Published in Kingstown College Coaching Magazine 2019/2020
These training interventions give individuals a safe psychological space in which to reflect, verbalise and explore challenges and issues which help them grow as managers and leaders in our organisation.
Oliver Nally takes us behind the scenes for an indepth look at the leadership and management development in the police force of the Republic of Ireland, and how coaching and mentoring are used within the organisation.
“We have yet to find a company that can’t benefit from more candour, less denial, richer communication, conscious development of talent and disciplined leaders, who show compassion for people” (Sherman and Freas 2004 p90 in Clutterbuck and Megginson p 19).
The Garda Síochána Leadership & Management Development (L.M.D.) section is based in the Garda College, Templemore, Co. Tipperary. It is headed by a Superintendent, along with an Inspector, four Sergeants, one Executive Officer, one Clerical Officer and one Temporary Clerical Officer who make up the team. The remit of the section is to develop, deliver and facilitate the leadership and development training for newly promoted personnel from Sergeant/Executive Officer to Chief Superintendent/Principal Officer to ensure their personal development as they transition into their new role.
Currently the section has responsibility for the development of in excess of seven hundred recently promoted personnel going through their development programmes.
To facilitate these programmes L.M.D. Sergeants are qualified in areas of Executive Coaching & Mentoring, training and education, quality management, Supervisory and Leadership GRID®, MBTI psychometric tool, 16PF, Emotional Capital Report 360◦, Synergogy training, Emotional Intelligence (EI) and BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory EQ-i.
Leadership & Management Development Sections Role
The work of the Leadership & Management Development Section is underpinned within an Garda Síochána Mission and Strategy 2019-2021 where it states in Section 5, Our People – Our Greatest Asset
- An Garda Síochána will develop our leadership capacity and provide strong visible leadership and
- Develop a learning culture, underpinned by honesty, integrity, openness and a respect for diversity.
The L.M.D. role is to develop and facilitate a series of learning interventions to meet the specific personal and professional developmental needs of the newly-promoted individual. These development programmes are a partnership between the newly promoted individual, their manager, their nominated mentor and the L.M.D. section and are based firmly on human rights principles and the Garda Síochána Code of Ethics.
All development programmes incorporate a series of modular learning interventions to meet the specific personal and professional developmental needs of the individual.
These programmes build on the existing levels of knowledge, skills and expertise of the participants and provide the scope for further development to meet the managerial responsibilities and challenges of managers in An Garda Síochána. The key pillar of these programmes is that they are operationally focused.
The L.M.D. section supports the participant in making connections between their rank/grade competencies, in assessing their skills gaps and in the completion of their personal development plan to encourage reflection and growth. The section actively encourages newly promoted individuals to accept responsibility for their own learning and development.
Each programme also incorporates mentoring and in the facilitation of a psychometric tool to increase self-awareness. The development tools utilised per rank/grade as follows –
- Sergeants/Executive Officers – Myers Briggs Type Indicator
- Inspectors/Higher Executive Officers – 16PF Personality Test
- Superintendents/Assistant Principles – E.C.R 360
- Chief Superintendents/Principle Officers – E.C.R. 360.
Mentoring & Coaching within an Garda Síochána
There is a distinction between coaching and mentoring. The K.P.M.G. case study in Memon et al p. 137 is simplifies this relationship-
“A Coach helps a person develop their own approach to something. A Mentor shares experiences and learning”
The Leadership & Management Development Section within an Garda Síochána has been facilitating mentoring relationships for over 10 years on all development programmes. It is seen as an essential and beneficial constituent part of these programmes and which now has become the “cultural norm”.
The Mentoring aspect of the development programmes have the following objectives –
- To provide practical support and guidance in order for the mentor/mentee to commence their role in a positive and constructive manner.
- To clarify the role of the mentor/mentee.
- To ensure that mentors/mentees have a good understanding of the mentoring process.
- To explore the skills required to be a successful mentor/mentee.
- To answer any questions that the mentor/mentee might have.
