For some, being a part of the law enforcement field starts as a childhood dream. Once you graduate from the Academy, how to jumpstart that career? If you are now a full-fledged police officer, how do you maneuver through it? What are the tracks available? And when you’ve worked a significant time in the service, what’s next?

You can get lost, confused or overwhelmed at about any stage you are in, and that’s why Thomas Dworak of the Virtus Group joins this Justice Clearinghouse course – to help you pave a track that can only lead to success. Thom is a retired sergeant who served 31 years in various roles with the Chicago Police Department. He is currently a consultant for the Virtus Group where he shares his knowledge on myriad law enforcement and leadership topics.

On this course, Thom discusses the stages in the law enforcement career and useful resources for every phase, including:

• An overview on the importance of career development in any organization.
• Universal Development Questions that you can use to self-reflect on to align, keep motivated and establish your mindset.
• Growth mindset versus fixed mindset, its characteristics and manifestations.
• The early years of one’s law enforcement career characterized by:
  • FTO and Onboarding that starts the process of doing the job and is the application of the theoretical knowledge gained from the Academy.
  • The top 10 skills to learn and apply to get ahead in the game.
  • The importance of practicing emotional intelligence and its five pillars.
  • The significant skills of decision-making, sensemaking, critical thinking, and accepting failure.
• The “assignment years” when specialized assignments are being given and how to be successful in this phase by:
  • Finding a mentor to guide your career trajectory.
  • The different specializations available to excel in.
  • Creating a career resume where you enumerate all your training, education and successful cases.
  • Tapping on resources like books and leadership training.
• The promotion-ready stage and preparing for it through attending promotion orientation session, taking practice tests, and brushing up on the recommended reading list.
• Getting ready for the retirement phase by planning ahead, tapping on learned skills, staying flexible, and continuing to dedicate time to further learning
• Some of the questions raised during the webinar’s Q&A are:
  • The presence of career development programs in agencies
  • The significance of networking
  • Preparing for the promotion boards
  • The importance of college degrees in getting hired and promoted

Resources Mentioned During the Webinar:

• The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization
• A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)
• The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How
• Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions
• Courage: The Backbone of Leadership
• A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas
• Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
• Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence