Until Washington crossed the Delaware, the triumph of the old order seemed inevitable. Thereafter, things would never be the same again.
― David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing
― David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing
The Crossing
A suite of four two-day courses offered strategically throughout the year targeting the most important aspects of influence and leadership at every level of your organization.
Class 1
The Three Cs of Leadership: Character, Competence, & Conviction
No one ever woke up and asked themselves, “What does it take to be an average leader? What can I do today to be completely mediocre?” The course begins with the real question, the real objective of entire program: What does it take to be a great leader?
We offer the Three Cs of Leadership as the broad path towards great leadership: Character, competence, and conviction. Without the three Cs, credibility cannot be established. Without credibility, your words and deeds lack meaning and sincerity. At best, you will achieve compliance from employees. At worst, you will encounter open contempt and defiance leading to both individual and organizational failure. Conversely, credible leaders get more from their people than they ask. Employees feel valued and appreciated. Most importantly, employees are inspired beyond compliance to actual commitment to the organization.
We will discuss the three Cs from a wide variety of viewpoints offering new perspectives on age-old concepts. For example, should motivation be the leader’s main purpose or is there something more powerful? Does charisma add or detract from effective leadership? Do great leaders build power or give it away? Do followers want confidence or humility from their leaders? Just how important is authenticity, honesty, and integrity in the workplace? How important is your passion, enthusiasm, and vision? Through engaging facilitation and discussions, group breakouts and share-backs, presentation of latest research on a variety of relevant topics, and the use of real-life successes and failures, we discuss obstacles and paths to establish and sustain credibility with those who look to us for leadership.
Class 2
Expanding our Influence: Understanding Self, Others, and Context
A central premise of the course is the leadership moment…a moment of potential influence where we can make a difference in someone’s life. Sometimes these moments last just a minute while other times they last hours, days, weeks, and longer. The best leaders embrace opportunities to lead, and they lead different people and different situations differently. They understand the nuances of human connectivity…how individuals perceive the world and themselves in relation to that perception, how individuals respond to their environment, and how leader interventions impact those around them in unique and varying ways. A thorough discussion of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is an important component of this course.
While no specific formula or prescription exists to make a great leader, the best leaders understand true influence best occurs with the confluence of the right leader behaviors given the specific needs and lens of their followers in specific yet fluid contexts. Understanding how each of us perceives our environment and our individual roles relative to that environment offers a powerful first step in expanding our leadership capacity. Learning to recognize the nuances of myriad contextual influences in the moment and developing the wisdom to know which leadership behaviors are best suited for that context offers a dramatic step two towards expanding our capacity for great leadership.
A significant component of this class is dedicated to the DISC Behavioral Model and subsequent self-assessment (DISC 17 Behavioral Assessment) created by the CPLE International. All of us are interested in discovering more about ourselves and others. Our natural curiosity of the world clearly applies to our role in it and the ways we respond to it. DISC is a behavioral model developed by Dr. William Marston in the 1920s intended to identify and categorize how we respond to our environment and each other. The DISC model shows our intrinsic behavioral style and our learned style. The strength of the model rests not only in its ability to measure and categorize observable behaviors but also in its capacity to provide the necessary information for each of us to exercise more flexibility with a variety of people and situations. DISC offers a powerful and unique way to understand people as a context.
If better communication, lessened conflict and tension, and significant expansion of your leadership and influence sounds valuable, you will love this highly enlightening, life-changing course. The newly released textbook (Perception: Understanding Human Connectivity thru the DISC Behavioral Model) and validated self-assessment (DISC 17) will be provided to each student.
Class 3
Leading Individuals/Leading Teams
The most successful organizations have several characteristics in common. They have strong, engaged leadership at every level. They value the role of individual leadership but appreciate the power of teams and building alliances to accomplish great things. They are driven by a powerful and positive vision with an unyielding culture of excellence in all they do. They strive to only hire and promote honest, self-directed, self-motivated employees. They are great communicators in a variety of contexts. And they never shy from the tough stuff required to possess these characteristics.
Over the course of two days, we will take a deeper dive into the tough stuff associated with leading groups of people. A central focus of the course is communication. How do we communicate with one another individually, in small groups, and even as an organization? Whether a subordinate, peer, or boss, how do we have meaningful conversations with those around us? How do we lead employees with problems or at-risk employees and develop systemic efforts to address these challenges? How do we positively influence toxic leaders above us? How do we promote esprit de corps in our agencies? How do we instill discipline and accountability in our organizations while stirring innovation, creativity, and enthusiasm? We have been talking about team building for decades, but how do we lead teams as opposed to leading individuals? Through a variety of teaching methods from facilitation to group work to role-playing, this course promises to add real-world, practical value to your leadership journey.
Class 4
Decision Point: Ethics, Morality, and Decision Making
Decision Point begins with the following the premise:
All successful encounters, all successful organizations, are built on relationships.
All relationships are built on trust and credibility.
Doing the right thing in both word and behavior, is critical to building and maintaining credibility.
Doing the right thing is not always easy. Even knowing what the right thing to do is can be difficult.
