075: Public and Private Sector: Common Leadership Principles, with Police Chief Joe Kelly

In this episode, I sit with the Chief of Police for the Yardley Borough (Pennsylvania) police department, Joe Kelly. Prior to joining the Yardley police department, he spent 23 years with the New Jersey transit police retiring at the rank of a deputy. 

Chief Kelly and I talk about his leadership journey, his approach, and what leadership looks like within the police organization. I think you might be surprised to hear some of the similar approaches and challenges that we come up against in the private sector. His leadership journey also includes how he survived a shooting incident last year. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

  • Center all discussions, both positive and negative, around your organizations’ core values, as they will be your guiding light 
  • The job of a leader is to make people better. If your employee is operating at 65%, get them to 75%. Don’t push unrealistic expectations 
  • Care for your team as individuals, not just as co-workers 
  • Understand that the difference between supervision and leadership takes time and experience to develop  

LEADERSHIP RESOURCES  

Leadership Jam Sessions' Executive Producer, James Christie

When James is not busy leading commercial teams in the biopharmaceutical industry, you can find him behind the scenes orchestrating all that happens for his brainchild - The Leadership Jam Session Podcast. As our Executive Producer, James' background of more than 20 years in Marketing, Sales, and Training, combined with a passion for business and leadership education, have all inspired the very direction we take with delivering our content. James holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.