Are you Badge-Heavy or Coachable?
By Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D.
A badge-heavy leader in law enforcement is driven by ego
and power. The result is low coachability. Coachability is
the willingness to be corrected and to act on that
correction. When we are coachable, we are prepared to be
wrong. We can withstand a high degree of candor. We are
willing to let others evaluate — and perhaps even plumb
the depths of our performance because we understand
that the journey of personal development cannot be
traveled alone. Feedback, as the chalkboard aphorism
goes, really is the breakfast of champions.
Thoreau observed, “It is as hard to see oneself as to look
backwards without turning around.” I’m inclined to agree,
because I observe many leaders who are in diapers in their
understanding of themselves.
The uncoachable seem incurious. Privately, they are either
arrogant or insecure, which makes them dodgy and
impenetrable. They don’t want to touch the cold stone of
reality. They bristle at unvarnished feedback. They are too
sure of themselves to listen. They travel down avenues of
self-importance or self-doubt. Those on the pride side of
the line want to be the only noodle in the soup. They want
people to be lap dogs of validation. They refuse to
acknowledge that there are people wise in perception all
around who have the precious gift of guidance to give.
They can’t bear the thought of bad press or the possibility
that someone might find a cockroach behind their wall.
They prefer polite society, cocktail-party talk, fulsome
praise and a fabled reality. They don’t speak truth to the
power of themselves. The juice is not worth the squeeze.
I have come to the conclusion that coachability is often the
single most important factor that separates good leaders
from great ones. I see quite a few good leaders. I see
precious few great ones. Why? Is it intellect or talent? Is it
passion or drive? I think much of it has to do with an
unwillingness to receive guidance and direction. Leaders
sometimes believe they have graduated from the ranks of
those who need feedback. It’s often that belief that is the
final obstacle that separates a person from achieving
his/her true potential. As a term, coachability has not
officially entered the lexicon of American usage. But it
should, and perhaps it will at some point, because
coachability is not just teachability. It’s not just a
willingness to learn. It’s a willingness to unlearn and
change. Coachability is a moral capacity that allows a
person to accept feedback, acknowledge faults, limitations
and deficiencies, and act on the new information.
Coachability is a relevant concept everywhere — at home,
in the workplace and even on the battlefield.
Leadership is indeed a process of self-discovery, but it
must be aided self-discovery. We all have blind spots that
can seriously impair our performance. Or we may have
glaring weaknesses that we can’t overcome on our own.
King George VI suddenly ascended the throne after the
scandalous abdication of his brother. Thankfully, the
monarch was coachable enough to seek out help for his
debilitating speech impediment. That mixture of courage
and humility was the key to his success.
In his masterpiece “Recessional,” Rudyard Kipling
expresses the boastful pride and mournful regret that
come from a nation’s rise and fall. Kipling could see that
Victorian England would fall into inevitable decline, as is
the fate of all empires. Yet he was not mourning the loss of
empire, but a more serious loss — the ability to be
coachable, to learn, unlearn and change.
“The tumult and the shouting dies; the captains and the
kings depart: Still stands thine ancient sacrifice, an humble
and a contrite heart. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget!"
Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D., is co-founder of Partners in Law
Enforcement, a training and consulting organization that
provides leadership development solutions to the law
enforcement community—most notably the PLE
Leadership Series. Dr. Clark has worked with the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center, ATF, Secret Service, FBI
Academy, and a host of state and local law enforcement
agencies. Dr. Clark is a former two-time CEO, Fulbright
Scholar at Oxford University and Academic all-American
football player at BYU. He is the author of numerous
articles and several books, the latest of which is “The
Employee Engagement Mindset” (McGraw-Hill).
To learn more about how you can host or attend a PLE leadership development course, call 801-819-8229
www.partnersinlawenforcement.com