Our words, our actions, our decisions are constantly judged by those around us and have a broad impact on our relations with others and our communities.
From peaceful protests to violent riots to the psychological, political, and financial uncertainties from the Covid-19 epidemic, the past year has been a lesson in turmoil. The voice for racial equality has never been louder. Rarely have we seen this level of conflict in our communities. The need for police agencies and their communities to come together has never been greater. And that means open communication, greater respect and appreciation of one another, and better education on all sides of the issues. Most importantly, it means our agencies, our officers, must adhere to ethical and moral standards above reproach. As we have seen so many times throughout our history, the actions of one officer can shape society’s view of all officers. Consider the impact of the officers’ actions in 1991 with Rodney King, in 1997 with Abner Louima, and of recent, with George Floyd. One officer acting with a lack of candor or character can negatively impact every honest, caring, and moral-driven officer in the country working hard every day to protect and serve their communities.
Decision Point starts with the premise that the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officers want to do the right thing. The challenge is that we all look at the world with different lens and have different baggage (experiences, cultures, demographics, influences, advocates, loyalties) informing these lenses. Even if we start with Doing the Right Thing as our compass, we often do not know what the right thing to do is.
In this two-day course, each student receives Decision Point: Real-life Ethical Dilemmas in Law Enforcement, a textbook of sorts comprising 27 real-life scenarios and outcomes sure to help each of us better recognize, appreciate, and ultimately address the many considerations and consequences (intended and unintended) surrounding moral choices faced by the police officers every day. This is not your grandfather’s ethics class with boring theory and models of limited real-world value. We look at the use of force, constitutional issues surrounding the 1st and 4th Amendment, loyalty and duty, discretion, diversity and discrimination, leadership, and so many other topics…all in the context of making moral choices towards strengthening bonds within our individual relationships, our organizations, and our communities. Taught primarily through story-telling and real-life ethical challenges, this class promises to be both practical and engaging culminating with mechanisms and thought processes to help students learn to make the best decisions possible in today’s divisive and dynamic climate.
Audience
The Crossing courses are designed for anyone in your agency who influences others.
Costs
The CPLE understands most of our participants represent public safety organizations with limited budgets and resources and a strong commitment to a sense of fiscal responsibility to their communities.
We organize our classes around two models or a combination of the two.
- Model 1 is based on individual registrations. The CPLE and host agency offer the program with open registration. Individual student tuition is $395.00 for each course.
- Model 2 is the single contract. An organization, association, or local, state, or federal government agency contracts with the CPLE to fund the event. The fixed rate is $345.00 per student for each course.
Individual Registration (Model 1)
If you are interested in hosting the program, please email us at info@cpleinternational.org, and together we'll decide which of the two models represents your best interest.
If you're interested in attending an open-enrollment course listed below, reach out to pre-register for the event. Once the course has reached the minimum number of attendees, you will receive an email from the CPLE stating the course status has moved from
Class - Tentative to Class - Confirmed.
You will be asked to submit payment at that time to complete the registration process.
As a nonprofit organization, we prefer checks as opposed to credit/purchase cards to avoid associated fees. However, we understand purchase cards are preferred by many individuals and agencies, which is perfectly acceptable. If you are able to submit payment via check, our mailing address is:
CPLE International
4080 Monticello Avenue
Suite 18-1 #126
Williamsburg, Virginia 23188
If you choose to pay via purchase or credit card, please select the Pricing & Registration button below.
Our secure, online registration process allows for easy payment. You will receive a confirmation email upon final completion of the registration.
* Please do not pay by check or card until you have received an email from the CPLE
confirming the course status as Class - Confirmed.
Upcoming Classes with Open Registration
What Participants Are Saying About the Crossing Program!
Sergeant Katie Bonilla
Passaic County Sheriff's Office
Passaic County Sheriff's Office
Every now and then, a law enforcement officer will come across a training course that will resonate with them throughout their career. I can honestly say these wonderful instructors relayed their messages about leadership and what it means to be a great leader. They incorporated their life experiences into the training and brought it down to a personal level, regardless of whether the interaction was positive or negative. They gave us what we needed as leaders in our quest for greatness. They stressed the importance of credibility and possessing the right leadership framework to be effective. I believe they offer a training program that will assist you in growing and evolving as a leader, and I highly recommend taking as many, if not all four, of the courses in the Crossing Program. One of the best investments in your law enforcement profession your department will ever make.
Sincerely,
Nicole
I was forced to come to this class by my agency, and I did not want to be here! But I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed the class!!!!!
Dave and Jeff provide training that facilitates open discussion on real world challenges that supervisors face while trying to exemplify leadership. I look forward to attending future training from the Center for Police Leadership & Ethics.
Michael
Jeff and Dave did an outstanding job working together to present the material. They were both extremely knowledgeable in their respective areas and did a great job supporting the topics with their own personal leadership successes and failures.
Great class!
Robert
The open discussion and class engagement was excellent! It made the learning experience real and meaningful. I loved the class! You guys were great! I'm really looking forward to the next class! Thank you for everything!
Rich
