We want to thank, show our appreciation, and honor, to all who have served and continue to serve in the Unites States armed forces. Happy Veterans Day to each of you and God Bless you all.
APL Partner – South Texas Public Safety
We are proud to support small business owners who are first responders which is why our support goes to South Texas Public Safety. Get a custom set of engraved handcuffs or other custom made gifts from our friends at South Texas Public Safety. https://southtexaspublicsafety.com/
2024 The Next Chapter: Growth
I started Archangel Professional Leadership in 2020 as a way to support, safeguard, and give back to my community. I teamed up with some of the absolute best public servants I knew. These individuals have shaped and mentored my growth over the years. They are reputable, respected, and vetted professionals in this industry. I am honored to have them as partners, and friends, and to have them share the vision of “SERVIAM” which means “I Will Serve.”
Over the past four years, we have grown our team, grown our mission, and increased our capacity to inspire professional growth in our clients. I am very excited and confident to announce that 2024 will bring added growth for our team and new opportunities and services to those we serve. We welcome your referrals and continued support.
Mike Davis | Owner/Founder
Archangel Professional Leadership
Mike@archangelleadership.com
aplguardian.com
Thank You Veterans
Our APL Team would like to extend our appreciation and special thanks to all who served and to those who continue to serve in our armed forces. We appreciate you all every day. God Bless You and Your Families and God Bless America!
– Archangel Professional Leadership Team
Independence Day July 4th
We wish you and your family a wonderful reflection and celebration of your freedoms.
Don’t accept the keys!
If you don’t know what is really in your police property and evidence room, we will let you know. Contact us today so we can conduct an independent property room inventory or audit. Our experts will provide consulting on policies and best practices.
Two Ladders – “That’s not my responsibility”
A multi-part series about leadership and organizational goal setting. Part. 2
When we look at accountability in organizations, ask ourselves if the organization that claims to have a “leaders at every level” model have everyone at the top or bottom half of the accountability ladder. Organizations that promote leadership at every level must establish expectations for each member related to accountability regardless of title. In part one of this series, I talked about the “A-frame ladder concept” related to goal setting, communication, efficiency, and process improvement. In this article, we will explore accountability at every level of an organization as a cultural expectation.
The book, “The Oz Principle” by Connors, Smith, and Hickman, shows how people, use a sense of victimization to make excuses for inaction and poor performance. The book goes on to suggest an “accountability ladder” as a model that takes people on an upward journey of self-awareness and organizational expectations. It reads much like the “Wizard of Oz” story that takes people away from ignorance to knowledge, fear to courage, paralysis to powerfulness, and victimization to accountability.
In the accountability ladder model, picture the image of a straight rung ladder with eight rungs. The top half of the ladder is labeled as “accountable behaviors” and the lower half is labeled as “victim behaviors” with each rung on the entire ladder labeled individually into one of the two categories. The higher you are on the ladder, the more accountable you are. The top four rungs are labeled individually, #8 “Make it happen”, #7 “Find Solutions”, #6 “Embrace it!”, #5 “Acknowledge Reality.” In the lower half of the ladder in the “Victim Behaviors” group, the rungs are also labeled individually, #4 “Wait and Hope”, #3 “I Can’t”, #2 “Personal Excuses”, and #1 “Blame Others.” The floor and base of where the ladder stands are labeled, “Unaware or unconscious.” At the lowest point, people are simply “Unaware” or “Unconscious.” They don’t even know there’s a situation that needs attention.
As you move from the ground up the next rung on the ladder is the “Blame Others” level. Here’s where we see a lot of finger-pointing. When something goes wrong or fails to go right, people at this level are quick to censure their colleagues. In the lower half of the ladder, you may hear comments from staff addressing problems that sound like, “that’s beyond my pay grade” or “we have always done it that way” or “why should I say anything about it, that’s not my responsibility.”
Our organizational or personal cultures tend to silence those who could speak up when they see a potential problem even if those identified problems are detrimental to the reputation of the organization. One could even go as far as saying that speaking up could be constituted as being rude by some in a workplace with generational gaps or historically divided hierarchy roles. When we hear conversations in which our peers make comments like, “I saw that problem a mile away but I didn’t say anything because that’s not my job and not my problem.” We have to take a look at those conversations from a higher altitude and recognize the red flags and the damage those words and lack of action have. These conversations in organizations that are otherwise doing well in training “leadership at every level” could be failing in the practice of those principles by not having accountability standards.
Setting clear expectations for everyone at every level should include an accountability ladder that standardizes respected communication for everyone. Think of it as a “see something, say something” motto that empowers problem-solving and a call to action at every level. Accountability creates efficiency, productivity, and builds respect and trust both internally and externally. The organizational hierarchy should acknowledge the right for everyone at any level to recognize, report, and take action, which allows everyone to “step up” on the ladder. There should be a clear expectation and understanding by all that “heads up communication” and “problem-solving” are rewarded behaviors and failure to act have negative consequences. The clearest way to establish what the expectation and actions are is to have them ask themselves where to act on the accountability ladder.
The top rungs are, “acknowledged reality”, “embrace it”, “find solutions”, and “make it happen.” Trust and accountability go hand in hand and empower problem-solving. By setting clear expectations, and by using the accountability ladder as a model, we can evaluate leadership and clearly see those that are on the top half of the ladder. I would go as far as saying that this model could be incorporated into employee evaluations under the “takes responsibility” and “leadership” sections.
I would go even further in stating that organizations should consider the establishment of a policy. Organizations should set clear language indicating that any person in the organization who sees, hears, identifies, or anticipates a problem that impacts the safety, trust, or anything that negatively impacts the goals or the reputation of the organization’s employees, customers, or anything that violates industry standards, laws, or organizational values, shall take proactive action to communicate and address the discovery. They must have an avenue to voice the identified problem and present potential solutions along with a willingness to play an active role in problem-solving. Those established avenues need to be respected and acted upon across the hierarchy from the ground up and vice versa as heads up communication that makes accountability everyone’s responsibility.
When everyone is empowered to have situational awareness, open communication, and mutual respect for their peers and mission goals, they give each other a heads up and they take a proactive team problem-solving approach. That is when the conversations change to, “My co-worker didn’t see that problem but I gave him a heads up along with some solutions and we made it happen.” Those are conversations that reflect a “leadership at every level” culture in practice.
Credit: “The Oz Principal” Connors, Smith, & Hickman; Photo by Douglas Barros from Pexels
The Leaders Legacy APL Episode 6
“Chief Homer”
In episode 6 of The Leaders Legacy, we meet Homer E. Delgado, Chief of Police in the City of Dilley, TX. Known in his community as “Chief Homer” his leadership and community initiatives served to rebuild and sustain community trust by mentoring his peers and building effective partnerships in the community he serves. Chief Homer has had an impressive career and he continues to lead positive and innovative changes in the field of policing.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I remember New York City in 1993, and I remember September 11, 2001
On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed, 400 were police officers and firefighters, in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in NYC, at the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., and in the United Airlines Flight 93 crash near Shanksville, PA. that targetted our nation’s capital.
I had the opportunity in my late teens to visit the twin towers in May of 1993 shortly after the first terror attack on the buildings on February 26, 1993, in a bombing that killed 6 and injured over 1,000 people. Over 50, 000 people were evacuated from the towers by first responders in the ’93 bombing. I recall feeling nervous on my visit to New York City as the subway train stopped in the World Trade Center mall. When I got off the subway train I saw the boarded-up garage, some broken and boarded-up windows, and smoke damage throughout the basements of the buildings that were being repaired. I recall seeing and speaking with several police officers in the station and the underground mall. I noticed the resolve among the people who worked there to smile and stay positive. It was evident that the police officers in the building gave them a sense of security and comfort. I admired and embraced the determination of American’s to press on. I too felt comforted by the police officers in the mall who were very friendly and I got the opportunity to meet and speak with several officers that day. I bought a postcard in the gift shop there with a picture of the towers and I put it on the wall in my room.
