Aviod CHAOS!!!

I hold myself to what I call the 10 Commandments of Leadership. They are the foundation of how I lead. They reflect my experiences serving as a supervisor (sergeant), manager (lieutenant) and executive (deputy chief). I test them against what happens in my daily activities, what I learn from others and my study of scripture. It is a blessing to discover how God's Word validates what are foundational elements to who I am as a leader in the police world.

This post is about the 1st commandment: Avoid CHAOS

What is CHAOS? An acronym that stands for "Chief Has Arrived On Scene."

Leading others requires that you get out of the way and let people do their job. Sometimes leaders do more to inhibit success rather than to facilitate it. CHAOS happens when I do not have faith in the people who work to accomplish the mission of the organization. As I read through the gospels, I see over and over where CHAOS was a stumbling block for those following Christ. In these cases, CHAOS stands for "Christian Has Arrived On Scene."

In Luke 8:22-25, Jesus and the disciples were traveling across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was asleep in the boat when a squall blew across the lake and the apostles believed the boat was in danger of sinking. The men panicked and in their CHAOS woke up Jesus who rebuked the storm and then rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith.

Mark 17:14-20 describes a scene where a father came to Jesus to plead with Him to heal his son suffering from seizures. The disciples tried and failed to cast out a demon possessing the boy. Jesus healed the boy and cast out the demon. The disciples later asked why they were unsuccessful and Jesus said that it was because of their lack of faith.

If we have faith as a mustard seed, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We get off track when our focus is not on the path that Christ blazed for us but on what we can do to fix things or people. CHAOS. C.S.Lewis suggests that when we are off the path, it does not matter where we turned wrong but how to get back on track.

We avoid CHAOS by having faith in God and walking alongside other believers who journey with us. Our map is the Holy Bible, our trail head is the Cross and the path is made by the fellowship of believers who traveled before us.

Cop Eyes – Christ Eyes

Luke 11:34 - Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light.

2 Corinthians 4:18 - So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The police academy is a high stress experience. The goal is to prepare rookie police officers for the challenges of working the street. It is as demanding as military basic training. Each day I spent in my academy followed a common format: yelling, push-ups, marching, exercising, writing reports, taking tests. The four training officers assigned to our academy class were intimidating. Their uniforms were immaculate, they were in excellent physical condition and they intimidated the heck out of a bunch of twenty something police recruits, me included.

Every morning we lined up at the back of the building and marched in four ranks to the flag pole at the academy entrance where we would stand for inspection. On one particular day, there were four police cars spaced evenly at the front of the building. We stood at attention until the training officers walked out the front door and told us to stand at ease. We moved by rank to stand at one of the four police cars. The training officers split up and each stood in front of one of the cars.

Training Officer Williams walked to our group and without a word, jumped up onto the hood of the car. It was entirely unexpected and surprised everyone. He looked out at our group and said, “This…is a police car.”

We laughed. It was stating the obvious but what followed was not.

“Soon you will develop cop eyes.” I thought the guy was nuts. It seemed silly to me and it made no sense. A year later, I realized that what he told me was absolutely correct. I learned how to “see” criminal behavior. My ability to recognize the furtive movement of a hand, a glance away as I drove by in my patrol car or a sudden turning movement by a nervous driver all became part of what Officer Williams described as “cop eyes.”

More important than my “cop eyes” are my Christ eyes. They are nothing I can learn, nothing I will gain by years of experience; they are a gift from God through His grace. These eyes are shared by all believers. We see past the poor reflection of the world and discover the hope that is found through the Savior.