I began my Police Promotion and Leadership podcast back in 2021, as an additional free resource for aspiring police officers seeking promotion to Sergeant, Inspector, and beyond. Season 1 started in ‘Year of the Ox’, then I added dozens more episodes through Seasons 2 (Tiger) and 3 (Rabbit). Looking back, there’s now nearly 80 episodes in all for you to enjoy on your commute, or while out for a walk or run.
With the Chinese New Year coming soon on February 10th, 2024, we’ll accordingly be moving into Season 4: Year of the Dragon. As such, I’m breathing a fiery new life into the podcast for this year, with some sizzling hot content to ignite your leadership aspirations and CPD.
In this blog I give an overview of my new subscription option, what’s to come in 2024, and review some top content to date.
Going for Promotion, Still Going Strong
“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkin, Fellowship of the Ring
I humbly began my free police promotion and leadership podcast back in April 2021, with an episode called ‘Going for Promotion’.
I thought it good to start at the point where officers are thinking about going for promotion to Sergeant, Inspector or Chief Inspector. In this inaugural episode, I discussed behavioural frameworks (CVF), force promotion processes, the importance of preparing ahead, mindset, and avoiding common simple mistakes officers often make.
Nearly three years on, the podcast has resonated with thousands of cops. Listeners of course are mainly in the UK and Ireland, but there’s also many further afield. With massive growth in 2023, there’s listeners now across 44 states in the USA (with the top ones being Virginia, California, Pennsylvania, Texas and New York), Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and across dozens more countries around Europe and beyond.
Many have used this audio CPD to help them achieve promotion, feeding back how useful they found the free content. The material has proven successful whatever the force process, whichever CVF values are in place, and is even transferable for success across the world. That’s because great police leadership is recognisable wherever you are!
“…listening to you podcast on my holidays certainly paid off. Your material put me in a good position going into the process, from the application form through to interview (I managed to draw the short straw and get an interview on the first day of month of interviews so quality preparation was key). I found the range of what you offer to be excellent, I couldn’t see anything else out there that was on the same level in terms of quality, range and depth of support. Yes I had to put the time and effort in but thanks to you I could enter the process with confidence.” – Lee, Passed Inspector Promotion Board
I’ve covered so much ground for these in-depth discussions about promotion and leadership. For example, the CVF, interview techniques, decision-making, fast track, coaching, the role, and so many more issues surrounding police promotion. I’ve even taken it upon myself to interview senior officers, from whom I believe my aspiring listeners would find interesting and learn something from.
I’ve already had the pleasure of interviewing a number of inspiring senior officers; here’s their names, positions at the time, and links to my writeups of each:
- Katy Barrow-Grint, Assistant Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police
- Chris Noble, Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police
- Lee Freeman, Chief Constable of Humberside Police
- Una Jennings, Assistant Chief Constable of Cheshire Police
- Simon Foy, retired Met Police Commander
So many cops have contacted me to say how helpful they found these Chief Officers’ insights. For example, CC Lee Freeman’s perspectives on change and Right Care, Right Person. Or ACC Katy Barrow-Grint’s views on the fairness (or otherwise) of promotion and barriers facing women in policing.
I plan to do more interviews over the coming years. Do you have something interesting to say about police promotion and leadership? Would you like to share my extensive platform to put your views across to a wide audience, completely for free? If so, then please get in touch to arrange an interview on 07581 299532. Or share my contact information with someone you’d like to hear me interview.
Note that these interviews will always be free and open access for all listeners, as will many other episodes. But if you’d like to take it a step further, there’s now a new premium option for you…
New Premium Subscriber Scheme – Just £4.99
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” – Milton Berle
Brand new for 2024 is my premium podcast subscriber scheme. Here’s what’s in it for you:
- New suite of regular subscriber-only episodes will be published.
- Get full access to the best of my back catalogue.
- Be the first to hear all new free episodes.
If you want to hit the ground running with structured support, you’ll also receive an exclusive 25% discount on my rank-specific downloadable toolkits. These are the best way to work smart if time is pressing, you have an upcoming board, or just want to cut to the chase with focused yet comprehensive preparation.
