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Sept. 22, 2026

Beyond the Scoreboard: The Leadership Lessons Baseball Taught Me

Beyond the Scoreboard: The Leadership Lessons Baseball Taught Me
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Many people see sports as physical conditioning and competition. Dallas Chief of Police Daniel Comeaux sees them as core preparation for life and leadership. In this inspiring discussion, he shares how baseball taught him to lead under pressure, earn trust, set standards, and steward culture. Learn why influence matters more than authority, why leadership must remain visible and intentional, and how investing in others creates a legacy that endures.

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WEBVTT

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What's working on purpose anyway? Each week, we ponder the

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answer to this question. People ache for meaning and purpose

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at work, to contribute their talents passionately and know their

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lives really matter. They crave being part of an organization

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that inspires them and helps them grow into realizing their

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highest potential. Business can be such a force for good

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in the world, elevating humanity. In our program, we provide

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guidance and inspiration to help usher in this world we

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all want, working on purpose. Now, here's your host, Dr.

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Elise Cortez.

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Welcome back to the Working on Purpose program, which has

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been brought to you with passion and pride since February

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of 2015. Thanks for tuning in this week. Great to

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have you. I'm your host, Dr. Elise Cortez. I'm an

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organizational psychologist, workforce advisor, Vistage Chair, and the founder of

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Gusto Now, your partner in growing your people, leader, and culture.

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We are all about helping you unleash the energy and

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capability of your people by accessing their gusto, the life

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force for performance that drives commitment, perseverance, and genuine ownership

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of a shared mission. You'll learn more about us and

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how we can work together at gusto-now.com or my personal website, alisacortez.com.

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If you are just joining today's program, we have with

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us Daniel Como. He's the current chief of police for

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the city of Dallas, bringing more than 30 years of

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law enforcement experience. He began his career with the Houston

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Police Department before joining the DEA, where he led major

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operations in Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and later

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oversaw the Houston Field Division. Chief Como is known for

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his focus on intelligence-driven policing, recruitment, and strengthening community trust.

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He is the author of The Active Sport of Leadership, Discipline, Culture,

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and the Responsibility to Lead. We'll be talking about how

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what he learned all the years of playing baseball growing

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up has taught him about leadership throughout his career as

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an adult. He joins us today from Dallas. Chief Como,

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a hearty welcome to Working on Purpose.

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How are you today? I'm looking so forward, Dr. Cortez.

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I told you before we got on, you asked me

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how I was doing. I said, I'm doing great. I'm

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hanging out with you.

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That actually made me smile, made me feel good. Not

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everybody likes hanging.

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Out with me.

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Well, I suppose. I do have a few friends who

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are police chiefs, and I suppose it depends on where

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you're sitting, I suppose, right?

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At that moment.

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At that moment, exactly, that very moment. Well, let us

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celebrate this beautiful gift you brought into the world. I

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can tell you, Chief, that what you did here is

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harder than bringing a child into the world. I have

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done both, so kudos for making this happen. Congratulations.

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Thank you very much.

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It is hefty and just chock full of so many

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terrific nuggets, which we're going to get to as many

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of them as we can in this conversation. So before

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we get into some of the great leadership nuggets that

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you talk about in your book, I would love for

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you to share a bit about your philosophy that is,

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of course, leadership is an active sport. This is thread

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throughout the whole entire book. So let's situate that for

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our listeners and viewers first.

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Yeah.

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So one of the things I always say as a leader,

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you should have three words and those three words should

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define your philosophy.

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And my three words are to inspire, motivate and empower.

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And that's the crux of my leadership style. I start

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with those three words and it all goes from there.

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Well, that you and I share that. In fact, I,

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as I said to you in my notes, there are

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many things, of course, that we align on it. There's very,

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I can't think of anything that you wrote in your

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book that I don't align on. Um, But next, what

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we have to do, because so much of your story,

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and this is really delicious and delightful, Chief, so much

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of your story is drawn from your experience of baseball.

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And I love the chapter that you have, the story

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of how $ 25 decided you were going to play baseball

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and not learn to play the saxophone. So let's hear

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a little bit about that story and what your dad

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hoped to teach you by you playing baseball.

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Yeah, it goes all the way back. I was in

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second grade. I think I was seven, eight years old, second,

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third grade. And I came home. I attended St. Louis

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Cathedral in the French Quarters of New Orleans, Louisiana.

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And I was all excited because I had a little flyer.

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And the flyer said it was $ 25 to learn how

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to play the saxophone. And it was $ 25 was the cost.

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And it was a reoccurring cost. And I took the

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flyer home, and I was all excited. And I was like, hey, Dad,

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I want to play the saxophone. I want to learn

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how to play the saxophone. And I gave him the flyer.

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And he looked at me, and he says, son, we

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can't afford this $ 25.

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As a reoccurring cost. We just can't afford it.

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But there's a baseball flyer here, and it's $ 25 for

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the whole season. And I would love to get you

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to play baseball.

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It wasn't I would love to.

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It was more you're going to play baseball instead of

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learning how to play the saxophone. And that's where it

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all started for me playing baseball. It was called the

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Goretti Saints in New Orleans East.

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And did he say back then or hint at what

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he hoped you would learn by playing baseball? Or did

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you just get that later as you shared so well

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in the book?

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Yeah, so I think a lot of it was little

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nuggets that came later. Initially, with the baseball, I kind

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of pushed back a little bit, as much as I

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could push back. My father didn't play. He was definitely

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the boss of the house, especially when it came to

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me as a kid. But I questioned why baseball, because

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all my friends were playing basketball and football. And at

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that moment, he basically said, look, We want to do

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something a little bit different. We want to be different.

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Everybody plays baseball and football here. I'm sorry, everybody plays

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basketball and football here. We want to be a little different.

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Let's play baseball. And I think without saying it, I

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understand now exactly what he meant.

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And I started understanding that as life went on.

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I got to experience different cultures just from playing baseball.

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Go and hang out with some of my teammates. They

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were completely different than me and they were growing up

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differently than me. So I started experiencing different things than

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I would experience on my street corner where I grew up.

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And of course, we know how well that serves you

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today in your role, which brings me to my next

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question here. I did introduce you a little bit about

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your background, but I think our listeners and viewers want

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to hear just a sketch of your career and how

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it is that you became our chief of police here

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for the city of Dallas.

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First of all, I'm super excited to be the chief

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of Dallas. And even it goes through a lot of

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things in the book. There's many people that didn't think

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I could accomplish this. So you never know what's behind

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the curtain unless you really swing the bat.

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Hard and find out, right?

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So I started off as a Houston police officer at

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21 years old. After playing college baseball, I became a

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Houston police officer at 21 years old. Did six, six

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and a half years as a Houston police officer before

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I decided to go to DEA. And many people say, hey,

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why DEA? Why did you go to DEA? And I

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remember a little story. I was a task force officer

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working with DEA, and there was this one agent that said, man,

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I finally made it. And I said, being the smart

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mouth that I am, said, made what? Because I know

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it's not a case.

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And he's like, I'm making $ 100, 000. And I was like,

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you're making $ 100, 000? And he was like, yes, I finally

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made it. And I was like, holy crap.

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As a HPD officer, I think my base salary was

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probably $ 40, 000 at the time. So I walked right up

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to the recruiter's office and I said, hey, what do

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I need to do to be an agent?

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He says, hey, do you have a degree?

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I said, no, I think I'm like 26 hours short

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of a degree.

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He said, go back, get your degree, and then come back.

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So I went to the University of Houston downtown, finished

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my degree, and then I came back a year later

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and I said, hey, I have that degree.

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He said, well, let's start the process.

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And then I went on to do 28 years with DEA.

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And I always knew, especially, I shouldn't say I always knew,

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but coming towards the end of my career, I said

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I wanted to end back in local law enforcement, and

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I wanted to be with a major city. Now, here's

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the good or the bad about me. I don't like

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cold weather. And I started circling cities and locations on

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the map that was a major city where the weather

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wasn't too bad. And people will laugh at this, but

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Dallas was the furthest north I wanted to go.

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And I had it circled.

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It's a department that swings a big bat, a major player.

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When it comes to law enforcement.

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And the stars lined up, and there was an opening

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that came, and I put in for it. And either

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the city manager's really smart or she's... I don't know.

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But here I am as the Chief of Dallas now.

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Well, a hearty welcome. Although you might be questioning your

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decision is how many, I think it's like 42 days

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of over 100 this summer as opposed to 21 that

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we normally have or something like that. Hardly any rain.

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I don't know. But anyway. You said hardly any rain.

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I don't know if I've seen rain in two months.

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Okay, so I was trying to be optimistic. Yeah, I

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am really missing my rain. But anyway, I hope the

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fall and winter are something else. But The next thing

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we have to talk about, Chief, is, you know, you

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really strongly believe that leadership is ultimately about development of people. And,

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of course, we do, too, at Guster now. That's almost

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all we do. So I appreciate your perspective on that.

