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Raney warns of complacency

Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney has been with the Ada County Sheriff’s Office since 1983. Sworn in as sheriff in 2005, Raney is responsible for the largest law enforcement agency in Idaho with around 650 employees and a $60 million budget.
Raney told the audience of Idaho Transportation Department employees during the 2014 Leadership Summit that the “cancer of complacency”-if left untreated, can kill an organization.

“We owe it to everyone to talk about attitude,” he said.

Raney said many organizations, including his own office, have fallen victim to a pattern of comfort, which can lead to complacency. The most common factors that can lead to this trend are ego, following tradition without ever asking if procedures can be completed in a more efficient way, not speaking up or learning to “disagree respectfully” with colleagues and believing everything is okay, with no need to improve.

He posed several questions, including:

What can we do to reinvigorate the team?
How can we be different?
What is the future and how do I fit into it?
Are you a positive contributor to your team?

To learn more about what incident caused the Sheriff’s office to re-examine its employee culture and reach today’s vision of being the “agency of choice”click here.