What Leaders Can Learn From Commissioner Bernard Kerik
On a number of occasions, I have shared that I did not have any long-term Mentors as a young professional, but a number of “momentary mentors” who I learned from through observation or sometimes an interaction at an event. Commissioner Kerik started out as a mentor of the moment, who then became a lasting mentor and a friend.
I first met Commissioner Kerik when I was going through recruit training at the New York City Police Academy. He had just been appointed Police Commissioner and he addressed my recruit company during defensive tactics instruction, when the NYPD Police Academy was still located in the confines of the 13th Precinct in Manhattan. After introducing himself and Chief of Department Joe Esposito (another NYPD legend who sadly also passed away last year) he shared with us his journey.
He started out as a poor kid from the streets of Paterson, New Jersey. He could have easily become just another statistic from a rough zip code, but instead he had joined the Army, continued his education, and risen all the way to Police Commissioner. The keys to his success were believing in himself, working hard, and making a decision not to be defined by where he was from or by what others thought of him. He was certain that if he had achieved success by following those guidelines, so could we.
Hearing him there in the gym, for the first time I believed that I too could one day be a Police Chief or a Commissioner. I too was an inner-city kid, in my case the Bronx, which I left when I joined the Marine Corps after high school. I had also continued my education, and become increasingly certain that communities I grew up in deserved better. That was never going to happen unless people with lived experiences led the agencies that impacted them so much.
Outside of press conferences, I didn’t have another opportunity to see Commissioner Kerik in person again until 2016, when I was starting my first executive position in the field of Correction. A friend who happened to have a close relationship with Commissioner Kerik recommended I meet with him to seek his advice. You can imagine my surprise, as this friend had no idea of the impact Commissioner Kerik had on me sixteen years earlier.
Commissioner Kerik was willing to meet with me, so we went to his home in New Jersey, and I finally had the opportunity to share with him the impact his remarks had on me as a young cop starting out. We spent hours talking, Commissioner Kerik sharing what cops call “war stories” and valuable advice, with me asking what felt like thousands of questions. Three of his most important pieces of advice set the framework for how I would lead as the head of an agency.
He told me that one of the most important parts of leading is engaging with every level of the workforce; you’re the Commissioner for everyone that works for you and the public. In correction management, that means walking the jails and engaging with uniform and non-uniform staff, persons in custody, visitors and advocates. I’d have the honor of working in three different municipal jail systems, and stopping to talk with the people running and impacted by the criminal justice system was critical to understanding the nuances of what it takes to run a correctional system and, more importantly, improve operations. Whether running a jail system or any other agency, Commissioner Kerik’s advice developed in me the mentoring management style I have developed over the years: Sharing with my staff the framework on how I make a decision, and providing them a safe space for their constructive feedback or, when necessary, pushback if they did not agree.
The second key piece of advice Commissioner Kerik shared with me was that decision-making had to be informed by data. He didn’t use the term “evidenced-based,” but this is exactly what he meant. The state of an organization must be assessed, and performance must be measured to determine progress. More importantly, metrics are vital to holding oneself and the team accountable. This led me to always establish management analysis and planning teams, which has always enhanced my decision-making framework.
Lastly—and the most significant—was a trait I believed he must have learned from NYPD CompStat, which not only demands that leaders know their metrics, but explain what they are doing to improve them. He looked me straight in the eyes and stated, “Lou, you must be committed to relentless follow-up.” He stressed that you can’t depend solely that subordinates will carry on important initiatives on their own; the team will need your support, but you must also hold them accountable through constant follow-up. Otherwise, success in most cases is unlikely.
After our meeting, he was nice enough to give me one of his challenge coins and his book; more importantly, he shared his personal number and we stayed in touch. We never saw each other in person again, but we stayed in touch; mostly holiday messages, and from time to time we chatted about the latest goings-on. If I needed guidance or to connect with someone I thought he might know, he was just a phone call away.
Commissioner Kerik meant a lot to me and we shared a lot of professional similarities. We were both police officers for the greatest Police Department in the world; we were both narcotics undercovers (UCs); we both earned the coveted gold NYPD Detective shield; and we both served as Commissioner of the NYC Department of Correction.
To the family of Commissioner Kerik, thank you for sharing your husband and Dad with the City of New York. He led the City and the NYPD through the September 11th attacks and beyond, and his leadership propelled the Department forward to becoming one of the most agile and forward-thinking police departments in America. I am forever grateful to the impact he had on my life and I will tremendously miss his mentorship and friendship. Rest in Peace, Commissioner Kerik, You will forever be “America’s Cop.”
By,
Louis Molina
