Ever feel like you’re not being heard? Want to have your say on important policing issues? Got a great idea?
This is an open invite to share my platform and reach thousands with your ideas and perspectives on policing and leadership matters. Whether you prefer talking or writing about an issue or topic, whatever your role, why not have a wider influence to pitch your ideas and to share your view?
“It only takes one voice, at the right pitch, to start an avalanche.” – Dianna Hardy
Sharing Perspectives on Policing
Through Rank Success, I don’t just support officers with promotion. I want to help improve people’s essential leadership skills and get people thinking on key issues facing the VUCA world of policing.
Diversity, police degrees, proportionality, police pay, neurodiversity, women in policing, managing change, supervising investigations, ethics, culture, wellbeing, and changes to promotion processes are just some examples across my blog, podcasts, and videos. And funnily enough, being knowledgeable of such issues helps people become more informed leaders and better promotion candidates!
These issues clearly resonate with officers and others alike. For example, consider how these free materials influence Sam’s leadership and her team, from this feedback kindly shared with me:
“Hello Steve, I wanted to drop you a thank you email. I’ve used your products (inc. 2 masterclasses) in my promotions & can honestly say these are best on the market! I follow you on YouTube & listen to your podcasts as well as using free products you provide & those I had purchased previously. I was able to pass my Inspector board this year after a break to have a baby. What you provide is thought provoking & I feel that’s the best type of preparation. It meant when hard questions around how would you / & what would you do in relation to things like ethics & standards, that my reflection meant I’d already considered these things & could passionately speak about my thoughts & solutions. I’ve signposted my team to your products as a part of their CPD & often enough on a Monday morning we would have a chat over a cuppa about points you have raised! Thank you again for all of the hard work! Look forward to using your products again for that 3rd pip!” – Sam, passed Inspector process
Having others in policing share their own views is a key way ideas get progressed. And as I outline in my podcast intros, I welcome a diverse range of views on my established platforms.
Whatever Your Role, There’s Much to Say…
Do you have a view on issues in policing or are you a passive observer to what’s going on? A navigator or a bystander? For greater impact and influence, you might want to articulate your issues, ideas or proposals for the future in something more than a Facebook reply or Twitter rant. If so, why not join the discussion on the platform with the best free content on police leadership and promotion?
Whether you’re an officer or staff, senior or junior, inside or on the periphery to policing, in the UK or beyond, there’s so much going on and which you can contribute to and influence. For example:
- Promotion: Is promotion fair? Does policing promote the best leaders? What would the ideal promotion process look like? Are you involved in the new SIPP replacement to NPPF scheme, and how’s this going?
- Police Federation: What’s it like for the national Federation now after its recent challenges and controversies? What would you want the Fed to prioritise as a paying member?
- Race Action Plan: Are you involved with implementing the plan? Do you think it will help improve trust and confidence?
- Policing abroad: Have you emigrated as an officer to Australia? Or are you an officer outside the UK following this? What are your experiences and the key differences?
- Professional standards and ethics: Has the massive growth in PSD resourcing improved standards? What are your views on new powers to sack ‘bad apples’? Is the current level of tech-enabled public scrutiny fair?
- Police degrees and the new non-degree entry route: What’s your experiences as a university lecturer, trainer, or candidate on the scheme? If you’re an LPA Superintendent, are you seeing a difference in the new recruits now? How’s it going from an L&D perspective?
- Digital and AI: Work in IT or are an end user of new technologies? What does the future hold and is it really making policing easier? How do you feel about AI’s legitimacy?
- People and wellbeing: What are the key issues you’re seeing causing people to leave or go off sick? How can this be more effectively addressed?
- Senior leadership: What would be the one thing you’d like senior leaders to implement, to make policing better for everyone?
And I’m always willing to garner views from influential, interesting and/or inspiring people to discuss policing and leadership matters. Previous guests include Chief Officers, local Federation, retired senior officers, and serving officers in influential roles.
These interviews and opinions clearly resonate with people in policing. For example, Sergeant Ash Almquest kindly picked out 10 clear leadership lessons just from my exclusive interview with West Midlands Chief Constable, Craig Guildford QPM (thank you Ash!)…
- Know Yourself and Be Authentic: “Know your values. Know the organisation’s values. Know what you stand for.”
- Be Operationally Credible: “I look for people who can do it operationally, because that’s the key ingredient on behalf of the public.”
- Develop Others, Not Just Yourself: “It’s not just about getting a task done, it’s how you approach your staff.”
- Set High Standards and Live Them: “You are the playmaker. Your standards are the ones people will look towards.”
- Understand the Bigger Picture: “The job is to serve the public, not to serve yourself.”
- Embrace Challenge and Learn from Discomfort: “The least welcome jobs often become the best development opportunities.”
- Everyone Is a Leader, Not Just Rank Holders: “You don’t have to be a Chief Constable to lead.”
- Value Diversity of Thought and Background: “You need different types of people to get the job done, it’s no good having all centre forwards.”
- Stay Curious, Everyone’s an Investigator: “You need an inquisitive mindset. Every officer is an investigator.”
- Be Visible and Consistent: “Leadership is about being present, people need to know what you stand for.”
Maybe you’d like me to interview you? Thanks to ongoing podcast subscribers, I’m able to cover travel expenses to conduct more of these interviews and put more supportive content out there. Interviews always go down really well with people, especially when they get to hear candid, unfiltered perspectives from their own senior leaders.
Though I’ve not had the pleasure as yet, the invite remains open to the College and national Federation for an interview, if you want to reach people in a way press releases simply don’t.
Have it Your Way
Whatever your communication style and whether you want to put your name to it, Rank Success can accommodate your views.
Multimedia: Some people are better at vocalising their thoughts. Others are more articulate in writing. Different people have different ways they prefer to communicate, which is why Rank Success supports people with written applications, interviews, and also presentations and briefings!
Whatever your preference, Rank Success can publish. For example, Becky Davies shared her story of neurodivergence via a recording and also with a blog. Meanwhile, Jerone Taylor shared his experiences of challenges in promotion via an in-person interview.
Logistically, it’s really simple: Write a draft and just email it over in whatever format. Or simply record yourself talking on your phone and send the voice note via WhatsApp.
Anonymity: Police officers and staff are held to higher impartiality standards than most in public life. If you would rather publish under a pseudonym due to concerns or sensitivities, just let me know. I’ve previously published some of these, for example in a guest blogpost challenging how policing currently counts disproportionality.
Please get in touch if this is of interest and you want to have your say on something. I’m keen to progress conversations on meaningful policing and leadership issues, for the betterment of policing for the public, preparedness of promotion candidates and in supporting CPD for aspiring leaders.
Kind Regards, Steve
Seeking police promotion? Want a MASSIVE head start right now? Hit the ground running with your personal digital promotion toolkit, and/or my market-leading Police Promotion Masterclass and CVF explainers. There’s nothing else like it to effectively prepare you for success in your leadership aspirations. You can also contact me to arrange more personal coaching support. Or try my podcast for your ongoing police leadership CPD covering a range of fascinating subjects.