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If you could say a bit more about, you know,

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why do you believe that and how do you believe

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in developing people?

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Look, you have to lay that foundation for those to

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walk over a level, hard, concrete foundation. Many of us

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had to walk through and around dirt and over potholes.

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I want to make it smooth for everyone that follows

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me or as smooth as possible.

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So I believe in giving back. And there's mentors.

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That was in my life that made it a whole

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lot easier for me to walk on that foundation. So

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some of those potholes, some of my mentors allowed me

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to jump over them. So what I'm trying to do

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is fill those potholes so everyone that follows me can

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just walk smoothly. And obviously, everything's not smooth when it

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comes to leadership. But you definitely want to make it

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easier for those who follow you. By all the mistakes

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that I make, make sure those who are mentoring don't

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make the same mistake. And as we keep passing it down,

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it just makes it easier and easier and makes everyone

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a little bit more successful.

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For sure. And there's a couple more things I want

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to celebrate about that point there, Chief. And that is,

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one is you talk about how in terms of the

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true measure of your leadership is often found not in

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personal achievement alone, but in how many strong leaders exist

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because you invest in helping them grow, which I think

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is fantastic. How many careers did you actually help make?

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And the other thing that I thought was delightful about

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this particular topic is you say that it taught you multiplication.

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It taught you that strong leadership is ultimately measured by

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how many followers one person creates, not by how many followers,

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but how many future leaders became stronger because somebody intentionally

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invested in helping them grow. That's building on what you

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just said there. But those two pieces, that multiplication piece,

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I thought was really, really powerful. So I wanted to

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make sure that we resurface that in this conversation.

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Yeah, look, I'm really proud.

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So let me tell you this. This is one of

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the things I'm really proud of. When I retired... Many

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people told me, oh, man, once you're gone, the agency

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will forget about you. Your phone will stop ringing. People

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will forget about you. True, the agency might have forgotten

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about me, but the people definitely haven't. There's not a

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day that goes by probably in the 18 months that

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I've been gone from DEA where I don't get a

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phone call or a text message from someone saying, hi,

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how are you doing?

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What's going on? How's your day?

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And that makes me feel really good because the multiplication.

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How many people did I try to build branches for

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to follow me? And they really make me feel good

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by staying in touch. And so I think so far

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I've been doing it right, but I still have a

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long way to go, and I want to continue to

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build branches from this tree trunk that I'm trying to create.

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I love that visual. That's so great, so powerful. Now,

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you alluded to this earlier already, but this idea of

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I want to put two things together here, learning how

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to be different, and also your dad was like, I

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don't care, no quitting allowed. So if you could speak

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a bit more, and then I do want to get to,

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I'll build on that in just a second, but let's

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start with this idea of You know, this learning to

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be different and also this idea that you don't get

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to quit what you started.

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Yeah, so being different.

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It goes back to everyone played football and basketball where

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I came from.

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So it was different for me to go into playing baseball.

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And I still remember some kids like, man, why are

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you playing that boring sport?

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But there's so much strategy in the baseball. And I

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know my dad knew that because he was a fan

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of baseball. But he used to talk about the strategy

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of it.

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There's so many things that you learn from doing something different.

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That you can pick up so many nuggets.

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And while I end up playing football also, I learned

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so much just from doing what others.

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Didn't do where I came from.

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And especially those that look like me wasn't necessarily doing

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back then. And so it put me in some uncomfortable positions.

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It put me in some uncomfortable situations early on. But

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all it did was made me stronger.

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Right.

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And and I know my dad was thinking of that

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as I was going through.

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It, doing that. So, you know, shout out to my dad.

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And I always give give him major shout outs and

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especially because he's. not my biological father, but he is

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my dad and he raised me without him.

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I know I'm dead or in jail.

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And part of the way that kept me away from

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that was sports and playing baseball.

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I really loved how you talked about your dad and

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made that distinction. That's really, really powerful. I also have a, a,

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a dad who raised me, um, who was not my

294
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biological father. And he really just, just like you talk about, he,

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he's my dad. He earned that title. Um, So now

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we have to talk about, though, this, I saw a

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parallel in your book when you were talking about learning

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how to be different because I watched the Jackie Robinson documentary.

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And I do not know how true that is to

300
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historical fact. I don't know. However, what I think I

301
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can glimpse and what little I do know of Jackie

302
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Robinson in his life, he certainly had to navigate learning

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how to be different and, you know, develops tremendous social

304
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and emotional skills to be able to do that. Incredibly

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inspiring documentary. It definitely was blazing a trail that maybe

306
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in some ways, you know, you got the benefit of,

307
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but just would love for you to comment on the

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Jackie Robinson history and his contribution.

309
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Jackie Robinson's one of a kind and knowing what he

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had to go through in order to get to where

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he was, but then more importantly, to be able to

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stay there and to be able.

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To fit in, but still be, continue to perform.

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And be himself. And look, I want to also talk about,

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because it fits right now. One of the things that

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baseball gave me was the different cultures that.

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I got to experience at a young age, right?

318
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So I'm one that was able to, when I was

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in seventh and eighth grade now, I was able to

320
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talk about Def Leppard.

321
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And Ozzy Osbourne. No one else in my neighborhood can

322
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talk about that. Van Halen.

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I was able to talk about that because I played baseball.

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So I was around different cultures. And it's the same thing, again,

325
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When you start adding things in your toolbox, it allows

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you to become the chief of Dallas when no one

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else thought you could become.

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I really, really appreciated that. I thought it was just

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a standout, stellar. It's threaded throughout your whole book. So

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on that note, let's let our listeners and viewers think

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a little bit about and reflect on what we've talked

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about so far. We'll take our first break. I'm your host, Dr.

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00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:26.480
Elise Cortez. We're on the air with Chief Daniel Como.

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He's the chief of police. for the city of Dallas,

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and he's bringing more than 30 years of law enforcement

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experience along with him. We've been talking a lot about

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how his experience growing up playing baseball has really threaded

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through and informed his approach to leadership. After the break,

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we're going to continue the conversation and get into the

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importance of expectations and having a standard. We'll be right back.

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Thank you. Dr.

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Elise Cortez is a management consultant specializing in meaning and purpose,

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00:17:06.740 --> 00:17:10.559
an inspirational speaker and author. She helps companies visioneer for

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00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:15.150
greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose-inspired leadership and meaning-infused

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cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and commitment within the workforce.

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00:17:19.730 --> 00:17:21.869
To learn more or to invite Elise to speak to

347
00:17:21.910 --> 00:17:26.589
your organization, please visit her at EliseCortez.com. Let's talk about

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00:17:26.650 --> 00:17:34.910
how to get your employees working on purpose. This is

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00:17:34.990 --> 00:17:36.549
Working on Purpose with Dr.

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00:17:36.609 --> 00:17:37.509
Elise Cortez.

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To reach our program today or to open a conversation

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00:17:40.470 --> 00:17:47.059
with Elise, send an email to Elise, A-L-I-S-E, at EliseCortez.com. Now,

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00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:48.960
back to Working on Purpose.

354
00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:55.890
Thanks for staying with us and welcome back to Working

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on Purpose. I am your host, Dr. Elise Cortez, as

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I am dedicated to helping create a world where organizations

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thrive because their people thrive. They're led by inspirational leaders

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that help them find and contribute their greatness, and we

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keep doing business that betters the world. I keep researching

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and writing my own books. So one of my latest

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came out. It's called The Great Revitalization, How Activating Meaning

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and Purpose Can Radically Enliven Your Business. I wrote it

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to help leaders understand today's very discerning workforce. What do

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they want to need from you to be able to

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stick around and give their best? And then I give

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you 22 best practices to equip you to do that

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through your leadership and your culture. You can find my

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books on Amazon or my personal site, EliseCortez.com. If you're

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just coming into the conversation, my guest is Chief Daniel Como.

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He's the author of The Active Sport of Leadership, Discipline, Culture,

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and the Responsibility to Lead. So, of course, I really,

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of course, connected with this idea of what you talk

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about with expectations and having a standard. I really appreciated

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that this notion of when expectations are low, people perform accordingly.

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And when you put a higher standard on somebody, it's

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because you take them seriously and you know that they

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can rise. If you could speak a bit to that

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and where that came from.

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Yeah.

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So first of all, let's talk about the standard. I

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have a main question on Mike Tomlin. And I love

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listening to Coach Mike Tomlin. There's so many nuggets that

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I can take away from him. And he always talks

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about the standard. And one of the things about the

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standard to me is expectations. So you have to let

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everyone know what you expect from them.

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First of all, as a leader. But you have to

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also be careful with it.

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Because one of the things that I realize, if you say,

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and let's.

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Talk about a narcotics group, for instance.

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If you're leading a narcotics group and you say, hey,

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our goal this year is to get 100 arrests.

394
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And you set that goal to get 100 arrests.

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Well, what happens when you start getting the 90 arrests

396
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and you still have four months to go?

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Does everybody just.

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Say, Hey, we just got to get to a hundred

399
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and we're good. So you have to be careful when

400
00:19:56.630 --> 00:19:59.759
you set an expectations, right? You don't want to set

401
00:19:59.779 --> 00:20:03.359
the expectations too low because then you can affect the

402
00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:07.619
actual performance of the group. So you have to project

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accordingly or you It's more open-ended.

404
00:20:12.130 --> 00:20:13.450
You set the standard.

405
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You lay out the expectations, but not necessarily in numbers.

406
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More in words, more in actions, more in what you're

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looking for, more what.

408
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You call success. Not necessarily that number.

409
00:20:32.710 --> 00:20:35.339
But too many times I think people put numbers on it,

410
00:20:36.210 --> 00:20:40.509
and you might be capping the actual success. Because a

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00:20:40.549 --> 00:20:43.410
lot of just humans in general, if you say the

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00:20:43.869 --> 00:20:49.259
number's 100 you need to reach to, they'll project 100.

413
00:20:49.269 --> 00:20:51.470
to get to that 100. It's not like running a budget.

414
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You know, you give someone a budget, you want them

415
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to first quarter spend this much, second quarter this much,

416
00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:00.019
and at fourth quarter, you want them to hit the

417
00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:04.000
budget accordingly. I think when it comes to leadership and expectations,

418
00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:08.000
you want to sometimes, most times, leave it open-ended so.

419
00:21:07.910 --> 00:21:12.150
You can get the very most out of everyone. 100%.

420
00:21:12.150 --> 00:21:15.190
And I know for us, Chief, in our programs, we

421
00:21:15.230 --> 00:21:18.250
have this whole notion of, you know, lead to where

422
00:21:18.289 --> 00:21:21.170
you think, where you believe people could rise to. So

423
00:21:21.210 --> 00:21:24.200
they can see that vision for themselves and step into it.

424
00:21:24.230 --> 00:21:26.940
So in terms of their own development, right, you know,

425
00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:29.339
I know I've got a story that I tell all

426
00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:31.420
the time. I had a boss that had a vision

427
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of me that was so much bigger than I had

428
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:35.240
for myself. Even my parents had for me, and he

429
00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:37.720
painted it for me, and I stepped into it. And

430
00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:40.210
he's still my hero because of that. Yeah.

431
00:21:41.069 --> 00:21:41.710
And I love that.

432
00:21:41.890 --> 00:21:45.390
And, you know, expectations are everything. And I know I

433
00:21:45.450 --> 00:21:48.910
talk about, and you mentioned it earlier, if you don't set,

434
00:21:48.930 --> 00:21:52.589
if you set weak expectations, that person's going to sit

435
00:21:52.630 --> 00:21:55.210
back and say, oh, maybe I'm not as good as

436
00:21:55.549 --> 00:21:57.859
he thinks I am, or maybe I'm not as good

437
00:21:57.910 --> 00:22:01.150
as I can be. And if you set those strong

438
00:22:01.250 --> 00:22:04.670
expectations and you lead them to believe that they can

439
00:22:04.730 --> 00:22:07.670
accomplish anything and everything, they don't work that much harder

440
00:22:07.950 --> 00:22:08.910
as long as they have it in.

441
00:22:08.849 --> 00:22:10.250
Them to work that much harder.

442
00:22:10.430 --> 00:22:13.529
Yeah, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. And, of course, there's talent

443
00:22:13.589 --> 00:22:15.730
in being able to communicate that in a way that

444
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they believe that they could do this right so that

445
00:22:17.930 --> 00:22:19.480
it's not so far out of reach that they're like,

446
00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:20.680
I shut down. I can't do that.

447
00:22:21.859 --> 00:22:24.039
Keep the carrot in front of it and keep moving

448
00:22:24.059 --> 00:22:25.039
a little bit at a time.

449
00:22:25.619 --> 00:22:27.779
Right, right, right, right. It's going to be delicious when

450
00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:28.339
you get to it.

451
00:22:28.339 --> 00:22:29.299
Yeah.

452
00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:31.839
Okay, so as I said before we got on air, Chief,

453
00:22:31.900 --> 00:22:35.440
I thought your idea, and this is so important. We

454
00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:37.920
were talking about psychological safety before we came on as well.

455
00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:40.960
And you thread throughout your book quite a bit this

456
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notion that the importance of composure under pressure and an

457
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emotional discipline. And you also say in your book that

458
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you really never allow yourself to get too high or

459
00:22:50.349 --> 00:22:53.240
too low. And how important that was on the field

460
00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:55.599
that you learn how to handle your emotions so they

461
00:22:55.619 --> 00:22:57.500
didn't get the best of you. And so, of course,

462
00:22:57.539 --> 00:23:00.650
we do a lot of work with emotional intelligence regulation

463
00:23:00.670 --> 00:23:02.990
to be effective as leaders and also learning how to

464
00:23:03.130 --> 00:23:07.529
access your fuller spectrum, but also knowing that, as you say,

465
00:23:07.589 --> 00:23:09.559
you are the temperature in the room when you're the leader.

466
00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:11.740
So if you could speak a bit to this composure

467
00:23:11.779 --> 00:23:15.039
under pressure and your approach to emotional discipline.

468
00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:17.700
Yeah, I think this is extremely important.

469
00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:20.119
So away from the book, I'll tell you a story

470
00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:24.549
that really helps set the tone with this. And the

471
00:23:24.589 --> 00:23:28.170
tone was already set from sports, but this really drove

472
00:23:28.210 --> 00:23:32.250
it home for me. As a young police officer, there

473
00:23:32.289 --> 00:23:35.569
was a crook that was arrested and he was talking

474
00:23:35.609 --> 00:23:39.680
to the detectives and he had committed murders in the

475
00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:44.529
past and we arrested him. And the detectives came to

476
00:23:44.569 --> 00:23:47.930
me and he said, you know what? I guess it

477
00:23:47.950 --> 00:23:49.369
was your lucky day. And I was like, what do

478
00:23:49.390 --> 00:23:52.269
you mean? He said, well, the guy you arrested said

479
00:23:52.289 --> 00:23:56.230
he was looking for an opportunity to kill you. Because

480
00:23:56.250 --> 00:23:57.809
he felt like he was going to be able to

481
00:23:57.829 --> 00:24:01.910
get away. But he never had that opportunity to kill you.

482
00:24:01.930 --> 00:24:04.450
And I'm looking at him like, what? What's going on here?

483
00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:08.279
And he said, well, the guy said that.

484
00:24:07.579 --> 00:24:10.880
You kept your composure. You never yelled. You never screamed.

485
00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:16.369
So he didn't see an opportunity to take you out.

486
00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:17.869
And I was like, wow.

487
00:24:18.869 --> 00:24:21.289
And a lot of that came from the fact that

488
00:24:21.309 --> 00:24:24.170
I had watched a documentary before. And it was a

489
00:24:24.210 --> 00:24:27.390
serial killer who had killed some cops before. And he

490
00:24:27.470 --> 00:24:31.029
said in the documentary, hey, when a cop comes up

491
00:24:31.109 --> 00:24:32.890
and they're doing all this yelling and screaming, most of

492
00:24:32.910 --> 00:24:36.430
the time they're not under control. And I'll take that

493
00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:40.619
opportunity at that moment. And so I bring all that back.

494
00:24:42.380 --> 00:24:48.559
to sports, I remember making errors. And I'd be like,

495
00:24:48.660 --> 00:24:52.309
all right, I just won't make an error next time. Okay,

496
00:24:52.470 --> 00:24:55.349
that's how I'm going to roll. And I remember people

497
00:24:55.390 --> 00:24:57.529
saying and coaches saying, hey, you're not upset you made

498
00:24:57.549 --> 00:24:58.210
an error?

499
00:24:58.230 --> 00:24:59.369
No, I am, but.

500
00:25:00.670 --> 00:25:02.779
I'm not showing any emotions about it. I just won't

501
00:25:02.819 --> 00:25:04.779
do it again next time. And then I had a

502
00:25:04.819 --> 00:25:09.500
game-winning hit. I remember having a game-winning home run. Ran

503
00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:12.160
around the bases and kind of came in and everybody

504
00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:14.089
else is jumping up and down and I'm just walking.

505
00:25:14.109 --> 00:25:16.430
And they're like, Hey man, you're not excited. And I'm like, yeah,

506
00:25:16.470 --> 00:25:19.910
I'm super excited. Like I'm thrilled. And they're like, yeah,

507
00:25:19.930 --> 00:25:22.549
your emotions are not showing that. And I'm like, Hey,

508
00:25:22.710 --> 00:25:27.210
cause I got another bat next game. And, and I

509
00:25:27.230 --> 00:25:29.430
just picked that up from sports. It was like, Hey,

510
00:25:29.589 --> 00:25:33.119
if you do something really good, just take it in stride.

