A Conversation with Women on Leadership and Integrity
Professional responsibility, and a growing emphasis to address and prevent misconduct and harassment, is an issue that Government leaders are prioritizing more and more in recent years. In September 2020, facilitators from Arc Aspicio’s Strategy Innovation Lab (SILab) partnered with Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE) to lead a powerful, virtual conversation among four female leaders, three of whom are senior executives within professional responsibility functions in their law enforcement agency.
“Professional Responsibility: Preventing Misconduct and Dispelling Myths” was widely attended by Federal law enforcement professionals. Leaders from within the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice shared experiences in their Federal law enforcement careers. The panel followed the lifecycle of professional responsibility, where leaders shared their experience in addressing issues with misconduct and harassment and discussed ways to prevent it.
Understanding and learning about professional responsibility requirements and processes are important for anyone that works in or with the Government. This critical function touches every agency, program, and individual, often in small, helpful ways, and works to protect the workforce by creating a safe working environment.
Our panelists designed their conversation around four important topics —
The Basics for Handling Misconduct – What is misconduct, and what are the steps when employees report it?
The OPR Lifecycle – How might employees interact with OPR throughout their careers?
Prevention and Proactive Oversight – What can we change in the workplace to address misconduct before it happens?
What Leaders Should Know to Prevent Misconduct – How might leaders influence people in a way that decreases incidents of misconduct?
In a structured conversation around these topics, panelists shared career-long insights to attendees. A few takeaways include —
Integrity is everybody’s business, and for Government employees, especially, it is always an individual’s responsibility to act with integrity
Confronting misconduct is not always easy, but it is a duty
Acts of misconduct might start small, but reporting them initially might save someone from enduring worse
Low-level messaging climbs the ladder. By promoting positive news and engaging with the workforce, leaders engrain important messages and policies at all levels of an agency
Preventing misconduct depends on developing strong leaders who can model integrity and address minor issues before they escalate
As I reflected on the event’s success, a recent sentiment shared with me by a colleague stuck with me. “Research shows that women and minorities need to see people like themselves in positions of leadership to aspire to those positions.” To me, this event was exactly that – women in leadership positions, collaborating, problem-solving, and inspiring others around them. Many refer to them as role models, and without role models, very often, the possible becomes improbable.
