TLP Case Study PSNI West Belfast

These PSNI officers did the Transformative Leadership Programme in Autumn 2021 in West Belfast. Here’s what they had to say.

“I do not believe that cross community barriers would have been brought down to the extent they are without the course.  I would recommend the course to any of my colleagues.”

 

Introduction and Motivation

Before signing up to the programme, were you aware of any other similar programmes in your area?

No

What motivated you to sign up to this particular programme over any others?

We were encouraged by our Supervisors to sign up, as a colleague had completed a previous course in West Belfast, and this gave me a great opportunity to network with some community groups.

Experience and Learning

What topics stood out for you?

Innovation and Change through different leadership styles. It was great to actually learn about different styles, which gave me a great opportunity to look at my current and previous supervisors and chiefs and to understand them more.

What are you likely to ‘take back’ to your life/work in the community?

The ability to change approach to issues as they arise and not be fixed to an authoritarian structure of thinking. The positive energy and comprehensive presentation of work from the tutors shows what can be done from a Zoom session to achieve results.  I plan on replicating this type of energy and understanding through my job role and especially when working with what I may perceive as challenging behaviours. This has given me an opportunity to look at people differently.  

How would you summarise your experience of the programme in 1 sentence or in 3 words?

Motivating, engaging and enjoyable.

 Impact

Is there anything you could or would do now that you wouldn’t have felt able to do before? 

Understand that rank structure is not democratic and that management style can highly determine the work culture.

Are there people/agencies you feel able to talk to and work with now that you weren’t before? 

Yes, more with BCC and community partnerships.

What difference will this make to how you engage in your interface area? 

The openness of speaking as we know people as humans and not as a uniform

What difference will the course make to the interface area overall especially in terms of relationships, collaboration and increased understanding in the area?

Increased collaboration and links to understanding what the communities want from Police.

Behaviour

Which issues in particular do you think you might get involved in? 

More engagement with vulnerable parts of society, that now as we know links from different organisations, we have points of contact in areas we would not have had before.  We have plans in place over the next month for engagement opportunities.

How will you apply new ways of working, ideas or approaches? 

I would like more engagement and conversation about how Police can be involved in local projects and build on the relationships from the course.  That said, that is an SMT decision on direction of outcomes and KPIs. 

Attribution

To what extent do you think these changes would have occurred in the absence of this course? i.e. would you have developed these skills and be motivated to do something new anyway?

I do not believe that cross community barriers would have been brought down to the extent they are without the course. I would like to emphasise the work put in by the tutors, they were flexible and always at the end of the phone or email, throughout the course, they worked well dynamically with the approach to learning and delivery.  I would recommend the course to any of my colleagues. 

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