511
00:25:33.140 --> 00:25:34.700
If you do something really bad, you never know the

512
00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:38.579
opportunity because if you get too high and, I think

513
00:25:38.619 --> 00:25:39.960
it will affect the next move.

514
00:25:40.180 --> 00:25:43.359
If you get too low, it will affect the next move, right?

515
00:25:43.460 --> 00:25:47.079
So you just have to stay even-keeled throughout. I really

516
00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:47.640
believe that.

517
00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:52.329
Now, where it's bad, and I'm trying to work on this.

518
00:25:52.369 --> 00:25:55.269
I'm trying to improve. But if someone gives me a gift,

519
00:25:56.349 --> 00:25:58.609
it's the same emotions. I don't get too happy and

520
00:25:58.650 --> 00:26:00.910
too excited. And I'm not sad to get it either,

521
00:26:00.930 --> 00:26:02.630
but I don't, oh, this is great.

522
00:26:02.869 --> 00:26:04.630
And people are like, hey, you're not happy you got

523
00:26:04.670 --> 00:26:08.630
a gift? Yeah, I am. But I don't show those emotions.

524
00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:12.019
But I think it has helped me in leadership because

525
00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:15.599
everyone's always watching when you're a leader. So when there's

526
00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:18.319
something that's going on that's really bad and you can

527
00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:21.279
just keep your composure, when there's something that you know

528
00:26:21.339 --> 00:26:24.960
you're getting really angry inside, but you can keep your composure,

529
00:26:25.380 --> 00:26:28.880
you don't make emotional decisions, I think it's so important

530
00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:31.980
as everyone that works with you is watching.

531
00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:35.579
Yeah, well, and if we can illustrate from the Jackie

532
00:26:35.619 --> 00:26:41.180
Robinson documentary, right, one of his strategies, right, was he

533
00:26:41.220 --> 00:26:44.430
would rile the pitcher by stealing the bases, and the

534
00:26:44.650 --> 00:26:46.869
pitcher would get so wound up, he'd be so mad, like,

535
00:26:46.890 --> 00:26:49.930
I could already stand the situation, didn't want to play

536
00:26:49.950 --> 00:26:53.190
with him, right? And the manager would say, you know,

537
00:26:53.250 --> 00:26:55.569
be sure and rile up the pitcher, right? So that's

538
00:26:55.630 --> 00:26:59.490
an example of how when emotion works against us, right,

539
00:26:59.509 --> 00:27:00.910
so if you don't learn how to be able to

540
00:27:00.950 --> 00:27:03.359
manage your emotions properly, And now you can't even perform.

541
00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:09.460
Look, I'm smiling because that's something that I really did do.

542
00:27:11.869 --> 00:27:14.730
Two seasons in a row in college baseball, I led

543
00:27:14.769 --> 00:27:15.890
the conference in getting hit.

544
00:27:16.710 --> 00:27:18.329
As a batter. Wow. And I let the.

545
00:27:18.289 --> 00:27:20.990
Conference in getting hit because when I got on first base,

546
00:27:21.049 --> 00:27:24.690
I normally would tell the first baseman some, something crazy, like, man,

547
00:27:24.710 --> 00:27:26.589
your pitch is not that good. And then next at bat,

548
00:27:26.609 --> 00:27:28.650
he'll hit me. And then I'll be on base again.

549
00:27:28.710 --> 00:27:32.509
I said, man, he fell for that. And I'm still second. Well,

550
00:27:32.529 --> 00:27:33.759
you take them out their game.

551
00:27:34.170 --> 00:27:36.119
Yeah. See, I mean, that's just, it's so, you know,

552
00:27:36.220 --> 00:27:38.839
in other words, emotions are very powerful and learning how

553
00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:41.579
to deal with them is really, really important. And, you know,

554
00:27:41.660 --> 00:27:44.220
if you are the leader that gets so upset and

555
00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:47.109
you're radiating rage and Of course, people are going to

556
00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:50.410
be frightened silly of that. So there's really something to,

557
00:27:50.470 --> 00:27:52.069
I think the way that you're talking about being able

558
00:27:52.109 --> 00:27:55.170
to moderate your emotions and be able to have composure

559
00:27:55.230 --> 00:27:56.829
under pressure that I wanted to make sure that we

560
00:27:56.849 --> 00:27:59.190
brought home and bring it across home base. And I

561
00:27:59.250 --> 00:27:59.769
think we did.

562
00:27:59.789 --> 00:28:04.690
Yeah, a hundred percent. I, I, I look, a lot

563
00:28:04.730 --> 00:28:08.650
of it's mind games too, right? You have to win

564
00:28:08.670 --> 00:28:10.690
the mind game in order to be a great leader.

565
00:28:12.589 --> 00:28:15.150
I 100% agree with that, of course. And that's part

566
00:28:15.170 --> 00:28:17.049
of what we do is to help people to develop

567
00:28:17.109 --> 00:28:19.750
that mind game. So your operating system, if you will.

568
00:28:20.650 --> 00:28:23.109
Which brings me to the next point, which is really

569
00:28:23.170 --> 00:28:25.309
also very center for us, Chief. And that is you

570
00:28:25.329 --> 00:28:29.150
talk about how culture wins championships. And of course, we

571
00:28:29.299 --> 00:28:32.259
agree with that 100%. And I thought what your point

572
00:28:32.299 --> 00:28:36.059
was so interesting, because when we do service interviews about

573
00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:38.819
culture work, one of the questions that we ask is,

574
00:28:38.859 --> 00:28:40.339
what do you have to put up with around here?

575
00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:43.710
And one of the things you put forth in your

576
00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:46.930
book about culture is that it speaks to, you know,

577
00:28:47.390 --> 00:28:49.490
it weakens to the point of what people put up with.

578
00:28:49.609 --> 00:28:51.450
And so if you could speak a bit about, one,

579
00:28:51.509 --> 00:28:55.890
why does culture win championships? And what does this notion

580
00:28:55.930 --> 00:28:58.549
about putting up with things have to do with the

581
00:28:58.630 --> 00:28:59.289
bottom of it?

582
00:29:00.750 --> 00:29:05.029
Culture wins championships every single day. First of all, it

583
00:29:05.049 --> 00:29:07.789
goes back to, does this person just want to come

584
00:29:07.809 --> 00:29:10.539
to work? Because most of the time you want to

585
00:29:10.579 --> 00:29:11.700
come to work, but you don't want to come to

586
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:15.089
work because of what? The culture that's at the workplace.

587
00:29:16.650 --> 00:29:18.970
So one of the first things I did when I

588
00:29:19.009 --> 00:29:20.990
got here, I wanted to see what the culture was

589
00:29:21.069 --> 00:29:21.490
like at.

590
00:29:21.450 --> 00:29:25.019
The Dallas Police Department. What could we improve here?

591
00:29:25.740 --> 00:29:29.269
About the culture to make everyone that works here want

592
00:29:29.289 --> 00:29:31.829
to come to work, want to be excited about coming

593
00:29:31.849 --> 00:29:34.450
to work. So I started trying to identify some of

594
00:29:34.470 --> 00:29:36.809
the things that we can change. And then I'll go

595
00:29:36.849 --> 00:29:39.730
back to my three words that we talked about. I

596
00:29:39.769 --> 00:29:43.220
wanted to inspire and motivate. But the most important word

597
00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:45.359
for culture was the empowerment.

598
00:29:45.779 --> 00:29:46.059
Yes.

599
00:29:46.339 --> 00:29:47.500
One of the things that we.

600
00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:50.539
Needed at DPD was for the ones that had three

601
00:29:50.579 --> 00:29:53.140
stars on their collars and two stars and one stars

602
00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:56.140
and the majors, the lieutenants, the sergeants, the.

603
00:29:56.049 --> 00:29:57.970
Senior corporals, and the POs.

604
00:29:58.670 --> 00:30:01.309
To be able to empower them to make decisions, to

605
00:30:01.349 --> 00:30:05.410
be a part of the decision-making where it actually mattered.

606
00:30:06.329 --> 00:30:09.410
And so many times in organizations, there's a culture that

607
00:30:09.470 --> 00:30:13.559
everyone looks at the leader. Oh, well, he or she's

608
00:30:13.579 --> 00:30:15.730
going to make all the decisions. He or she's going

609
00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.940
to have the final say in everything. And that's what

610
00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:23.140
I wanted to change here immediately. I wanted my executive chiefs,

611
00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:27.500
my deputy chiefs, associate chiefs, majors, lieutenants, to know that

612
00:30:27.960 --> 00:30:31.690
what they said matter and that it can actually become policy.

613
00:30:32.150 --> 00:30:34.369
We can actually put it in black and white so

614
00:30:34.390 --> 00:30:37.190
we can change some of the culture around here that

615
00:30:37.289 --> 00:30:41.930
they know, what I say, could change the way this

616
00:30:41.950 --> 00:30:44.240
department runs for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years.

