I learned how to be a leader from the many great leaders I’ve worked with. And I definitely learned from some leaders on what not to do. Like anything in life, great leadership isn’t something you achieve or something that comes naturally. It’s something you work on and develop on a daily basis. I am a work in progress.

I’ve worked with many great leaders. But there was one man in particular, named Brian, who stood out from the rest. At the time, Brian was an Inspector in the RCMP. Brian was the definition of leadership. He was a high ranking member of our police force, so that’s what made him a leader, right? Wrong.

When Brian transferred to our police station, we already had a great leader named Kevin. When I heard that Kevin was promoting/transferring and that this new Brian guy was replacing him, I thought to myself, ‘there is no way that Brian can be as good of a leader as Kevin.’ I’m sure most of the other officers and staff felt the same way. We are losing a gem and we are getting this guy none of us had ever heard of. Great.

Brian was the new detachment commander, meaning that he was the highest ranking officer in our detachment. Instead of coming in with tons of plans to immediately change things, Brian came in with the willingness to learn the job. I’m sure he had plans on what he wanted to accomplish, but if he did, he kept them to himself at first.

Brian had been away from general duty patrol for several years and was admittedly rusty. He vowed to be out there on the road, on the front line with every other officer, as much as he could. He could easily just have sat in his office all day, busy with the thousands of administrative tasks that a commander has to deal with. Instead, he was out there along side us, which is very rare for a commander to do. He showed us that he was willing to do all the undesirable tasks that we had to deal with. He wasn’t above the dirty work, despite his years of service and the rank on his shoulder.

But the main thing that I loved about Brian is the little every day interactions he had with his employees. It didn’t matter who you were, when Brian arrived for work, he would greet you with a ‘good morning’ and a smile. I felt it. He truly cared about me. Then I noticed that he was doing it with everyone else. They felt it too. He taught me that the little things you do for your employees really do matter. The good mornings made a difference. Him knowing the name of my spouse, mattered. Him using my name every time he said good morning to me, mattered. Him asking me how I was doing after a difficult call, mattered. It all mattered.

In contrast, I had previously been posted to a different detachment earlier in my career. When I transferred in, it took 6 months for the commander to even speak to me. Not one word. I wasn’t even sure if he knew I existed.

But back to Brian. Brian had many great skills as a leader. But one thing stood out to me. He cared. He cared about me. He cared about his employees. He cared that we collectively provided a great service to the public.

Even though I wasn’t yet a high ranking leader in our organization, I started emulating what Brian was doing, in a genuine manner. I learned that being a leader has nothing to do with the rank on your shoulder or your position in the company. It starts with how you conduct yourself on a daily basis and how you treat people. It’s showing them that you truly care about them and will stand side by side with them during the difficult times.

I learned that you need to start living it long before you actually become an appointed leader. You need to work on leadership, as if it is a trait or skill to develop. Because one day, you may be put in an actual leadership role. And you won’t know how to succeed. You won’t be able to just turn it on. Leadership isn’t a switch that you can just flip on. It needs to be honed and developed.

Both Brian and I have long since transferred from that detachment but I can guarantee you that Brian has an even higher rank now. And I can also guarantee you that Brian still treats his many employees with kindness and compassion. His employees know that they matter because Brian makes them feel that way every day. We would go to the ends of the earth for you, Brian. I’m not sure if I ever thanked him for how he treated me and what he taught me. He had such a profound effect on my life and others. Thank you Brian.