The part of leadership nobody trains you for.
David Brown · 21 years in law enforcementStart here
New here? Start with the one that fits.
You just got promoted, and now you lead the people you used to work beside.
Skating Isn’t Hockey: Jumping from Officer to Sergeant
Someone on your team just went through a bad call, and “you good?” isn’t cutting it.
The Second Question
Your team is talented, but the culture is off and you can’t say why.
Culture Isn’t a Committee
What I believe
Three things I hold myself to.
Ask the second question.
After a hard call, “you good?” gets “yeah, I’m good” every time. Acknowledge that the call was hard, then ask what the hardest part was.
Build a team that runs without you.
If the work stops when you step away, the team isn’t finished. Preparing people to handle anything, including your job someday, is the job.
Build systems that outlast willpower.
Make the decisions the night before. Lay out the clothes and pack the bag. Willpower runs out on the hard mornings, and a good system holds.
About
A little about me.
I started as a trooper in 2005. Somewhere along the way, the job stopped being about my own work and became about everyone else’s: building culture, solving problems, and helping the people around me succeed.
Writing started as an outlet for whatever was on my mind, and the more responsibility I took on, the more of it was about leadership. I write for my own satisfaction first. If something here helps you lead your people, that’s the best part.
I hold an MBA, I wrote a book on leadership, and I co-founded Frontline Freedom. I’m a husband and a dad of two, still trying to earn my father of the year mug.
Frontline Freedom
Nearly 800 frontline workers on the trail since 2020.
Frontline Freedom is the nonprofit I co-founded. We offer free backpacking experiences to first responders, built around mental wellness.
I’m a first responder: see upcoming tripsSupport the mission
Books
Go deeper.
If you’re struggling to reach your youngest people
“They” Are Not Millennials
How the newest people entering the workforce differ, and how to lead, motivate, and develop them.
Latest
From the blog
The Second Question
After a hard call, “you good?” gets “yeah, I’m good” every time. One small change gets you a real answer.
Clear the Desk
It's a Tuesday, and the request has been sitting in your box since the first of the month. Four days in March. His daughter turns ten, his wife found a cabin down in Hocking Hills, and his in-laws want to fly in from Arizona if it's actually happening. You've looked...
Write It Down
I was driving home from work when a retired general on The Art of Manliness podcast described a briefing he sat through in 1991. Mark Hertling was an Army major in Germany with two boys at home, ten and seven, and he was told his cavalry squadron could take casualties...