617
00:30:46.519 --> 00:30:50.710
Because what I say matters. So for me, culture wins championships.

618
00:30:51.250 --> 00:30:54.390
And if you allow everyone that works with you to

619
00:30:54.430 --> 00:30:58.430
be a part in changing that culture, then you'll win.

620
00:30:58.569 --> 00:30:59.490
You'll be in first place.

621
00:31:00.390 --> 00:31:04.190
Of course, 100% aligned. 100% agree. That's when you know

622
00:31:04.210 --> 00:31:06.180
you're adding value. And that's what we get into the

623
00:31:06.220 --> 00:31:10.359
whole mattering space. Which brings me tangentially to the next

624
00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:12.140
point that I wanted you to cover up on, and

625
00:31:12.180 --> 00:31:14.019
that is you have a whole chapter on the responsibility

626
00:31:14.059 --> 00:31:16.549
of brotherhood, which I thought was so beautiful. Could you

627
00:31:16.589 --> 00:31:17.150
speak to that?

628
00:31:19.190 --> 00:31:24.099
Brotherhood. So... I was a former athlete. I don't think

629
00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:25.880
I can call myself an athlete anymore. I got to

630
00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:29.299
call myself a former athlete.

631
00:31:29.319 --> 00:31:30.220
Tumbling, I know.

632
00:31:31.319 --> 00:31:36.289
Also a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated and

633
00:31:36.609 --> 00:31:37.230
also been.

634
00:31:37.109 --> 00:31:40.210
In law enforcement for 30 plus years. All of that

635
00:31:40.309 --> 00:31:41.130
equals brotherhood.

636
00:31:42.309 --> 00:31:46.140
And when you can compete against each other, but you're

637
00:31:46.180 --> 00:31:47.200
going for the same goal.

638
00:31:48.289 --> 00:31:49.029
It's so important.

639
00:31:49.890 --> 00:31:52.539
And what I love to say is I can talk

640
00:31:52.579 --> 00:31:55.859
about my teammates, but I won't let anybody else talk

641
00:31:55.900 --> 00:32:00.660
about them because we're putting together that bond of one.

642
00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:02.700
And it goes to the culture.

643
00:32:03.299 --> 00:32:06.519
It goes to the discipline that we have together, the

644
00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:08.339
preparation that we have.

645
00:32:08.220 --> 00:32:11.509
As a team. And when you're one, man, it's hard

646
00:32:11.529 --> 00:32:11.970
to beat you.

647
00:32:12.390 --> 00:32:15.490
When you're all moving in the same direction, not necessarily

648
00:32:15.509 --> 00:32:20.410
all the same thoughts, but You can go A, B, C, D, but.

649
00:32:20.390 --> 00:32:22.630
Our end goal is Z. And we're going to get

650
00:32:22.670 --> 00:32:23.049
to Z.

651
00:32:23.970 --> 00:32:26.059
And we can go different lanes to get there, but

652
00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:28.559
we have the same end goal. And we know we're

653
00:32:28.579 --> 00:32:30.640
going to do it together at the end as one.

654
00:32:30.660 --> 00:32:31.819
It's so important.

655
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:35.940
I totally agree with that. Let's take our next break

656
00:32:35.980 --> 00:32:37.740
as we let our listeners and viewers think about that.

657
00:32:38.099 --> 00:32:40.099
I'm your host, Dr. Elise Cortez. We're on the air

658
00:32:40.140 --> 00:32:42.980
with Chief Daniel Como. He's the current chief of police

659
00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:45.299
for the city of Dallas. known for his focus on

660
00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:49.700
intelligence-driven policing, recruitment, strengthening community trust, among many other things.

661
00:32:50.140 --> 00:32:51.980
We've been talking about the importance of culture, which is

662
00:32:52.029 --> 00:32:54.150
near and dear to our hearts. After the break, we're

663
00:32:54.170 --> 00:32:56.049
going to build on what he was just talking about

664
00:32:56.069 --> 00:32:58.769
in this notion of brotherhood by talking about this beautiful

665
00:32:58.809 --> 00:33:01.450
concept that he has called the weight of the jersey.

666
00:33:01.650 --> 00:33:02.269
We'll be right back.

667
00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:17.920
Dr.

668
00:33:17.980 --> 00:33:21.759
Elise Cortez is a management consultant specializing in meaning and purpose,

669
00:33:21.980 --> 00:33:25.799
an inspirational speaker and author. She helps companies visioneer for

670
00:33:25.839 --> 00:33:30.390
greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose-inspired leadership and meaning-infused

671
00:33:30.430 --> 00:33:34.549
cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and commitment within the workforce.

672
00:33:34.950 --> 00:33:37.089
To learn more or to invite Elise to speak to

673
00:33:37.130 --> 00:33:41.829
your organization, please visit her at EliseCortez.com. Let's talk about

674
00:33:41.890 --> 00:33:50.150
how to get your employees working on purpose. This is

675
00:33:50.210 --> 00:33:53.490
Working on Purpose with Dr. Elise Cortez. To reach our

676
00:33:53.529 --> 00:33:56.650
program today or to open a conversation with Elise, send

677
00:33:56.690 --> 00:34:03.000
an email to Elise, A-L-I-S-E, at EliseCortez.com. Now, back to

678
00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:04.200
Working on Purpose.

679
00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:10.960
Thanks for staying with us and welcome back to Working

680
00:34:11.019 --> 00:34:14.039
on Purpose. I am your host, Dr. Elise Cortez. As

681
00:34:14.099 --> 00:34:16.099
you may know by now, this program is dedicated to

682
00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:18.639
empowering and inspiring you along your journey to realize more

683
00:34:18.659 --> 00:34:20.840
of your potential as an individual and as a leader.

684
00:34:21.280 --> 00:34:23.070
If you'd like to learn more about where you are

685
00:34:23.179 --> 00:34:26.269
on our gusto leadership spectrum, go to LinkedIn, find me,

686
00:34:26.429 --> 00:34:29.530
Elise Cortez, scroll to the featured section, and you can

687
00:34:29.590 --> 00:34:32.110
find the free assessment there. You will learn a lot

688
00:34:32.130 --> 00:34:34.530
about yourself and the spectrum of potential awaiting you for

689
00:34:34.670 --> 00:34:38.300
ongoing development and involvement. Pretty amazing. If you are just

690
00:34:38.360 --> 00:34:40.920
coming into the conversation, my guest is Chief Daniel Como,

691
00:34:40.980 --> 00:34:44.389
the author of The Active Sport of Leadership, discipline, culture,

692
00:34:44.409 --> 00:34:47.309
and the responsibility to lead. So as I queued up

693
00:34:47.349 --> 00:34:49.539
before the break here, and this is going to probably

694
00:34:49.559 --> 00:34:51.239
build on what you were just talking about in terms

695
00:34:51.260 --> 00:34:53.840
of the responsibility of brotherhood, but I was really delighted

696
00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:56.840
by the way you talked about the weight of the jersey.

697
00:34:56.900 --> 00:34:59.579
As somebody who really hasn't really carried a lot of jerseys,

698
00:34:59.619 --> 00:35:02.619
I ran track in high school, but nothing in college.

699
00:35:03.139 --> 00:35:06.469
There's something really powerful about the way you talk about

700
00:35:06.530 --> 00:35:08.530
the weight of the jersey and what that really means.

701
00:35:10.030 --> 00:35:14.599
Yeah, so look, One thing I learned from sports, it

702
00:35:14.619 --> 00:35:17.099
can teach you how to perform under pressure and it

703
00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:21.579
can teach you teamwork. But there's so much more when

704
00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:25.349
you're a member of a team, when you're a leader.

705
00:35:25.550 --> 00:35:30.170
There's so much more there. And the leadership, the discipline,

706
00:35:30.510 --> 00:35:33.530
like everyone loves to say, oh, man, I wish I

707
00:35:33.570 --> 00:35:34.610
can play college sports.

708
00:35:35.050 --> 00:35:35.250
Right.

709
00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:39.679
But people don't understand what really goes into it. Waking

710
00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:42.840
up at 5.30 in the morning to go work out.

711
00:35:43.219 --> 00:35:48.300
The discipline that comes with that. The fact that.

712
00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:52.099
You do two hours of practice before you get to

713
00:35:52.139 --> 00:35:54.539
eat breakfast. And then you have to go to class.

