Over the last three weeks, every Inspector and Sergeant in the RGP has attended a 5-day course of ‘Leadership Solutions’ run at Bleak House.

The courses have been delivered by Rob Priddy, an ex-Police Superintendent from Gloucestershire Constabulary and a former instructor at the UK College of Policing.

Recent surveys had shown that, whilst police leaders in UK have tended to be competent and to behave ethically, they frequently failed to empower their staff and failed to motivate them to become better police officers.  Furthermore, the surveys concluded that UK police chiefs tended to show a lack of interest in the wellbeing of their workforce. 

Commissioner of Police Richard Ullger had attended some of Rob Priddy’s lectures at the College of Policing and felt that many of his officers would respond positively to Priddy’s ideas.

Each of the 5-day courses began with an analysis of the different styles of leadership – from the autocratic to the democratic.  This allowed the students to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each style.

Later, the course studied the various ways in which different types of leaders would be likely to react when placed in a conflict situation.

In the second half of the week students discussed how to empathise with their own staff and how they might demonstrate different styles of leadership in order to meet the various needs of their own team members.

Finally, each student devised his/her own development plan to demonstrate to their managers how they would put into practice the lessons they had learned from the course.  These plans will be moderated by senior RGP officers after 30 days, 60 days and 90 days to see how much progress is being made.

Rob Perry said, “I have been bowled over by the commitment and open-mindedness of these RGP officers. They have all shown a real willingness and desire to become better leaders.”

Commissioner of Police Richard Ullger said, “I want to make every person in the RGP a leader.  We all have roles and responsibilities but we are all leaders in our own rights and I am encouraging my officers to be the best at what they do, leading by example, providing time and support to others and, most importantly, by operating within our Code of Ethics.  The Code of Ethics is at the heart of everything we do and we should embrace it with passion and commitment.”