Introduction:
The article “Ten deadly errors of leadership” is reflection of leadership model established and presented by Pierce Brook in his book “. . . Officer Down, Code Three” in the year 1976. In his book, he discussed ten mistakes that often lead majority of police officers to death. As per Brook if police officers would have avoid these mistakes, life of several police officers can be saved. The article provides details of ten mistakes, those police officers made at different stages of their job. Brook, in his leadership model not only presents his experience but also incorporates the experience of various other leaders from the law and military field. The ten mistakes as suggested by Pierce Brook are as follow:
1. Preoccupation - As per author one should not take a decision or provide a suggestion in hurry. He mentions that some times when we are occupied with the work and one of our subordinate comes in and ask for our opinion on any subject, we provide our decision to him without giving a proper thought. One should never provide his decision when one is preoccupied.
2. Tombstone Courage – Decision making is a very important aspect of the leadership. Poor leaders often avoid taking a decision and force good leaders take decision on their behalf which lead good leaders in a worst situation. It provides benefit to poor leaders as they escape from their responsibilities. It is always recommended leaders not to take decision on behalf of others and also in the area for which they do not have good knowledge and enough information.
3. Insufficient Rest - Author mentions that leaders are always overloaded with great amount of work hence does not take ample rest which is neither good for organization nor for the leader. A Leader should not take any decision when they are tired or exhausted. If required they should always consult with other trustworthy people or colleagues.
4. Bad Position – Leaders sometimes take a wrong decision and defend that decision even though it was wrong. Brook says that it is not necessary that all decision taken by a leader should be right, Leaders can also take a wrong decision but the problem is that they do not accept that. To make the things better, a leader should admit his mistakes.
5. Not Identifying Danger Sign – For a leader it is very important to be a part of the team. If leader is not spending the time with his team, it is very difficult to identify the real problems. Leader should always go to his teams and be a part of them in order to understand the true scenario.
6. Problem Employee – For a good leader it is very important to identify the problem employee and monitor all his activities like other employees. Problem employee always waste the time of leader and try to gain attention.
7. Relaxing – Timely completion of any task is responsibility of leader and leader should always complete the task on priority. If leader is delegating the job to someone else then he should provide strict instructions and ensure that other officer has done it properly.
8. Shotgun Discipline - In the organizations there should be a uniform policy to control discipline. Here author mentioned about the mistakes leader makes while controlling the discipline. He classified mistakes in two parts; first mistakes of mind that can be controlled by training and second mistakes of heart that little difficult to manage by training or counseling.
9. Apathy - Author considered it as most dangerous sign for any organization and should be avoided.
10. Inoperative Weapon and Equipment Care – for a good leader it is required to have all resources that are required for completion of task. A task cannot be performed effectively without availability of desired equipments.
A great leader always learns from his mistakes and his experience makes him stronger.
Conclusion:
The ten mistakes suggested by the Brook are not only helpful for the police department but it is also found very useful in other fields as well. Presently his model and suggested ten errors are used by various organizations and educational institutions. People and police officers feel benefited after learning and practicing his model.
Work Cited
Barlow, Scott. "The Police Chief." March 2008. policechiefmagazine. 17 January 2012