714
00:35:54.619 --> 00:35:56.739
And then right after class, you have to go to

715
00:35:56.760 --> 00:35:59.750
the training room. Then after the training room, you have

716
00:35:59.769 --> 00:36:03.030
to go to practice. And then after practice, you have

717
00:36:03.050 --> 00:36:05.150
to go to study hall. And then you get to

718
00:36:05.190 --> 00:36:06.829
go to bed, and guess what? You got to do

719
00:36:06.849 --> 00:36:09.889
it all again. And if you don't do it in

720
00:36:09.909 --> 00:36:13.550
the offseason, there's somebody behind you that's working out even

721
00:36:13.659 --> 00:36:17.619
harder to take your position. So when you start thinking

722
00:36:17.659 --> 00:36:20.940
of that, the preparation that goes into it, the integrity,

723
00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:24.860
the discipline, that's what sports was really teaching you. And

724
00:36:24.900 --> 00:36:26.929
that's what I mean when I say the weight of

725
00:36:26.969 --> 00:36:27.449
the jersey.

726
00:36:27.909 --> 00:36:29.530
It's not just the jersey.

727
00:36:30.150 --> 00:36:33.889
It's everything that goes into being able to wear that jersey.

728
00:36:34.610 --> 00:36:36.949
And you can put that in so many different ways, right?

729
00:36:36.969 --> 00:36:39.699
Just the way to the jersey, being a leader of

730
00:36:39.739 --> 00:36:43.059
an organization, that's the jersey you're wearing. And you have

731
00:36:43.099 --> 00:36:46.079
to have that discipline. You have to have that motivation,

732
00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:49.500
that ability to teach and learn. to be able to

733
00:36:49.559 --> 00:36:50.840
wear that jersey the right way.

734
00:36:52.300 --> 00:36:55.090
Yeah, and it maps over to everything. You mentioned the uniform. And,

735
00:36:55.099 --> 00:36:57.920
of course, when I'm speaking on stage as a keynote presenter,

736
00:36:58.019 --> 00:37:00.820
what I wear is my uniform. It says a lot.

737
00:37:00.860 --> 00:37:03.550
It's very important. What leaders wear and how they show

738
00:37:03.570 --> 00:37:06.530
up in a room is also their uniform and conveys

739
00:37:06.590 --> 00:37:09.110
something and speaks to do I have the integrity to

740
00:37:09.150 --> 00:37:11.809
be standing here to be able to convey what I'm

741
00:37:11.849 --> 00:37:14.250
about to convey. So I really thought that was such

742
00:37:14.289 --> 00:37:15.309
a rich concept.

743
00:37:16.630 --> 00:37:17.010
Thank you.

744
00:37:17.449 --> 00:37:20.789
Yeah, so welcome. Okay, so next we have to talk

745
00:37:20.809 --> 00:37:24.429
about the difference between authority and influence and how the

746
00:37:24.730 --> 00:37:27.989
two of them matter in terms of followership.

747
00:37:30.309 --> 00:37:31.409
So authority, you're the boss.

748
00:37:31.809 --> 00:37:34.489
And I tell people all the time, every morning I

749
00:37:34.510 --> 00:37:36.989
wake up, I know I'm the chief of police now.

750
00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:39.199
Ever since they hired me, I know.

751
00:37:39.119 --> 00:37:40.039
I'm the chief of police.

752
00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:43.800
So the authority part is one thing, but influence is

753
00:37:43.880 --> 00:37:46.380
another thing, right? And you want to be able to

754
00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:50.429
influence everyone that works with you in a positive way

755
00:37:50.929 --> 00:37:52.650
to where it.

756
00:37:52.610 --> 00:37:53.570
Makes the office better.

757
00:37:54.110 --> 00:37:57.110
It builds on that culture that we talked about, that brotherhood,

758
00:37:57.210 --> 00:37:59.139
that teamwork that we talk about.

759
00:37:59.679 --> 00:38:03.400
What can I do to give you the empowerment to

760
00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:04.159
make us better?

761
00:38:05.139 --> 00:38:08.599
And when you start talking about authority and influence, that's

762
00:38:08.619 --> 00:38:11.019
what I go back to, all those words that we

763
00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:11.519
talked about.

764
00:38:11.539 --> 00:38:12.099
And I think.

765
00:38:12.360 --> 00:38:15.460
Sometimes when it comes to leadership, sometimes we try to

766
00:38:15.500 --> 00:38:17.340
make it a little bit too complicated sometimes.

767
00:38:18.320 --> 00:38:20.579
Once you get those certain words and those.

768
00:38:20.440 --> 00:38:24.230
Certain values and those certain things you believe in, you

769
00:38:24.250 --> 00:38:25.369
just keep coming back to them.

770
00:38:25.630 --> 00:38:28.849
And you keep ringing that same bell over and over

771
00:38:28.929 --> 00:38:29.409
and over.

772
00:38:29.650 --> 00:38:30.829
And that was one of the things that I was

773
00:38:30.909 --> 00:38:33.559
trying to do in the book, right? I was trying

774
00:38:33.659 --> 00:38:37.280
not to talk about a thousand different things.

775
00:38:38.250 --> 00:38:40.570
I wanted to keep bringing it back to the same point.

776
00:38:41.409 --> 00:38:42.670
And you did, beautifully.

777
00:38:43.150 --> 00:38:46.070
And that's why I was being very, very intentional about that.

778
00:38:46.110 --> 00:38:48.070
And then I could write another book down and wrote

779
00:38:48.090 --> 00:38:48.769
about all the other.

780
00:38:48.659 --> 00:38:49.380
Things I thought about.

781
00:38:49.900 --> 00:38:51.139
Right, since then, right, of course.

782
00:38:52.099 --> 00:38:55.320
But the authority and influence, right, you want to do

783
00:38:55.340 --> 00:38:57.860
it in a positive way where everyone that's working with

784
00:38:57.900 --> 00:39:00.440
you feels they have buy-in and their voice matters.

785
00:39:01.119 --> 00:39:03.699
Yeah, so you choose to follow someone because they have

786
00:39:03.719 --> 00:39:05.980
the influence. You have to follow them because they have authority.

787
00:39:06.610 --> 00:39:12.000
And I think that distinction is incredibly powerful. Learning the

788
00:39:12.059 --> 00:39:14.219
desire for people to follow you. Yeah.

789
00:39:15.900 --> 00:39:16.159
Okay.

790
00:39:16.179 --> 00:39:17.639
So I can't let you get off the show, Chief,

791
00:39:17.679 --> 00:39:20.539
without talking about, you have a chapter on the courage

792
00:39:20.579 --> 00:39:24.090
to be intentional and leaders must keep growing. So I

793
00:39:24.170 --> 00:39:26.590
find this to be so kind of, I will just

794
00:39:26.610 --> 00:39:29.849
say it, exasperating. There's a fair number of leaders that

795
00:39:29.889 --> 00:39:31.969
I run into who don't believe that they need to

796
00:39:32.010 --> 00:39:33.690
grow and learn anymore. They're like, I got the job.

797
00:39:33.730 --> 00:39:36.139
I'm good. I make good results here. I don't need

798
00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:38.820
to learn and grow anymore. And I find that to

799
00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:42.960
be completely backwards. You clearly have a similar sort of

800
00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:45.800
mindset as me. So talk a little bit about this idea,

801
00:39:45.820 --> 00:39:48.219
the courage to be intentional and why do leaders have

802
00:39:48.260 --> 00:39:48.820
to keep growing?

803
00:39:49.989 --> 00:39:52.150
Look, the courage to be intentional is very important to me,

804
00:39:52.750 --> 00:39:58.349
and I think it shows by me becoming the chief

805
00:39:58.389 --> 00:40:01.190
of police. Okay, what do you mean by that? I

806
00:40:01.230 --> 00:40:03.340
worked for the federal government for 28 years, and I

807
00:40:03.420 --> 00:40:05.300
knew I wanted to end as a major city chief

808
00:40:05.340 --> 00:40:09.000
of police. Probably the last, I don't know, 10 years

809
00:40:09.059 --> 00:40:11.039
or so of my career on the fed side, that's

810
00:40:11.059 --> 00:40:12.809
when I started thinking about it.

811
00:40:13.219 --> 00:40:14.119
So I was like, you know what?

812
00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:16.690
I have to be very intentional about some of the

813
00:40:16.710 --> 00:40:19.119
things I do. And so, okay, what do you mean

814
00:40:19.159 --> 00:40:21.400
by that? Well, made sure I stayed involved with the

815
00:40:21.420 --> 00:40:24.699
state and local police departments all the time, every stop

816
00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:29.130
of the way. I was always involved in the Haida meetings,

817
00:40:29.250 --> 00:40:32.190
and I wanted to meet with all the chiefs of

818
00:40:32.230 --> 00:40:35.159
police that I could at every stop of the way.

819
00:40:35.679 --> 00:40:38.420
So I was very intentional about what I was doing.

820
00:40:39.400 --> 00:40:42.119
Another thing that I was very intentional about with my

821
00:40:42.179 --> 00:40:45.280
federal career was moving around. And some people are like,

822
00:40:45.579 --> 00:40:47.219
why are you moving so much? Because I know what

823
00:40:47.239 --> 00:40:49.949
my end results are going to want to be. And

824
00:40:50.110 --> 00:40:51.869
I'm not going to be able to sell myself as

825
00:40:51.909 --> 00:40:55.809
a 28-year fed if I can't say, hey, I worked

826
00:40:56.130 --> 00:41:00.550
in various areas because I worked along the border in Tucson, Arizona.

