When my husband Mike was a child, he played with toys that simulated being a police officer. He had cars with flashing lights and toy guns, and he used to play cops and robbers with his friends. Growing up, Mike always knew he wanted to be in law enforcement, so he had begun subconsciously planning his career from a very early age. Although he knew what general goals he wanted to achieve, his career course didn’t go exactly as planned.
It has been difficult to sit back and watch Mike go through some hard times and personal disappointments in his 14 years as a police officer, but I’ve also watched him grow into a stronger man as a result. I’ve been with him as he applied for several lateral job assignments within his agency, only to result in him being turned down each time. Sometimes, the reasons why he didn’t get picked made sense to him; other times, they didn’t. Over time, though, Mike has come to see that where he is today—still in patrol—really is the right job at the right time. Instead of focusing on his disappointments, he’s refocused his drive on exploring distinctive and creative opportunities where he’s at. This is what fuels his high morale.
Being Rejected
Kevin Gilmartin, in his book, Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement, describes that when an officer is rejected for a job promotion or an assignment within their agency, an officer will hear the denial as an attack on who they are as an officer, as well as who they are as a human being. After all, being a cop isn’t just what you do, it’s who you are. It’s your identity. So when an officer is denied somehow, they often infer that they’re bad at what they do, and they’re also a bad person. For someone whose sense of worth is so closely tied to their job (as is the case with most cops, this is tantamount to being called worthless.
When Mike was told the positions he had applied for had gone to another officer, he also perceived that he was being attacked personally as well as professionally. I was with him while he processed his anger, hurt and disappointment. As a result, after repeated rejections, his strongest reaction was to isolate from coworkers and work less. After all, he felt he’d been giving his best to an agency that seemed to refuse to recognize his dedicated service and performance. It soon became hard for Mike to go to work. Worse still, it also affected his drive in his personal life. He had to fight the desire to sit still and shut down, and had to push himself to get up and move on a daily basis.
Professional Burnout
Mike knew he was experiencing professional burnout, which resulted from his perception that he was giving more to his agency than they were giving back to him. He began to realize he was becoming resentful, bitter and trapped in a job he was supposed to love. Each passing day, his cynicism became more apparent as his joy for the job disappeared. Mike was unhappy and knew he didn’t want to remain in this place any longer. In true veteran fashion, he began counting the days to retirement. However, with too many years served to just quit and start over somewhere else and not nearly enough served to see the end anytime soon, this was a truly depressing exercise.
Change of Attitude
Emotionally this isn’t where Mike wanted to remain, so he knew he had to make some changes. He did a lot of thinking about what would make him feel valued in his career. What is it that would motivate him to be excited about the job again? He began to realize he couldn’t blame the agency for his career dissatisfaction, and that being happy was his responsibility and his alone. The truth is he was competing with a large number of intelligent, talented cops for a tiny number of investigation openings. He had no control over the reactions of others or their decisions, but he realized he had control over how chose to think, feel and react. He chose to find the love for his profession again that he had come to resent.
Personal Reflection
One of the most painful steps in Mike’s process was when he took a long, hard look at himself and did some deep soul searching. He examined his personality and owned his shortcomings. He began to seek out feedback as to how his coworkers perceived him and how they experienced working with him. One of the truths Mike learned about himself is that he’s very introverted, which is something he knew about himself, but didn’t realize how it made his coworkers feel alienated. Mike re-energizes by having time alone, and it’s sometimes difficult for him to be welcoming or engaging with others. It takes concerted effort. Mike has owned how this has affected his relationships at work and since then has made a diligent effort to build rapport with others. During this process, I watched Mike own several painful truths about himself and make the appropriate changes. He knew he had to if he wanted to change his career direction and not get caught in the too familiar place of blaming the agency.
Self Initiative
What I began to witness was Mike reinventing himself. Instead of looking on what was a perceived failure, he was going to look for opportunities that he generated for himself. He began to realize he needed to boost his own morale and that it was his sole responsibility. He also realized the obvious: He loves being in patrol. So he began looking at how to make that more exciting again.
He began this process by setting goals for himself that fit within the agencies goals and his job expectations. He decided what makes him most happy is to work hard while he’s at work. He wants to have the personal satisfaction of knowing he’s served his citizens well. He refocused his sights onto the reason he’s employed (to serve others) and decided that is why he needs to bring his best at the start of each watch.
This process started six years ago and it continues to motivate him today. Every night before he goes to bed, he sits down with his Franklin Planner and sets his goals for tomorrow’s work day. He also has goals he sets for the each month and year. For the past few years, it’s been to chase down all outstanding warrants in his section of town, to be the one of the—if not the top—officers with the highest number of arrests for the year. Mike is now well-known for being one of the hardest workers around his department, and he’s proud of that reputation. This gives him personal satisfaction and knowledge of a job well done. Improving community relations, increasing community contacts and completing as many criminal investigations from start to finish also keep him busy.
Outside Agency Walls
Mike’s self-initiative and goals didn’t end with making patrol the best job ever, but he also began to look at what he could do for the profession he loves. We’d always had the dream of becoming professional writers and trainers in the police world, so we began to put the dream in motion. One of the best aspects of this profession is the career is worldwide and provides many opportunities for growth and skill training. Mike is loving all the opportunities through writing and training as we begin to travel the country with the name we have built, More Than A Cop.
Morale Today
Yes, Mike has had the ups and downs of law enforcement career. He’s gone through times where he’s hated the career choice he made, but after some self-reflection and honesty within himself, he realized he loves being a police officer. He loves patrol. His agency has been the best choice for him because of the professional contacts and development it has given him, plus he loves working with his team and couldn’t imagine working with anyone else. Taking responsibility for his own morale brought his love of the career to the forefront, and he gets to go out every day to be a cop. That is an awesome life for him.
Follow Mike & Althea on Facebook and on their website at www.MoreThanACop.com.