Chief Inspector with Queensland Police, and Leadership Coach, Darren Smith, recently turned 35 years of policing experience into BSB80320 Graduate Diploma of Strategic Leadership.
In the following story, Darren discusses his police career, creating a leadership coaching program for select groups of leaders, turning his experience into a national qualification through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), and passing on his wisdom about crisis management and leading people through his leadership programs.
Listen to Darren’s story on our Podcast:
Police Career
Darren joined the Police Academy straight after high school. After graduating he had a number of different postings around Brisbane and regional Queensland.
10 years into his career, Darren joined the Juvenile Aid Bureau, and worked his way up to leading a Child Protection Investigations Unit.
Five years on, Darren was promoted to Inspector and then Detective Inspector and posted to Toowoomba into a plain clothes role, which he said he enjoyed.
A few years later, having returned to Brisbane, Darren was selected to fill a newly created position as Strategic Planning Officer for Major Events.
“That was probably some of the best work I’ve been involved in,” he shared. “We achieved some really good results around building capability and reducing risk in the major events space around Brisbane.”
Darren went on to become Commander of the Commonwealth Games for Hockey, a sport he loves and has coached in for more than two decades.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
Darren reached a place in his career where he wanted to make sure his police service experience was captured in national qualifications, “that meant something on the outside,” he said.
Two of Darren’s colleagues, both Churchill Education Alumni, recommended he get in touch to explore his RPL options.
The RPL Process – Gathering work examples
Darren said that the process of providing work examples for his RPL appraisal was relatively easy because he’d already been documenting his career experience over the past 6-7 years in the process of applying for promotions.
This is an important point, because whilst it is true that RPL saves you A LOT of time compared with studying the same qualification, it still does take time to gather the examples of your work, which are then matched to the units of competency within the qualification.
If you’d like to start gathering your work examples in preparation for RPL down the track, get in touch, and we will set you up with a link to your own, dedicated and secure RPL work examples portfolio.
You’re eligible!
Based on his policing experience, and the work examples he provided, Darren’s Churchill Education Skills Recognition Advisor, Sarah Riley was delighted to advise Darren that he was eligible for a range of qualifications.
From the list, Darren elected to go forward and enrol in BSB80320 Graduate Diploma of Strategic Leadership.
As one of our highest qualifications (above a Bachelor’s Degree), this benchmarks Darren’s high level strategic leadership experience.
Darren’s Graduate Diploma is a powerful career asset in a number of ways:
- Supports his application for promotions within police
- Gives credibility to his leadership and crisis management coaching
- Saves him time and units if he wants to continue on to study a Master’s Degree
There is not one best next career step, but whether your next move is career change, a side hustle or further study, RPL can help get you there. Apply for a free appraisal here.
Leadership & Crisis Management Coaching
Five years ago, with a desire to pass on his extensive leadership and crisis management knowledge, Darren created his own Leadership Coaching consultancy.
This work is based on Darren’s broad range of experience, including his 35 year policing career, together with insights from parenting and sports coaching.
“I work with a select number of clients, focusing on leading and managing people including during crisis situations” he shared.
Leadership Coaching
The feedback Darren is getting from people in this space is that leading and managing people is becoming more challenging.
A recent Gallup report: State of the Global Workplace 2023, found that “52% of employees say they are watching for or actively seeking a new job” (1% up on the previous year).
The report also found that 77% of employees are not engaged or have quietly quit.
Having managed around 650 people in different roles throughout his career, Darren said it’s data such as this that motivates his leadership coaching.
He also said that often organisations have people who do a great job with technical skills, that are then put into leadership roles without any experience in how to lead and manage people.
Darren offers his leadership coaching as a consultant through his thought leader practice with programs including a 2-day live program called ‘Executive Toolbox – Empowering Leaders for Success”.
Crisis Management Coaching
Darren has also created a Crisis Management Model called BICRISIS, which addresses the skills leaders need to manage any crisis effectively.
“The catalyst for my crisis leadership was the death of a colleague, who was murdered. I was on the team that was required to attend the scene on the night and resolve the incident,” he shared.
“In times of crisis and emergency it’s important to remain calm and apply good leadership in response, because you’re in charge of people, and you’re the one who sets the tone for the response and who has to make tough decisions,” he explained.
Darren recently delivered a keynote speech about crisis management at an event on the Gold Coast. Here is a clip. You can contact Darren here if you are looking for a crisis management speaker for your upcoming event.
Preparing for the future
Darren’s Graduate Diploma is going to stand him in good stead for promotions within police, and also back up his experience as he frees up more time for delivering his leadership and crisis management programs – particularly after compulsory police retirement at age 60.
We wish Darren every success with his future career goals and hope his story has inspired you to get the career recognition you deserve through national qualifications that show what you know.
Contact us to arrange a free qualification appraisal and find out what you’re eligible for!
