Synopsis:

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Working the Blue Lines:

Lessons in Leadership from Hockey and Policing

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Annotated Table of Contents

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In hockey officiating, the expression “working the blue line” refers to the act of enforcing offsides, having correct positioning, and making the right calls by a linesperson, one of the on- ice officials during a game. Like hockey officials, police officers work a blue line to keep community members onside of crime, helping them avoid becoming victims, witnesses, or perpetrators. Working the Blue Lines provides a series of lived lessons in leadership and complexity management using numerous examples from the author’s 31 years of policing in three different organizations throughout Canada and Haiti and from officiating minor hockey in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

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As leadership is a modern form of behavioral alchemy, blending science and art to form a catalyst to influence people, it can be further defined as the dynamic influence of others through trust in the accomplishment of some higher good. Through lived and historical examples and with the help of an anonymized individual by the name of Marlo, these lessons provide the framework for that alchemy.

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Chapter 1: The Lesson of Randomness & Complexity

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The author starts this study in Haiti following the devastating earthquake of January 2010, utilizing it to examine the randomness and complexity of life. From understanding the components of our success, including our luck (both good and bad), the role of technology, and the tsunami of information we face, we can better appreciate the interplay of those factors that affect our decision-making. With that information, we can better appreciate the complexity we face and adapt to it.

 

Chapter 2: The Lesson of Scanning

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This lesson finds the reader on the scene of a school collapse in Haiti in November 2008, where over 90 children lost their lives. With an appreciation for the randomness and complexity of life, we can then look for the situational cues and indications of threats and opportunities on our event horizons. This examination further requires spatial and temporal awareness to determine where and when we are to understand better the reality of our situation at any given time.

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Chapter 3: The Lesson of Self-knowledge

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Having the lay of the land is helpful to understand where we are. The next step is to understand who we are. Still in Haiti following the earthquake in 2010, this lesson leads the reader to explore oneself. This is where the notion of developing a higher understanding of oneself is critical to becoming a better leader and decision-maker. This involves understanding the roles of habit, lying, childhood traumas, and the Shadow Self in acting and interacting with others.

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Chapter 4: The Lesson of Hubris

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This lesson introduces the reader to a singular individual who provides some of the best insights into leadership challenges. The most significant obstacle to our development as a leader is hubris - arrogance that comes from an increased self-confidence fueled by our envious nature. Hubris also leads to extreme narcissism. Critically, hubris causes situational blindness, resulting in vulnerability, causing us to lose opportunities and exposing us to hazards. This chapter teaches us to recognize and avoid the pitfalls of hubris and the vulnerability to threats and unexpected events.

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Chapter 5: The Lesson of Character

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Once again, in Haiti, at the author’s lowest moments following the earthquake, this lesson looks at what it takes to develop a superior character. Personal humility is the hallmark of that character. It allows us to overcome the dangers of hubris and envy. It also enables us to see situations clearly and develop higher levels of trust in those we influence. Along with other traits, we can create the character that allows us to excel in leadership, especially in times of crisis.

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Chapter 6: The Lesson of Bias

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This chapter starts back in grade 2, detailing an art project that profoundly impacted the author’s biases as he first visited Haiti in 1995. As human beings, we are driven by our emotions and guided by our perceptions - those interpretations of the words, actions, and events that touch our lives. The filter of our interpretations is our preferences and biases. Our biases can be classified in a hierarchy according to their manifestation and influence of our actions and thoughts: overt biases, explicit biases, implicit or inherent biases, and cognitive biases. By understanding each type of bias and its effect on our actions and thoughts, we can begin to see life’s reality with an unclouded view. This, in turn, commences the process of understanding others, leading to better decision-making.

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Chapter 7: The Lesson of Human Nature

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Understanding how we interpret our world through our biases and what drives us, we can then comprehend how people function in society. This is where human nature comes into the discussion, where we look at others to decode and better understand their habits, actions, and motivations. By being aware of their behavioral cues, we can then understand their goals and methods, using that knowledge to influence and counter their actions. This chapter looks at some unique perspectives around habit and human nature.

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Chapter 8: The Lesson of Conflict

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As part of living with people in society, there are bound to be moments of friction, confrontation, and conflict. This chapter begins with the author’s first work assignment as a police officer and how dealing with conflict is so difficult for us all. Rather than shy away from friction, confrontation, and conflict, we must embrace those moments as opportunities to learn and grow. Learning to embrace conflict leads to more productive outcomes in all facets of our lives. This lesson recommends using a three-pronged approach to dealing with difficult people: identify, understand and impact their problematic behavior.

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Chapter 9: The Lesson of Influence

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Building upon what the reader has learned around randomness and complexity, environmental scanning, self-knowledge, and the understanding of others, these lessons can be applied to influence people. This chapter begins with a horrific crime that will not be solved or even investigated but will provide an important lesson. Dealing with most people, who by their nature are collaborative, is not much of an issue. The challenge is when we deal with those people who make things difficult and are downright impossible. This is where the practice of influence becomes trying, and we must be as persuasive as necessary. This lesson follows the previous chapter with more concrete techniques on identifying, understanding, and impacting the worst in human nature.

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Chapter 10: The Lesson of Personal Sustainability

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The exercise of influence can be strenuous, requiring significant resources, commitment, and patience throughout life. This final chapter starts with loss and how the author had to help others deal with the most significant loss one can imagine - that of a loved one. To maintain such energy and focus, we need to ensure that we can take care of ourselves. This is where the lesson of personal sustainability comes in: ensuring that we design and carry out a life that will last us a lifetime. This involves a mastery of our physical side and a mastery of our mental states and attitude.

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About the author

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Jean-Michel (JM) Blais worked as a senior police executive in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in four Canadian provinces, acting as the RCMP’s equivalent of the judge advocate general for three years. He has significant experience leading investigative and front-line policing units in rural and municipal settings. On two occasions, he was seconded to the United Nations in Haiti, working first as a front-line constable in 1995 and later as the Deputy Commissioner in charge of over 1,700 international police peacekeepers in 2008. He returned to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake to personally lead the recovery mission of two Canadian police officers who died in the quake. Upon his retirement from the RCMP in 2012, he became the Chief of Halifax Regional Police in Nova Scotia, leading this mid-sized municipal police service for over six years. He has presented and advocated extensively on leadership, labor relations, and mental health in the workplace throughout Canada and the United States.

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In 2011, Jean-Michel was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the various traumatic events that compromised his physical integrity while in Haiti in 2008 and 2010. This has led him on a quest to develop effective wellness programs for his workplaces while properly managing those cases involving PTSD and other occupational stress injuries.

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For over 15 years, he has also officiated all levels of minor hockey in Ontario, and Nova Scotia asa Hockey Canada certified Level III official, mentoring and supervising over a hundred young people.

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Jean-Michel is a graduate of political science and economics from McGill University in Montreal and holds a law degree from Université Laval in Quebec City.