LEADERSHIP is not only about winning the hearts and minds of those under one’s command but also about the ability to take difficult decisions in the face of adversity and uphold certain principles. It is nowhere more important than in a police culture crying out for true leadership. The police today need good role models. I am tempted to relate a personal experience that left a lasting impression on me.

During my posting as additional SP in Quetta in the early 1980s, I came across a very humane but firm and charismatic inspector general of police. His focus was on the welfare of the force. When he acquired a big chunk of land in the suburbs of Quetta, he launched a housing colony in which residential plots on easy instalments were to be allotted to police personnel. The governor, a former army general with a reputation of being a stern administrator, was invited as the chief guest to the colony’s inauguration. What happened at that ceremony is unforgettable!

Halfway during his speech, he folded the paper he was reading from and started speaking extempore. Raising his stick and pointing to the hundreds of police officials in front of him, he thundered he would fix all of us and that we were responsible for all the ills in society. He leveled charges of highhandedness, misuse of authority and corruption, heaping scorn upon the policemen with an arrogance that bewildered us. We saw our commander, the IG, shuffling in his seat at the dais and going red in the face.

The breed of police commanders who upheld their dignity even at the risk of losing their jobs is now rare.

As soon as the governor finished speaking amidst a hushed silence, he headed towards his car without waiting for refreshments. The IG saluted him with a frown and as soon as the governor’s motorcade disappeared, he left the venue without uttering a single word and headed straight to his office. There he dictated a letter to the chief secretary in which he asked to be relieved of his command as he could not tolerate the harsh tone and tenor of the governor’s address to the police officials in the presence of their commander. He did not want to serve in Balochistan in such a humiliating environment. As soon as the chief secretary received the IG’s letter, he went to the governor’s office. From there, both the chief secretary and the governor spoke with the IG. What transpired between them, we did not know. However, we received a message from the IG’s staff that all the officers present at the housing colony ceremony should assemble in the central police office auditorium the next day at 10 am.

We assembled as directed. Having an inkling of the contents of the IG’s letter to the chief secretary, we thought the IG wanted to say goodbye to us. Lo and behold, the governor walked in along with the IG and chief secretary. The governor came straight to the point: he apologised for his harsh remarks at the ceremony a day before. He said that the police force had felt hurt in the presence of their commander, adding that there were many fine police officers serving in Balochistan and he should not have said what he did in an emotional outburst. He respected the IG for his honorable conduct and as a military general, appreciated the police commander’s response. He had come to apologise and have tea with the officers.

Amazing! We felt proud of our police commander. He had stood up to a mighty general known for his stern style of governance. We also felt respect for the army general for his gracious gesture. From then on, our resolve to serve the people of Balochistan with dignity and self-respect was unwavering.

I related this incident to an in-house meeting on Aug 10 of retired and serving IGs in Islamabad where the dilemmas and dynamics of police leadership came under discussion. The moot, held under the aegis of the National Police Bureau, was an occasion for serious introspection. The rare breed of commanders who upheld dignity and self-respect even at the cost of losing their jobs is becoming extinct. Nelson Mandela in Conversations with Myself focused on “internal factors in assessing one’s development as a human being: honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, pure generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve others — qualities which are within easy reach of every soul”. However, the race to the bottom against such values has brought us to the edge of the precipice. We simply cannot afford to falter further; therefore this serious introspection.

We started with an admission that the police have to set their house in order. We are undoubtedly facing a crisis of leadership. The first and foremost question we asked ourselves was whether we were servants of the law, state and public or had we become an institution that flouts the law and serves the ruling elite — meaning thereby that the privileged few take precedence over the general public who are our true masters. Instead of being courtiers, the time has come for the police commanders to lead the force with dignity, self-respect and professionalism. Police leaders should know that gaining respect is more important than being liked, and performance is more important than self-projection gimmicks or popularity.

Three leadership traits were stressed: commanders should provide everyone with resources and opportunity; reward high achievers; and show the door to chronic poor performers. The leader has a responsibility to be available to the workforce. In order to enhance communication, one should sidestep rank, hierarchy and bureaucratic red tape.

Leaders need to listen more and learn rather than sermonise. Leadership demands courage. You have to fight for your cause. Police have waited for far too long for someone else to determine their roles. In order to save their positions, police commanders play it safe. They develop a cover-it-up mindset instead of finding the truth and facing it. Supplicants do not get respect. They get run over. Every organisation should tolerate rebels who tell the emperor he has no clothes.

Standing by one’s convictions is the hallmark of leadership. Will police leaders stand up and be counted? It is now or never.

The writer is a former IG Police.

Published in Dawn September 12th, 2016