Instructions:
- Post a new discussion related to the topics covered in this module. Your post needs to provide specific lessons learned with examples from this module helping you enhance your leadership capacity at work.
- After posting your discussion, review posts provided by other students in the class and reply to at least one of them.
4 Comments
Human factors is a good topic to cover. It’s important for leaders to keep the human factor in perspective when considering how situations were handled. We don’t want to “Monday morning quarterback” a critical incident. We have to consider the people behind the uniform involved when reviewing incidences. Things like stress and fatigue are huge in the public safety field. From police to firefighters to EMS to dispatchers and nurses, we all work 24/7 jobs in high stress roles. Having good management of those is essential to staying healthy, happy, and effective.
I also agree that it is our responsibility to ensure that we are physically and mentally healthy. This career is very stressful and can take a toll on our bodies and mental health. We need the outlets outside of work to maintain that mental health. It does help that my agency does provide outside programs and resources at no cost to its employees.
I have to agree that it is the responsibility of the individual as well as the agency to ensure the members are physically and mentally sound as well as managing their stress and fatigue levels. The agency can increase these areas by promoting wellness and setting the example as well as providing the proper training and resources for their members. The individuals have to be self-aware and have the determination to improve their mental and physical wellbeing. It is very important for a balanced professional and personal lifestyle (Harrington, 2017).
Reference
Harrington, R. (2017). Human factors and leadership. 3.1, Week # 9. National Command and Staff College. Retrieved from
https://cloud.scorm.com/content/courses/NAGVXPB5E6/HumanFactorsinLeadership22ee1056-f998-4075-a895-03e56a229581/1/index_lms.html
I think setting an example is a huge factor. While it’s every officers responsibility to maintain their physical fitness, if everyone else in your organization is overweight and eats at McDonalds everyday, it’s easier to fall into that same pattern. Leaders, whether they work the desk or the road, should be setting a good example for officers to emulate. Not only is that in our work, but it also applies to how we treat ourselves. Not only does this include diet and exercise, but should include things like having a getting good sleep, limiting caffeine, reducing nicotine, and spending time with family/friends and doing hobbies outside of work. All of this is essential for making it to retirement as happy and healthy as possible.