Module 6 Assignment: Inaugural Speech 1

As I look around today, I am extremely proud of the legacy of the California Highway

Patrol. I am humbled to be a part of our long-standing history over the past 30 years of my

career. When I began preparing for this moment to address all of you this morning, I reflected

back across a kaleidoscope of memories from my childhood. One memory in particular was

when I was around 8 years old. My mother was getting ready for work in the bathroom and I

noticed, as she was putting on her nursing uniform, that she was very meticulous with the order

in which she was getting herself ready. I asked curiously why she did everything in a particular

way, and she simply said because attention to detail is important and doing everything with

excellence is even more important. I had no idea at the time that my mother, a single parent, was

pouring into me the importance of service, gratitude and hard work. So, as I stand here today, I

am also honoring her legacy within me.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the leadership of our previous commissioners,

all who have made priceless contributions to the success of our department. Their leadership

guided the organization from a patrol of 100s to a patrol of many thousands. From 100s of miles

of roadway patrolled to over 100,000 miles of roadways. They have built an organizational

brand of safety, security and service throughout this nation where we are leaders in our industry.

Thank you for your commitment and dedication to all of us as we continue to build our

department into the 21st Century.

When we were younger, we were taught to learn our ABCs. Over the years, I have found

the value of using this more as an acronym for how to navigate life and leadership. A is for

Attitude. Our attitude is a reflection of our commitment to serve others despite adversity. It is

how we interact, treat and appreciate life and everyone else within it. Author David Lapin says it
Module 6 Assignment: Inaugural Speech 2

best, “We are powerhouses of invaluable energy capable of transforming others with a single

action, a word, a gesture, or sometimes even a feeling” (Lapin, 2012). The national dialogue

regarding police and community relations is charged with emotions on both sides and this may

make it hard to have an attitude of service. But we have to uphold the dignity of people and

build their trust irrespective of our differences and our attitude of service will transcend all things

if we stay in a mindset of service.

B is for Balance. Our organization has over 12,000 members working daily to meet our

mission by ensuring California is the safest place to live and travel. Balancing our roles,

responsibilities and work-life balance are essential for both our internal and external cultural

scales. Internally, we need to appreciate and embrace the value of everyone in the organization.

It is important that we all create a collaborative spirit that focuses on interdependence, shared

concerns, and mutual understanding. We must embrace our professional values of fairness,

respect, ethical and equitable treatment of others as we weave our fabric of great resilience.

Externally, we need to balance our responsibility of community engagement and understand our

larger role in society (Harris, 2018). Issues of economic inequality, homelessness, and mental

illness change the landscape for our citizens we serve. We have to find balance in how we serve

our communities recognizing these communities possess considerable assets, such as rich

cultures and a deep sense of community pride (Harris, 2018) that can help us accomplish our

mission in the midst of our service.

C is for Choices. Every day we have 86,400 seconds to make choices. I was listening to a

video that went viral on what we choose to do with these seconds in our day. If we choose to

sleep 8 hours instead of 6, we loose 7200 seconds. Time is funny that way, it does not stop or
Module 6 Assignment: Inaugural Speech 3

consider, it just keeps going. So, my challenge to all of us is to consider how we choose to fill

our 86,400 seconds every day. Choose to be servant leaders that empower others, share your

authentic self, be honorable in your actions, and build rich relationships with everyone you can.

Strive to be open to new ideas, have courage to be innovative and to make contributions to the

organization that will take us to higher levels. Embrace others differences, act with integrity, and

be compassionate in your actions.

Our choices are derived from both attitude and balance, together all three create a

platform for transformational change. I feel the ABCs will help guide our organizational culture.

We must attempt to understand our organizational culture as an ongoing, proactive process of

reality that we all jointly create. We must continue to build our common values, ideas, vision and

shared systems of meaning that are accepted, internalized, and acted on at every level of the

department (Morgan, 173). As we position ourselves through our shared values, we can mobilize

a culture capable of dealing with the new realities of our evolving law enforcement landscape.

We will need to be resilient in face of the complexities of social practices, expectations

and responsibilities that will influence our mission and challenge our resolve. The ethos of the

California Highway Patrol is for us to stay deliberate in our pursuit of professionalism. Our work

will not be easy, it is not supposed to be. But we have been called to this noble profession of

selfless sacrifice so that others will have a better quality of life. I am honored and privileged to

lead this great agency alongside each of you as we embark on moving further into the 21st

Century as one of the leading law enforcement agencies in the world.

Module 6 Assignment: Inaugural Speech 4

REFERENCES:

Fritsvold, Erik & Harris, James T. (2018). Presentation 6.1: President Harris’ Inaugural Address.

Retrieved from

https://ole.sandiego.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_53934_

1&content_id=_1204048_1

Fritsvold & Harris (2018). Presentation 6.2: Presidential Leadership & Organizational Culture.

Retrieved from

https://ole.sandiego.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_53934_

1&content_id=_1204048_1

Lapin, D. (2012). Lead by Greatness. How Character Can Power Your Success. Avoda

Books.

Morgan, G. (2006). Images of Organization. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage.