Police officers are in positions of leadership and influence by default. They take on the responsibility of safeguarding their local communities by preventing crime wherever possible, as well as providing support and aid to the public when needed. However, for police officers who want to take their level of responsibility further by reaching positions of authority within the force, it is important to hone their leadership qualities and professional skills even further.

Whether already seeking a position of leadership or making plans for the future, here are seven key tips that may help police officers to improve and develop if they are hoping to pursue a leadership role during their career.

• 1.Be an active listener

Some people assume that being an effective leader means giving orders and standing by your decisions no matter what others say. Of course, some situations might require this decisive and confident approach, but that is not all there is to being an effective leader.

In fact, listening to others is as important and communicating, and active listening skills are key to a successful career in leadership. Policing leaders need to attend events in the local community, conferences, interviews, meetings, and lead presentations, meeting lots of people in quick succession from different backgrounds.

If a leader is not willing and able to listen and understand what is being said to them in a non-judgmental way, they will not be hearing all that they need to in order to make the best decision. People around you will have different points of view and valuable opinions that could be a significant help to you and the wider community.

• 2.Further your education

To progress to the higher levels of responsibility, it is essential to continue in your education. There are numerous opportunities for police officers to develop their leadership skills including virtual and real-life workshops or seminars, using your free time to read books on policing, sociology and/or leadership, or by studying an online policing degree. It is never too early or late to improve through education, and it can have a significant impact on a leader's ability to motivate and focus the people working around them. If you are not currently in a position of leadership, it might be worth looking for voluntary projects (such as environmental protection or charity fundraising) that you could get involved with to practice your leadership skills.

• 3.Be detail-orientated

Police leaders need to have a broad understanding of their entire team or agency, but they also need to have a firm grasp on the smallest of details. For example, every team member has their own strengths and weaknesses, and understanding these can make assigning tasks much more effective and efficient. Before you give orders, you should understand what you are asking of people in terms of their time and resources. Delivering orders for a wider strategy will be much easier and more likely to be received with positive engagement if it is clear to others that you are knowledgeable about key details and have done plenty of research. Leaders need to have thought about all possible eventualities to ensure they can answer questions on a topic with confidence. This will increase feelings of trust and show others that you are competent as a leader.

In addition, policework is a complex field that requires resourcefulness and advanced problem-solving abilities, so it follows that leaders of the field would need to ensure they are capable of managing issues as and when they arise.

• 4.Learn to give effective directions

In addition to being able to give appropriate and effective directions, leaders need to communicate those orders in a clear way that will be understood by the intended audience. In some situations, it might be more effective to send directions in an email or to create a document that can be re-read and digested at the recipient's leisure. However, in cases when the instructions need to be carried out as soon as possible, verbal communication followed up by email may be more effective. Generally speaking, written and verbal communication skills are essential to a police office in a position of leadership.

• 5.Be ready to adapt and grow

Learning how to lead today is important, but will you be able to lead in the future? You only need look at how quickly modern society, policing priorities, and communication methods have changed in the last few years to see that leaders must be continuously evolving to ensure their leadership techniques stay relevant. Leaders at the end of their careers are likely to have faced a constantly changing landscape of policework that forced them to adapt and grow alongside it. Younger police officers and members of the community, for example, are likely to be more comfortable using smart devices and social media to interact and receive information, so relying on email could be ineffective.

• 6.Become a mentor

In addition to providing a service to the community, police leaders are also responsible for the support, nurturing, and development of their internal teams. This means that police leaders should be invested in the success of others whether they hold internal administration posts or are out on the front line. The best leaders are those who are empathetic and attuned to the needs of their team members, inviting feedback and regular communication as often as reasonably possible.

If a team member expresses a wish for additional training or a new opportunity, their leader should be supportive and encouraging. When people believe that the leadership care about their wellbeing and development, they are more likely to be motivated and productive. Praise them publicly when they have done good work and offer them more support where needed. Recognize them for their individual strengths and treat them as a human, acknowledging their personal lives and circumstances to deepen relationships.

• 7.Always act with honesty and integrity

Finally, a leader should be the personification of a police agency's ethos and mission statement, always upholding the best professional and moral standards. If a leader is found to be unethical or dishonest, their authority and trustworthiness is immediately destroyed. This can be catastrophic for the police team and the wider community.