827
00:41:00.570 --> 00:41:05.250
So I understand how law enforcement works along the border.

828
00:41:05.550 --> 00:41:08.920
I worked in Los Angeles. in a major city. So

829
00:41:08.940 --> 00:41:11.219
I understand how that works. Oh, by the way, I

830
00:41:11.260 --> 00:41:17.150
worked in San Francisco, a very liberal type location.

831
00:41:17.650 --> 00:41:18.969
I worked in Mississippi.

832
00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:25.460
Very rural and very Republican type city, right? So I

833
00:41:25.500 --> 00:41:28.000
was very intentional with a lot of my stops and

834
00:41:28.039 --> 00:41:30.900
a lot of my moves to prepare me for the

835
00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:34.070
end results of becoming a chief of police.

836
00:41:34.670 --> 00:41:36.389
Now, one of the things about you.

837
00:41:36.309 --> 00:41:39.269
Got to keep growing, I love to tell people all

838
00:41:39.309 --> 00:41:42.150
the time, I still have mentors that I talk to

839
00:41:42.650 --> 00:41:47.210
all the time. And what I believe in You got

840
00:41:47.250 --> 00:41:49.550
to make sure your mentors are not just like you.

841
00:41:49.949 --> 00:41:52.230
They don't have the same personality as you. They don't

842
00:41:52.289 --> 00:41:55.559
think and act like you. Now the end result is success.

843
00:41:56.199 --> 00:41:59.980
You want someone that, that has a roadmap to get

844
00:42:00.019 --> 00:42:02.280
to success, but you don't want all of them to

845
00:42:02.320 --> 00:42:04.079
think alike because you think you might as well just

846
00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:07.199
have one. And one of the things, even though I'm

847
00:42:07.239 --> 00:42:09.500
the chief of police and I've been in law enforcement

848
00:42:09.539 --> 00:42:14.949
since 1991, I love surrounding myself with CEOs of businesses

849
00:42:15.070 --> 00:42:15.929
or corporations.

850
00:42:16.429 --> 00:42:16.530
Hmm.

851
00:42:17.230 --> 00:42:20.730
Because technically what I'm running here is a Fortune 500 club.

852
00:42:21.170 --> 00:42:21.349
Right.

853
00:42:21.570 --> 00:42:21.789
Sure.

854
00:42:21.829 --> 00:42:24.789
As the chief of Dallas. This is a major city.

855
00:42:24.809 --> 00:42:30.269
It's a major budget. It's a lot of people. So

856
00:42:30.969 --> 00:42:34.489
why not get a CEO as a mentor?

857
00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:35.960
Because guess what?

858
00:42:36.139 --> 00:42:38.900
They're doing the exact same thing in a different line.

859
00:42:39.440 --> 00:42:41.940
And you have to continue to grow. You have to

860
00:42:41.980 --> 00:42:45.079
continue to learn. And not just from a book, not

861
00:42:45.119 --> 00:42:49.239
just from podcasts, which they're great. I love listening to podcasts,

862
00:42:49.280 --> 00:42:52.909
especially the five-minute, 30-minute clips sometimes.

863
00:42:53.050 --> 00:42:54.590
Man, I take some things away from them.

864
00:42:54.989 --> 00:42:58.570
But being able to grow with CEOs of Fortune 500 clubs,

865
00:42:58.590 --> 00:42:59.489
I think it's special.

866
00:43:00.409 --> 00:43:02.539
It is. And that is one of the big reasons, Chief,

867
00:43:02.579 --> 00:43:04.760
why I'm a Vistage Chair, because it is a peer

868
00:43:04.780 --> 00:43:08.340
advisory group for CEOs, business leaders, and business owners, et cetera,

869
00:43:08.800 --> 00:43:10.539
who get the benefit of being able to hear from

870
00:43:10.659 --> 00:43:13.179
other people, other peers, about how they've solved their problems

871
00:43:13.239 --> 00:43:15.860
and gone through to grow their business. So 100% agree

872
00:43:15.880 --> 00:43:19.159
with that as well. I heard you say a little

873
00:43:19.199 --> 00:43:21.739
bit about this at your book launch. And listeners and viewers,

874
00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:23.619
that's how I met the Chief as I was invited

875
00:43:23.659 --> 00:43:26.039
to his book launch. That's how I met him. But

876
00:43:26.079 --> 00:43:27.539
I'd love for you to share just a couple of

877
00:43:27.599 --> 00:43:30.500
things that you are especially proud of as the Dallas

878
00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:32.480
chief of police just since you started in your role.

879
00:43:35.300 --> 00:43:38.789
Man, look, I'm excited to be the chief of Dallas.

880
00:43:39.570 --> 00:43:43.909
Every morning I wake up, sometimes I ask the Lord,

881
00:43:43.969 --> 00:43:48.039
why me? Because I'm so excited to be here. It

882
00:43:48.079 --> 00:43:49.699
was a goal that I had, and I was able

883
00:43:49.719 --> 00:43:52.500
to accomplish that goal. One of the things that I

884
00:43:52.559 --> 00:43:55.710
wanted to do as a chief was make sure I

885
00:43:55.829 --> 00:43:59.550
was able to connect with the community. That's so important

886
00:43:59.570 --> 00:44:01.320
to me. And that's one of the things that you

887
00:44:01.380 --> 00:44:04.239
couldn't do in federal law enforcement. And this is why

888
00:44:04.280 --> 00:44:07.039
I wanted to end back in local law enforcement, because

889
00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:08.679
I wanted to build that.

890
00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:09.679
Relationship with the community.

891
00:44:10.340 --> 00:44:12.849
And I feel like so far we've been able to

892
00:44:12.889 --> 00:44:16.550
do that with the Dallas Police Department. We go to

893
00:44:17.090 --> 00:44:20.210
every town hall meeting that we're called on, every church

894
00:44:20.269 --> 00:44:21.019
that calls us.

895
00:44:21.550 --> 00:44:22.090
We're there.

896
00:44:22.679 --> 00:44:25.460
I try to attend every single meeting that I can

897
00:44:25.860 --> 00:44:28.639
to build that bridge with the community because I believe

898
00:44:28.679 --> 00:44:31.460
as a police department, if you're not fully engaged in

899
00:44:31.480 --> 00:44:34.320
the community, you're not doing it the right way because

900
00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:35.500
we're serving the community.

901
00:44:35.840 --> 00:44:38.260
So we want that community to be part of us.

902
00:44:38.860 --> 00:44:41.969
Now, what I've also done is I've really launched the

903
00:44:42.050 --> 00:44:45.010
whole campaign to make sure that we're also involved in

904
00:44:45.030 --> 00:44:48.960
the business community. Not just neighborhoods, but the business community.

905
00:44:49.260 --> 00:44:50.760
So where I go in and I talk to these

906
00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:53.670
CEOs and I say, what are you looking for from

907
00:44:53.690 --> 00:44:56.309
the Dallas Police Department? How can we serve you better?

908
00:44:56.809 --> 00:44:58.429
And I'll tell you, one of the things that's coming

909
00:44:58.550 --> 00:45:03.150
from that is they know we care. And all of

910
00:45:03.190 --> 00:45:05.690
a sudden, people started saying, hey, I want to donate

911
00:45:05.829 --> 00:45:10.199
to the Dallas Police Foundation. And I'm like, wow, really?

912
00:45:11.619 --> 00:45:14.639
But it's us engaging with the business community because you

913
00:45:14.659 --> 00:45:16.909
know what they say? hey, in order for us to

914
00:45:16.949 --> 00:45:19.369
make money, we need this to be a safe city.

915
00:45:20.449 --> 00:45:22.800
And if we can help give you some resources and

916
00:45:22.840 --> 00:45:24.119
tools to make.

917
00:45:24.019 --> 00:45:25.920
Our city safe, we're all in.

918
00:45:26.820 --> 00:45:30.809
And in some of the other communities where, say, they

919
00:45:30.869 --> 00:45:33.809
might not have as much money, Hey, Chief, what can

920
00:45:33.829 --> 00:45:39.260
we do? Can we reengage with the VIP program, Volunteers

921
00:45:39.320 --> 00:45:41.920
in Patrol? Because we want to be ears and eyes

922
00:45:41.980 --> 00:45:45.139
for you and your department so we can work together

923
00:45:45.219 --> 00:45:47.800
as one. So one of the things I'm really proud

924
00:45:47.880 --> 00:45:51.300
of is the fact how the Dallas Police Department is

925
00:45:51.360 --> 00:45:54.230
engaging with the community. And not just one part of

926
00:45:54.250 --> 00:45:57.889
the community, the entire Dallas. As I love to say,

927
00:45:58.210 --> 00:45:58.769
we're Dallas.

