What I Wish I’d Known Before Taking Command
No one assumes command fully prepared.
Training helps. Experience helps. Mentors help. But the reality of leadership reveals itself only after the appointment is made and the responsibility becomes personal. Looking back on my years as chief, there are lessons I wish I had understood more clearly before taking command.
The first is that leadership changes relationships.
Officers who once spoke freely become more cautious. Conversations become more measured. Even long-standing friendships shift once decisions begin to affect assignments, discipline, and careers. I expected responsibility; I did not fully anticipate the distance that responsibility would create.
Understanding that change earlier would have made the transition easier. The distance was not hostility. It was a natural consequence of authority.
I also wish I had understood how much leadership depends on communication beyond the department.
As an officer and supervisor, I focused primarily on operations — calls for service, investigations, training, and supervision. As chief, the role expanded to include regular communication with the city manager, council members, attorneys, and community leaders. Success depended as much on explaining decisions as making them.
Leadership in a municipal environment is never isolated. Decisions must be understood as well as implemented.
Another lesson was the importance of consistency.
Early in my tenure, I sometimes spent too much time weighing the personal circumstances surrounding decisions. While context matters, uneven application of standards creates uncertainty throughout an organization. Over time I learned that consistency, applied with fairness and respect, strengthens both morale and credibility.
I also came to appreciate how closely employees watch leadership behavior. Small decisions are noticed. Informal comments are remembered. What leaders tolerate quickly becomes accepted practice. The culture of a department is shaped as much by daily conduct as by written policy.
Perhaps most importantly, I wish I had better understood the pace of organizational change.
New leaders often feel pressure to move quickly. There is a desire to solve problems and improve the organization without delay. Some changes are necessary, but lasting improvement usually occurs more gradually than expected. Policies can be revised quickly; culture develops over time.
Patience is not inactivity. It is disciplined progress.
Municipal leaders should recognize that taking command involves both authority and adjustment. Chiefs must learn the organization while guiding it. Early mistakes are inevitable. What matters is the willingness to learn and adapt while maintaining clear standards.
Looking back, I would not have avoided the difficult decisions or the challenging periods. Those experiences shaped my understanding of leadership. But I would have approached the role with a clearer sense that command is less about control and more about stewardship.
No leader begins with complete understanding.
Command teaches its own lessons, often one decision at a time.
The goal is not to avoid those lessons, but to learn from them and lead with greater clarity as time goes on.
References
International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). Leadership in Police Organizations (LPO) Program Resources. Available at: https://www.theiacp.org
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office). Police Leadership and Organizational Development. Available at: https://cops.usdoj.gov
International City/County Management Association (ICMA). ICMA Code of Ethics and Guidelines. Available at: https://icma.org/code-ethics
Heifetz, R., & Linsky, M. Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Walker, S., & Archbold, C. A. The New World of Police Accountability. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