Eight years later, on September 11th, 2001 evil returned to the city and across our nation when the towers were brought down, when the Pentagon was attacked, and when Flight 93 went down. I was a police officer in Texas on the day of the terror attacks and one of my co-worker’s nieces was on flight 93. I was hurt, angered, and outraged as so many Americans were on that day and the days, months, and years to follow. Our nation and the role of policing were forever changed.
I recall reflecting on my visit to New York in 1993 and thinking that many of those police officers I saw on my visit may have lost their lives but I would never know for sure. I remember thinking that I hadn’t taken the time to ask their names. They were just people I met in passing much as we all do every day and there wouldn’t be a reason to do such a thing but I just couldn’t help but think about that. We don’t always recognize the impact that “people” have on our lives. What I do know and will forever respect is the realization that what I witnessed in 1993 was the role that police officers had in the healing process, the sense of security and comfort that they give us, and the resolve that acts of heroism can build that go unrecognized. I also realized just how small the world was and how close we were connected. I may not have realized how meeting those officers in 1993 may have in part inspired me to serve as a Police Officer a few years later. I always knew that I wanted to serve in a profession that would heal others and I may not have recognized the lesson they taught me at the time. I kept the postcard of the twin towers in my patrol hat until the day I retired from patrol a few years ago. It reminded me every day of the role and responsibility I had in the healing and comforting of others even if I went unrecognized or remembered and that is ok. It reminded me of my commitment to stepping up and why I am driven to run toward the things that people run from.
The first responders in the towers, those that worked in the station, in the mall, and across the city all ran toward the buildings to save lives. There are so many examples of tragic events in which Guardians run toward danger to save lives. It might be an active shooter, a domestic disturbance, or a robbery that we commonly see video of on the news. The first responders in the 9/11 attacks didn’t run toward a gunfight. Those brave men and women went into an inferno with a common goal of saving lives and healing those who were injured and I am certain that many of them had done it before in 1993.
Every time I see an officer standing at a post or sitting in a car, I think of February 26, 1993, and September 11, 2001. Those Guardians stand ready and they are the reason that Americans can press on, feel safe, go back to work after a tragedy, and sleep at night. Most people will never remember who they are in passing or in conversation and they won’t take the time to ask what their names are.
I went back to New York a few years ago to visit the site and although it was somber, it certainly reinforced my commitment to serve and to do all that I could to honor my fellow Guardians at every opportunity. I took the picture above in the subbasement of the towers in the same location I visited in 1993. It has been twenty years since the 9/11 attacks on our nation and we must all commit to continuing to inspire good people to serve, we need to honor those who served, and more importantly, we need to honor those who do it today. Good people step up, they come together and their actions build the resolve that we need to heal, be comforted, and allow us to press on. We need to acknowledge these Guardians at every opportunity because they deserve to know that what they do matters and that we do see them. Make no mistake about it, evil is real and there are people who intend to harm our way of life. Evil will only succeed if it divides us from these Guardians. There are noble Guardians who stand ready to protect us, they run toward the things that others run away from and they don’t expect you to remember them. It is who they are. Guardians hold those who harm us accountable, they ensure our freedoms, they help us get closure, and they are the reason we feel safe enough to go back to our way of life after we are harmed. They are healers.
Let us never forget the families and victims of the 9/11/2001 attacks, let us never forget the survivors of 9/11/2001, let us never forget the Guardians who stand ready.
The Patron Saint of Police is the Archangel Michael and it is quoted in several books and bibles, “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.”
Independence Day
At APL we love our country. Thanks to our forefathers and the honorable men and women who continue to work tirelessly to ensure justice, freedom, and the rights afforded to us in our great nation. Have a wonderful Independence Day!