The Assignment I Never Wanted
The day after I was promoted to Lieutenant, I found myself assigned to Internal Investigations. This was not the detour I had planned for myself. I would have gladly taken Patrol, Investigations, or almost anything else. As it turned out, it may have been the most important assignment of my career.
My time in IA gave me access to people I would have never otherwise met. I sat in on meetings restricted to most. I was forced to read, reread, and fully understand the department manual, statutes, and collective bargaining agreements at a level most officers never experience. Not because I wanted to but because the job demanded it.
What I did not know at the time was that this two year assignment was quietly preparing me for the most significant step of my career. My promotional assessment for Captain.
Preparation rarely looks like preparation when it is happening.
Most promotional candidates find a block of time and cram. Twelve weeks of intense study, a stack of notes, a study partner, and a countdown to the test date. The problem is that promotion preparation is not a sprint. It is a steady accumulation of knowledge, experience, and awareness that builds over time. Candidates who try to compress it into a short window often become overwhelmed, lose momentum, and then blame the process rather than the approach.
Every day on the job is an opportunity to prepare. When you respond to a call, ask yourself what your responsibilities would be at that scene if you held the next rank. Study the manual before you need it. Ask questions. Volunteer to do the work of the rank above you before you hold it.
The officers who promote consistently are rarely the ones who did nothing until the testing date was announced. They are the ones who recognized that the opportunity to learn was right there in their daily assignment.
The opportunity to prepare is already in front of you.
This piece first ran in The Edge, my newsletter for law enforcement professionals. Subscribers get it first.
It goes out every two weeks and covers promotion strategy, career performance, and leadership. New subscribers also receive The Oral Board Edge, my guide to winning your next promotional oral board.