People often get in touch with me, astounded and grateful how much info I give away for free. Many tell me they’ve achieved promotion on the back of my free content alone, studiously keeping track of me new content as part of their long-term CPD, then putting the knowledge into action when an opportunity arises. Subscribing to my podcast is also an affordable way to help me keep making free leadership support for others.
I created this new scheme on the one hand to help fund the costs of creating all this free content on a shoestring budget as a small (yet agile) business. But I wanted to give something valuable in return for those who contribute. Therefore, I’m opening up some of my ‘uber-premium’ support in audio format.
For example, the first of my new subscriber-only episodes (S3E25) goes in depth with an example of ‘what good looks like’ in terms of CVF-aligned promotion evidence. Using the CVF competency We Deliver Support and Inspire, I go through a detailed example at the level of Sergeant, then also discuss why it’s strong evidence.
If you’ve got plenty of time before your next force process, why not take the next step towards your ongoing leadership CPD and become a subscriber today? It’s just £4.99 per month, a couple of small coffees. For that, you’ll also be helping me to create more free content for others too! I notice a bunch of early adopters have already taken up the offer; welcome on board and I hope you enjoy the show!
However, for many aspiring officers, time is pressing, or you might just want to cut to the chase with everything you need, available 24/7. If this sounds like you, then by all means download my comprehensive, structured, and intensive premium toolkits, available to you 24/7 with no logins or passwords. The return on investment will appear in your first month’s salary at the new rank! There’s my ready-made PC to Sergeant package, or go through two ranks (and beyond like others have done) with my Sergeant to Inspector and Chief Inspector toolkit.
“I have been told today I passed! Only 3 passed from 31, So thank you sincerely, I wouldn’t have been able to do this without your podcasts, blogs, digital tool kits and you tube videos! I’ve encouraged lots over the last few years to visit you page. Hope you have a lovely Christmas and happy new year. Take care.” – Hope, Passed Chief Inspector Board
There’s also still time to secure your place and join me on my exclusive Promotion Masterclass in February; the one, original, tried and tested in-person police leadership workshop which I’ve been honing for a decade. It’s the one that has even inspired many others in policing to call their own training ‘masterclasses’!
They’ll still be great free content available to you if you don’t wish to pay the small monthly contribution. All my interviews with inspiring police leaders for example will of course never be behind a paywall.
Year of the Dragon: Coming Up
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” – Seneca
The dragon is a symbol of power, luck, and success in traditional Chinese culture. The dragon dance is a ritual performed during Chinese New Year to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. The dragon’s movements are believed to represent the dynamic and powerful energy that ushers in a prosperous new year.
So it’s quite apt that Season 4 of my Police Promotion and Leadership podcast will be aligned to the Year of the Dragon. As part of your ongoing CPD, listening will help prepare you for any upcoming promotion opportunities. This therefore brings the odds (and “luck”) in your favour, contributing to a more prosperous career.
To support your success, here’s some examples of what’s to come in Season 4:
- More interviews with inspiring police leaders, giving their views on leadership, promotion, and current policing issues.
- Examples of what good evidence looks like and why.
- More information about the role you aspire to.
- Continuing to make the CVF meaningful and ‘make sense’.
- Strategic thinking tools for Inspector, Chief Inspector, and beyond.
- Discussions on topical policing reports and issues to stay abreast of.
Before then, they’ll be a couple more informative episodes to finish off Season 3, Year of the Tiger, so watch this space!
Some of the episodes will be subscriber-only to help fund the array of free content I produce. But I’ll keep a bunch of content free for non-subscribers, including of course any interviews with guests or guest content.
On that note, I’ll leave you with a reminder that I’m open to freely sharing my popular and growing platform to discuss a diverse range of policing and leadership issues. I offer real impartiality, rare in today’s world of media. If you’d like to feature, get in touch to arrange on 07581 299532. Or if you’d like to hear me interview someone that inspires you, give them my number, as always I’m just a call away!
Until then, I wish you a prosperous, successful and “lucky” year ahead.
Kind Regards, Steve
Want to go further right now? Hit the ground running with your promotion preparation. Get your personal digital promotion toolkit, and/or my Police Promotion Masterclass. You can also contact me to arrange personal coaching support.
