed it, because I was an impressionable young officer and that was what I was taught. Thankfully, over time, my views changed as I had the opportunity to work with women officers and to be supervised by women. I evolved to a place in my beliefs that women hold a critical role in police leadership, and departments that don’t invest in developing women leaders are missing out on a significant opportunity for the organization. Young women officers need to see other women in leadership roles to let them know they too can move into a leadership position during their career. 

As the father of two daughters, I never want my daughters to face in their workplaces what women officers have historically faced in police departments. I want them to be treated fairly and to earn their professional successes not because they are women, but because they have the requisite skill set and education needed for the jobs they possess.

Executive level men need to be willing to mentor women. I sometimes hear that in the #metoo era it can be uncomfortable for some men to engage in a mentorship relationship with a women employee. Any mentoring relationship requires the establishment of professional boundaries, which must be adhered to. In many agencies there are not enough women in police leadership roles to mentor other women, so men stepping in and being willing to mentor is critically important so that women do not miss out on valuable growth opportunities afforded to their male colleagues.

I am glad that I evolved in my thinking over the years. I am a better person for it, my former organization is a better organization for it, and hopefully the women, and others, I have had the chance to mentor are better for it.