I attended a school on Leadership taught by Bill Westfall. The school was extremely professionally and well presented.
I teach use of force with Matt and another officer to our police academy recruits and at in-service training. I found myself paying attention to all the expert touches that Westfall used to pass on his material and message. I made a list of the ones that stood out for anyone who teaches and wants to do an unbelievable job with their next school.
Equipment and preparation
First, Westfall had the best presentation equipment than anyone I have ever seen in a police school. As soon as you walked into the classroom, you saw this:
A list of the equipment he brought:
- 3 powerpoint projectors with screens
- multidisc dvd/cd player
- several computers in case backup was needed
- professional powerpoint designs
- high quality speakers and a sound system including mixer to fade music in and out during breaks
- whiteboard computer software so that he could hand draw on his powerpoint slides to emphasize points or draw diagrams
- computerized overhead projector to display books or handouts
- Several easels with large paper pads
Positive attitude and outlook
Westfall maintained a positive atmosphere, even when critiquing a subject. He was upbeat throughout the class and seemed to have plenty of energy. It shows that he enjoys his job and is passionate about the subject matter.
Many police instructors I have seen, especially those teaching within their own department, love to rail on the problems of the department, the political environment, or the failings of the current generation. I believe war stories are extremely helpful at teaching officers, especially decision making, but often “back in my day” stories are not used to teach, they are used to condemn. Westfall never fell into these traps.
His positive attitude kept the energy high in the classroom. I saw students excited about the things they had learned and talking about some changes they were going to make after they got back to their department.
Engaged the competitive spirit of students
Get a bunch of type A personalities together (or Ds from the DISC profile we did) and you can easily engage them by having a contest. In Westfall’s case, he used contests to review the material we had just covered earlier in the class. Westfall took something most of us considered dull and made in it fun while allowing him to reinforce important points and check his student’s retention of the material.
Group work
In general, I hate group assignments. Every group has some jerk that isn’t going to contribute and wants to live off the other group members’ work. Plus, there is the awkward, uncomfortable part of getting to know the other members of your group.
Having said that, I think group work is useful. It forces you to network and the other people I have met have been pretty cool and have occasionally helped me out on a case or something else after the school was over. Also we have to work with other people everyday. Some in groups at work and some with citizens in the community. Nothing gets you better at working in groups than doing it in training.
Westfall used group assignments to tackle several small projects including the competitive review. The competitive review grouped students up and pitted the groups against each other. This bonded the group members together because they saw each other as teammates going against a common foe.
Use of music
Westfall engaged as many of your senses as possible. Using the speakers, mixing board, and cd player, the music enhanced certain parts of his presentation.
He also played inspiring or patriotic music during breaks including songs from the Rocky movies and the Olympics. He played a specific song to signal everyone that the break was over. I liked this method better than having someone yell down the hallway that the break was over.
Passed on information
Westfall passed on information in several formats. First, he offered to download his powerpoint presentations including videos and pictures onto flash drives for anyone that wanted them. I felt this was an extremely generous offer because of the money and time he had invested in his material and the fact that he makes his living off of it. Several students took him up on the offer.
Second, he provided handouts to underscore important points, lists, or charts. The handouts were made with heavy card stock and laminated so that they could be hung up in an office to reinforce the most important lessons of the school.
Participation of students
Some people will participate because that is part of their personality. Most cops will not. Westfall used coffee mugs to reward students when they engaged in the discussion.
This incentive had a better effect than I expected. As more people earned mugs, the others started to feel left out. The excuse, I don’t drink coffee, didn’t seem to hold up for very long.
Challenge coins
Westfall is a big fan of challenge coins. He reviews their history and tells a personal story about how they were used as a tool to lead officers a different direction than the way they were going.
Of course he had challenge coins made up to spread his message of good leadership, but he didn’t just hand them to the first person in each row to pass out. He personally handed them to you in a handshake after you received your diploma. He usually said something personal as he shook each person’s hand.
As an instructor, anticipating that handshake could be used as an incentive to have a personal conversation with each student sometime in the week. That way you had something to refer to during the handshake and it personalized the school for each student.
Materials table
Westfall had a table set out in the back of the room, near the exits, where he placed his reference books. During the course of the week he referred to each book at least once, often going back while he was talking about the book so he could show everyone what it looked like. During breaks, you would often see officers looking through and inspecting them.
Besides books, Westfall displayed objects he referred to during his class including the large challenge coin collection he had acquired.
When teaching use of force, I would often show recruits and officers a stack of books that we used and had available for further study. I left them near the front podium and I can’t remember anyone giving them more than a passing glance. I’m going to try Westfall’s system and leave them on a table in the back during the whole school so they are more accessible and see if they don’t generate more interest.
Final thoughts
I thought Bill Westfall’s school is an excellent introductory supervision and leadership class. I recommend it not just because of his teaching ability but also because the material he presents is good.
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