Police promotion frameworks and corporate guidance are notoriously academic and dry. Watching a film seems far more preferable.
Detached from day-to-day realities of frontline policing, I know officers find it tough interpreting the CVF and aligning police leadership experiences into high-scoring evidence.
Rank Success is here to level the playing field of promotion. With this in mind, my ‘Reel Leadership’ podcasts aim to avoid revision fatigue and make learning more engaging. It’s also good to look beyond policing occasionally to better familiarise yourself with the CVF.
My innovative, clear approaches are why I have previously been commissioned to explain the CVF to in-house force assessors. I still offer tailored seminars for this and more if you’re interested.
Listen to my latest premium podcast for all the insights and CVF alignment. Read on for a brief summary and some free insights…
A Motion Picture Says 1,000 Words…
Cinematic storytelling is an effective way to enhance your CPD. It’s why my Promotion Masterclass is in video format for example. Narrative films often convey complex leadership, decision-making, and ethical frameworks in an enjoyable, escapist medium.
The biographical film Erin Brockovich serves as a powerful case study for this reflective approach. Released in 2000 and starring Julia Roberts, the story follows an unemployed single mother of three who secures a clerical job at a small personal injury law firm.
While organising routine legal files, she uncovers medical records inexplicably attached to real estate documents in Hinkley, California. Refusing to let an obvious anomaly go unexamined, she independently investigates the connection, ultimately exposing how Pacific Gas and Electric spent decades contaminating local groundwater with toxic Chromium-6. Her relentless advocacy culminates in a landmark $333 million settlement for hundreds of affected residents.
Traditional leadership commentators often reduce her success to standard clichés like “unyielding grit” or “David versus Goliath determination”. But a deeper consideration reveals how her actions also directly reflect modern police leadership competency models…
Specifically, the Rank Success framework and podcast series draw clear parallels between Brockovich’s methods and the College of Policing’s 2024 Competency and Values Framework (CVF), demonstrating how frontline personnel can translate real-world actions into high-scoring evidence for promotion boards.
Erin Brockovich vs. the CVF…
“These people don’t dream about being rich. They dream about being able to watch their kids swim in a pool without worrying… Think real hard about what your spine is worth.” – Erin Brockovich
Since starting Rank Success, I’ve aimed to help cut through the complexity of promotion frameworks and turn tedious terminology into plain-English, more compatible for operationally-minded cops. In this podcast, I compare how Brockovich’s investigative journey illustrates numerous CVF expectations across several key dimensions.
Consider for example the CVF Values of Courage and Public Service.
Under the CVF, the core value of Courage is defined not merely as physical bravery, but as professional integrity. Doing the right thing under pressure, challenging questionable practices, and making difficult calls despite personal cost.
Brockovich repeatedly risks her financial security and employment status by pushing her employer to pursue an expensive, uncertain case against a major utility corporation. How are your skills influencing upwards to do the right thing?
Furthermore, her actions align directly with Public Service. Her primary motivation is protecting vulnerable citizens and restoring community justice rather than safeguarding corporate interests or institutional comfort.
Listen in for more examples, and example forward-facing and rear-facing practice interview questions…
- We Take Ownership: Taking personal accountability for decisions, actions, and outcomes, especially when things aren’t going well.
- We Analyse Critically: Looking beyond surface-level explanations, Erin systematically identifies the root cause of illness in the community.
- We Are Emotionally Aware: Engaging with the community, active listening, remembering personal details, building deep trust (especially demonstrating the Respect and Empathy values).
- We Are Innovative and Open-Minded: Challenging established ways of working with non-traditional problem solving, Brockovich used community outreach and persistent investigative tactics to break through corporate stonewalling.
For officers aiming for Sergeant, Inspector, or Chief Inspector ranks, the lesson is clear: promotion panels do not reward passive knowledge of policy documents CVF buzzwords. They want to understand why you did and how exactly, your rationale, personal ownership, and real-world impact.
Listen in for more insights, I’ve already had aspiring cops contact me about how they found this episode helpful and interesting.
If you want to go further, in my CVF Explainer service, I convert the academic complexity of the CVF into practical, understandable terms. And if you secure a copy of my complete PC to Sergeant or two-ranks-in-one Sergeant to Inspector and Chief Inspector toolkits, this CVF support is part of the deal. But you’ll also have tangible example evidence to help translate your own operational experiences into structured promotion answers.
Let me know your thoughts and I hope you enjoy the episode.
Kind Regards, Steve
Want a massive boost to your police promotion ambitions? Want to focus on what works and what matters? My structured PC to Sergeant and my two-ranks-in-one Sergeant to Inspector / Chief Inspector offer the best value and focus your prep on what truly matters, suitable for UK promotion processes. Any questions? Get in touch for a free 30 minute discovery call for to your specific force process. Tune in to my extensive podcast for regular powerful leadership CPD and promotion insights.