Florida Police Chiefs Association - FPCA OnLine: President's Message

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A message from FPCA's President, Chief Keith Chandler:

"Leadership"

August 1, 2000

We’ve had all kinds of leadership training over the past few years, so I would not presume to attempt to instruct you, my fellow chiefs, on the concept of leadership. I would, however, like to share with you my feelings about leadership, but in a somewhat different way. Please bear with me.

When I think of leadership, I think of one’s ability to get others to share vision in such a manner that the follower helps achieve the goals, collectively and individually.

If you’ve ever involved yourself in athletics, I’m sure you’ve come to the realization that your measure of success, whether in a team or individual sport, is dependent upon the amount of work you put into the activity or game. Also, the harder it is for you to reach your goal (winning the game, the race, or excelling in the event), the greater the feeling of success and fulfillment.

I’m also sure that, at some point in that game, event or race, someone helped you strive just a little harder, swim, bike or run a little faster or longer, or lift a little more, and that help allowed you to accomplish just a little bit more than you thought possible.

When I think of a leader, I think of Suzanne Couillas, a fitness trainer at the club Patti and I belong to. Suzanne, among her other wonderful talents, leads our thrice weekly spin classes. Now, if you’ve never heard of spin class, it’s an aerobic and muscle fitness class where you ride a stationary bicycle, and exercise to music. It’s hard.

By the end of the class you’re exhausted if you’ve exerted yourself to your utmost potential. That’s where Suzanne comes in. She’s not only the person leading the class, but she’s a leader in every sense of the word. You see, Suzanne had asthma as a child, and was not supposed to ever be able to involve herself in athletic endeavors. However, she willed herself to do that very thing, and now helps others achieve athletically. Neat story, huh?

Patti and I take spin three times a week. Three times a week I feel like I can’t go any further on that stationary bicycle, but Suzanne - at just the right time and in just the right manner - encourages me to continue and extend myself. She does the same for everyone else in the class. We all have fun, yet by the end of the class we have all reached collective goals as set by Suzanne, and personal goals as set by each of us. We all feel like we’ve really accomplished something special - and feel good to boot.

What’s that got to do with leading a police department? Well, I believe it has everything to do with how we lead other people, no matter what profession we’re in, including police work. The lesson that I’ve learned through knowing Suzanne Couillas is that anyone can be a leader.

All you have to do is believe in your vision, convince others to believe in t too, and help them attain it. Leadership can be pretty simple when you think about it in those terms, huh?

I’ll turn now to an update of my first month as your President:

Educational Standards Committee Chair Jay Romine and I attended the Florida League of Cities Ethics and Criminal Justice Committee meeting on July 7 in Tampa, and asked for their support before the legislature for the educational standards bill that will be filed next legislative session.

I had the opportunity to visit the Tampa Bay Chiefs Association at their July 13 meeting. They’ve decided to host the 2001 summer conference in Tampa. You’ll be hearing more about that as the year progresses. I’d like to thank President Midge Heathcote and the Tampa Bay Association’s membership for the hospitality they displayed to Patti and me during our visit. You can also read about their local association elsewhere in this edition of The Florida Police Chief Magazine.

I attended a July 18 meeting at FDLE to kick off newly passed pawn shop legislation, which established a state-wide data base on pawn tickets. This new legislation should help us locate stolen and pawned items, no matter where they’re pawned in the state.

Other members of the Executive Board were also busy during July and August:

Executive Director Hal Robbins, Tallahassee Chief Walt McNeil, and the FPCA staff represented the association at an FDLE ceremony honoring Retired Chief and Executive Director Willis Booth for his receipt of the FPCA Lifetime Achievement Award.

First Vice-President Lee Cote represented us on July 25 at the Florida Sheriffs Association Summer conference at the Saddlebrook Resort near Tampa. I t was pretty tough duty, but Lee agreed to sacrifice for the sake of the association. He discussed the educational standards resolution we passed at our Sanibel Island summer conference, and asked the Sheriffs to adopt the same stance.

Second Vice-President Roy Arigo represented us at the Florida League of Cities Resolutions Committee meeting on August 10 in Broward County.

Your Executive Board and Board of Directors will be meeting on September 12-13 in Daytona Beach to work on our strategic plan and hold our quarterly board meeting. If any of you have an issue you would like discussed by the board, please give it to your District Director and we’ll address it for you, then report back to you on our action.