Kingstown College Coaching Magazine vol.5 2019/2020

74 Coaching Magazine Vol.5
Case Study: Leadership and
Management Development
within an Garda Síochána
Oliver Nally takes us behind the scenes for an indepth look at the leadership and
management development in the police force of the Republic of Ireland, and how
coaching and mentoring are used within the organisation.
“We have yet to find a company
that can’t benefit from more candour,
less denial, richer communication,
conscious development
of talent and disciplined leaders,
who show compassion for people”
(Sherman and Freas 2004 p90 in
Clutterbuck and Megginson p 19).
The Garda Síochána Leadership &
Management Development (L.M.D.)
section is based in the Garda College,
Templemore, Co. Tipperary. It is headed
by a Superintendent, along with an
Inspector, four Sergeants, one Executive
Officer, one Clerical Officer and one
Temporary Clerical Officer who make
up the team. The remit of the section
is to develop, deliver and facilitate the
leadership and development training
for newly promoted personnel from
Sergeant/Executive Officer to Chief
Superintendent/Principal Officer to
ensure their personal development as
they transition into their new role.
Currently the section has responsibility
for the development of in excess of
seven hundred recently promoted
personnel going through their
development programmes.
To facilitate these programmes L.M.D.
Sergeants are qualified in areas of
Executive Coaching & Mentoring,
training and education, quality
management, Supervisory and
Leadership GRID®, MBTI psychometric
tool, 16PF, Emotional Capital Report
3600, Synergogy training, Emotional
Intelligence (EI) and BarOn Emotional
Quotient Inventory EQ-i.
Leadership & Management
Development Sections Role
The work of the Leadership &
Management Development Section is
underpinned within an Garda Síochána
Mission and Strategy 2019-2021 where
it states in Section 5, Our People – Our
Greatest Asset
• An Garda Síochána will develop our
leadership capacity and provide
strong visible leadership and
• Develop a learning culture,
underpinned by honesty, integrity,
openness and a respect for
diversity.
The L.M.D. role is to develop and facilitate
a series of learning interventions
to meet the specific personal and
professional developmental needs
of the newly-promoted individual.
These development programmes are
a partnership between the newly
promoted individual, their manager,
their nominated mentor and the L.M.D.
section and are based firmly on human
rights principles and the Garda Síochána
Code of Ethics.
All development programmes
incorporate a series of modular
learning interventions to meet the
specific personal and professional
developmental needs of the individual.
These training
interventions give
individuals a safe
psychological space
in which to reflect,
verbalise and explore
challenges and issues
which help them
grow as managers
and leaders in our
organisation.