Who do you work for?

Much has been said recently about finding balance between your work life and personal life. While it is important to keep things in perspective, it is also important to realize who you are really working for...and why? I was on call from pretty much 1997 through 2017 and my phone...

A Friend Like Harry

Harry Nelson was born in Collins, Mississippi in 1950 and was raised by his mother in a small house. They were not rich, but they had each other. He found his calling at an early age when he heard a disc jockey at a local radio station introducing music and...

A War Worth Fighting

Is the War on Drugs worth fighting? That question has been asked many time by many people. I am not a subject matter expert, but I did spend 30 years witnessing the ravages of drug abuse and addiction while working as a police officer. I also spent over 5 years...

We did this…

We did this to ourselves over the course of a few short years. This photo could have been taken in Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine...it was the latter. It really doesn't matter because scenes such as this one are commonplace in any decent sized "Progressive" city. How did we get...

Little Things Matter

It was 1998 and I was a fairly new detective. I was sent to a reported robbery where two young girls had been tied up and threatened by a group of men. When I arrived, I found a chaotic scene with clothes and personal items strewn around the apartment. I...

Tell me I’m wrong…

One advantage of posting your own blogs is the freedom to express your own thoughts, ideas, and opinions based on your life experiences. Having spent 30 years as a law enforcement officer and 5 years in the corporate world, I have the firm belief that first responders generally make better...

My Leadership Journey

I knew very little about leadership, or what it truly meant until I ventured into a library many years ago. I pulled a book from the biography shelf that seemed interesting. That book was written by a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, Gerald Coffee. "Beyond Survival-Building on the Hard...

Finger Pointing Phase

Accountability is a key component to leadership, but placing the blame on others for failure has become commonplace in today's society. You need look no further than our elected officials if you doubt what I am saying. I have always felt that political candidates are fantastic people when they're running...

The Leadership Vacuum

There are some amazing leaders out there, but finding them is becoming more difficult as time passes. I have worked in the public and private sectors for decades, and I've witnessed the best and the worst during my journey. If you have been in the workforce for any period of...

The Unexpected Leader

Every now and then an individual enters your life and you just know that they’re special. You can’t put your finger on it, but they possess traits that draw you to them. They aren’t superheroes and they’re just humans, but they have certain traits that you aspire to possess yourself....