928
00:46:00.159 --> 00:46:02.280
I dare say chief, this is where you're getting to

929
00:46:02.300 --> 00:46:04.440
the top of your emotional range. Cause I can feel

930
00:46:04.480 --> 00:46:07.510
your passion. I can feel your pride. It's beautiful. Just beautiful.

931
00:46:07.530 --> 00:46:09.329
Thank you. You're welcome.

932
00:46:09.409 --> 00:46:11.989
So let's finish this conversation. You know, this show is

933
00:46:12.010 --> 00:46:15.030
called working on purpose. And so let's end by bringing

934
00:46:15.090 --> 00:46:17.809
it directly into the heart of the show, your, your experience.

935
00:46:17.849 --> 00:46:20.219
So I would love for you to share, what does

936
00:46:20.280 --> 00:46:22.639
it mean for you personally to work on purpose? And

937
00:46:22.719 --> 00:46:26.400
what do you believe becomes possible for humans, for an organization,

938
00:46:26.480 --> 00:46:29.340
for our society to, when we treat our leadership as

939
00:46:29.420 --> 00:46:30.900
an active sport the way that you do?

940
00:46:32.659 --> 00:46:35.039
Look, we have to be very, you have to have

941
00:46:35.059 --> 00:46:37.920
a purpose, first of all. You have to be fully engaged.

942
00:46:39.420 --> 00:46:42.380
You have to know what you want. And you have

943
00:46:42.420 --> 00:46:44.179
to understand what it takes.

944
00:46:43.940 --> 00:46:44.519
To get there.

945
00:46:45.159 --> 00:46:49.559
And that's where we go back to being intentional. Once

946
00:46:49.579 --> 00:46:52.849
you understand what you want And figure out what it

947
00:46:52.889 --> 00:46:54.909
takes to get there You have to be very intentional

948
00:46:55.210 --> 00:46:57.929
And putting all those tools in your toolbox To make

949
00:46:57.969 --> 00:47:01.699
sure you get there And never stop Even if you

950
00:47:01.719 --> 00:47:04.219
hit a roadblock You got to figure out how to

951
00:47:04.260 --> 00:47:09.849
go around Or get over that roadblock And again, you

952
00:47:09.869 --> 00:47:11.329
learn that from being intentional.

953
00:47:12.590 --> 00:47:14.900
The leadership is engagement, right?

954
00:47:15.679 --> 00:47:17.559
You have to be part of the community like we

955
00:47:17.579 --> 00:47:20.760
talked about earlier. There's just so many little things that

956
00:47:22.019 --> 00:47:26.719
you have to understand in order to succeed. Many people

957
00:47:26.800 --> 00:47:29.949
want to be successful, but not everybody's willing to do

958
00:47:29.989 --> 00:47:30.829
the climb to get there.

959
00:47:31.949 --> 00:47:34.409
And again, going back to being very intentional.

960
00:47:35.199 --> 00:47:38.250
Understanding what's the end result, understanding what it takes to

961
00:47:38.269 --> 00:47:41.210
get there, being intentional to get there.

962
00:47:41.849 --> 00:47:44.889
And you know what? Really, putting the time and effort

963
00:47:45.489 --> 00:47:45.889
into it.

964
00:47:47.110 --> 00:47:49.590
Again, a lot of people want to be successful, but

965
00:47:49.610 --> 00:47:51.909
they're not willing to do the climb. They're not willing

966
00:47:51.929 --> 00:47:54.030
to put the time, the effort to get in there.

967
00:47:54.630 --> 00:47:57.530
So what I love telling everybody is let's talk about

968
00:47:57.590 --> 00:48:00.489
what you want to accomplish. Now let's talk about how

969
00:48:00.510 --> 00:48:03.800
we're going to accomplish it. Now, let's also talk about

970
00:48:03.880 --> 00:48:07.889
the desire and the willpower to get to what you

971
00:48:07.929 --> 00:48:08.670
want to accomplish.

972
00:48:10.829 --> 00:48:13.989
What a beautiful way to finish the program, Chief. This

973
00:48:14.030 --> 00:48:16.190
has been a beautiful conversation. As you know by now,

974
00:48:16.230 --> 00:48:18.130
I think that I really got a lot out of

975
00:48:18.170 --> 00:48:19.409
your book and so much of it is aligned with

976
00:48:19.429 --> 00:48:21.929
what we do at Gustano and our philosophy here. I

977
00:48:21.949 --> 00:48:23.440
want to say thank you first for writing the book.

978
00:48:23.539 --> 00:48:25.840
And secondly, thank you for coming on Working on Purpose

979
00:48:25.860 --> 00:48:27.139
to talk about it. And welcome to Dallas.

980
00:48:27.159 --> 00:48:30.590
Thank you. I am so happy to be here in Dallas.

981
00:48:30.690 --> 00:48:31.369
I am thrilled.

982
00:48:31.489 --> 00:48:34.889
I'm looking forward to doing some great things with everyone

983
00:48:34.909 --> 00:48:36.550
in this department to serve Dallas.

984
00:48:37.530 --> 00:48:40.860
Fantastic. Listeners and viewers, you're probably going to learn more

985
00:48:40.900 --> 00:48:43.280
about Chief Daniel Cuomo, the book that he wrote, The

986
00:48:43.420 --> 00:48:45.719
Act of Supportive Leadership, and what's going on with the

987
00:48:45.739 --> 00:48:47.400
city of Dallas. There's a couple things you can do

988
00:48:47.460 --> 00:48:51.199
to engage with him. You can look at the website,

989
00:48:51.280 --> 00:48:56.110
which is dccbooks.com. That's one place to start. You can

990
00:48:56.130 --> 00:48:58.679
check him out on LinkedIn. He has two profiles. One

991
00:48:58.719 --> 00:49:04.340
is his own name, Daniel C. Como, and Como is C-O-M-E-A-U-X.

992
00:49:05.179 --> 00:49:09.760
And then the other profile is DC10investments on LinkedIn. So

993
00:49:09.780 --> 00:49:11.489
those are all three different ways that you can go

994
00:49:11.550 --> 00:49:14.349
check him out and engage with him. Last week, if

995
00:49:14.369 --> 00:49:15.989
you missed the live show, you can always catch it

996
00:49:16.010 --> 00:49:18.610
via recorded podcast or wherever you find them. We were

997
00:49:18.690 --> 00:49:20.800
on air with Carson Kelly, Todd about the work he

998
00:49:20.860 --> 00:49:24.659
is doing at Compassion 2.0 and flourishingly to help companies

999
00:49:24.719 --> 00:49:29.079
transform toward human-centered organizational performance by embracing compassion and the

1000
00:49:29.159 --> 00:49:32.300
care at their core and thus make it psychologically safe

1001
00:49:32.320 --> 00:49:35.840
for people to contribute and create at their maximum capacity.

1002
00:49:35.860 --> 00:49:40.230
It was an incredibly inspiring and neuroscientific conversation. Very interesting.

1003
00:49:41.230 --> 00:49:42.989
Next week, we'll be on the air with Paul Drew,

1004
00:49:43.150 --> 00:49:46.449
a local seven-time entrepreneur here in Dallas. We'll be talking

1005
00:49:46.489 --> 00:49:48.929
about his new book, soon to be released, called My

1006
00:49:48.969 --> 00:49:52.269
Client is the Devil and Other Myths Revisited, which is

1007
00:49:52.309 --> 00:49:55.929
a masterclass in developing the emotional, relational, and business skills

1008
00:49:56.219 --> 00:49:59.420
to be effective in sales, account management, and customer service

1009
00:50:00.280 --> 00:50:04.300
professionalism in today's world. It was a very clever book

1010
00:50:04.340 --> 00:50:07.130
and it's chock full of incredibly practical advice and tools.

1011
00:50:07.670 --> 00:50:10.309
See you then. Let's continue learning how to help more

1012
00:50:10.329 --> 00:50:13.170
people flourish, elevate your operating system as a leader, and

1013
00:50:13.210 --> 00:50:16.989
create destination workplaces where legendary business takes place. Let's work

1014
00:50:17.070 --> 00:50:17.510
on purpose.

1015
00:50:20.750 --> 00:50:23.369
We hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to

1016
00:50:23.409 --> 00:50:26.130
tune in to Working on Purpose, featuring your host, Dr.

1017
00:50:26.190 --> 00:50:30.489
Elise Cortez, each week on W4CY. Together, we'll create a

1018
00:50:30.530 --> 00:50:35.110
world where business operates conscientiously, leadership inspires in passion performance,

1019
00:50:35.309 --> 00:50:37.989
and employees are fulfilled in work that provides the meaning

1020
00:50:38.030 --> 00:50:39.110
and purpose they crave.

1021
00:50:39.570 --> 00:50:41.809
See you there. Let's work on purpose.