To ensure that the mentoring aspect of the development programmes are met, the mentors are invited to attend the development programmes where their roles and responsibilities regarding the mentoring relationship are explained. The positive and negative experiences of mentoring are shared within the group and the confidential contract is then introduced which the mentor and mentee sign.
The initial one hour mentoring sessions are then facilitated on site. Separate feedback from the mentors and mentees is given after the sessions which has proven hugely positive.
On the Inspectors Development Programme we have recently introduced triads in advance of the mentoring session taking place. These triads give individuals an opportunity to discuss real life issues and the following feedback is a testament as to how well it has been received –
- “It gives space to solve a problem”.
- “It gets everyone in the mood (Triads in advance of the mentoring sessions)”.
- “It’s a great start instead of meeting in a corridor”.
- “Triads are very useful. It’s great to talk as 90% of what I deal with are I.R. issues”.
Coaching within an Garda Síochána
As part of the Inspectors and Higher Executive Officers Development Programme the 16PF psychometric is facilitated. This particular self-reporting psychometric tool looks at sixteen separate traits of an individual. After the report is completed a coaching session with a qualified member of the Leadership & Management Section is facilitated.
As part of the Senior Leadership Development Programme, Roche Martin’s, Emotional Capital Report 360 is facilitated. This psychometric tool is a leadership development tool that provides people with a comprehensive interpretation of their leadership potential based on emotional intelligence.
It examines ten different competencies-
- Self-knowing
- Self confidence
- Self-Reliance
- Self-Actualization
- Straightfordness
- Relationship skills
- Empathy
- Self-Control
- Adaptability
- Optimism
The person takes the assessment and rates him/herself accordingly. He/she then invites direct reports/peers and their supervisor to take the same assessment. Each rater is then given an opportunity to give anonymous feedback regarding the individual with whom the assessment is being facilitated for.
One member from the Leadership & Management Development Team then facilitates a Coaching session with this individual regarding the results of their E.C.R. 360. As part of their development programme they are allowed up to 4 extra coaching sessions with an externally approved coach.
Some anonymous feedback from the Coaching sessions is as follows-
- Excellent learning opportunity that opened my mind to alternative ways of thinking or viewing things from a different perspective.
- An extremely worthwhile exercise. Initial misgivings about the process were unfounded and the entire exercise was found to be extremely productive and focused on outcomes.
- Good in that it provides the leader with a new way of thinking about leadership and how a person leads, human behaviour in the working environment, the standards and values that a leader sets him/herself and how different situations are approached.
The feedback from coaching sessions within an Garda Síochána remains unanimously positive and its continued provision remains an essential element of an Garda Síochána’s investment in its people.
Conclusion
The Leadership and Development Section is committed to the development of newly promoted individuals within an Garda Síochána. Mentoring and Coaching are a vital and necessary component of these development programmes. These training interventions give individuals a safe psychological space in which to reflect, verbalise and explore challenges and issues which help them grow as managers and leaders in our organisation.
References
- An Garda Síochána – Mission & Strategy 2019-2021.
- Making Coaching Work – Creating a Coaching Culture. CIPD, 2015. David Clutterbuck & David Megginson.
- Mentoring an Entrepreneur: Guide for a Mentor. Sage, 2015. Memon, Rozan, Ismail, Uddin and Daud.
By Oliver Nally
Oliver Nally is a Sergeant with over 20 years’ experience in an Garda Síochána. He is currently based in the Leadership and Management Development Section in the Garda College, Templemore, Co. Tipperary. An Executive Coach with qualifications in Leadership and Management he brings a real energy, a sense of lived experience and an encouraging attitude to the possibility of growth in developing the future leaders of the organisation. He is passionate about people and policing and in empowering the authentic and ethical self to be the best version that you can be.
He currently is responsible for the Inspectors Development Programme and has inputs on various other development programmes including the facilitation of coaching sessions. He also is the Garda coordinator of the new Garda Executive Leadership Programme which is due to commence shortly.
