With Great Power Comes Great Responsibilities

March 9, 2009

The two traits we are going to talk about in this blog entry are the ability to accept responsibility for yourself and for others and whether or not you accept criticism. Both of these should be obvious, but that is not always the case when push comes to shove in a difficult situation.

Your examiners and higher ups are going to be looking for whether or not you show a willingness to accept penalties/punishment and fix your errors or whether you try and shift the blame for your actions onto other people. In other words, do you take responsibility for life’s problems and how they impact on people or do you point the finger of blame at your friends, your family or that old standby anonymous “they?”

Think really hard about this one because most people, no matter how well adjusted they think they are, will do this once in awhile. If this is a habit with you, then it’s time for some major introspection into your personality.

Do you accept criticism properly? Or do you fly off the handle and get deeply and personally offended? Do you take every word of criticism, whether it’s constructive or not and just lose it? Do you respond honestly but politely and respectfully to being criticized?

No one likes to be on the receiving end of criticism, but you have to realize that if you are in a police force and are a new recruit, you are going to be on the short end of the stick at some point in time. It’s just the law of averages that you will likely run afoul of a superior officer or someone else you work with and sharp words will be exchanged. How you take those words to heart says a lot about your spirit, gumption, level of respect and dedication to duty.

Answer the above questions honestly and in the privacy of your own heart and mind and see what kind of answers you get. The answers might make you re-think your attitude.