Leadership LessonsTintype of Chief Hank Whitmanby Brigham and Jenna MayfieldFROM ATEXAS RANGERFormer Texas Rangerschief Hank Whitmanon his transition from lawenforcement to head of the TexasDepartment of Family andProtective ServicesIn his long career, Hank Whitmannot only spent eleven years with theTexas Rangers, rising to becomechief of the agency. He also, mostrecently, held what he describes asan even tougher job: overseeingthe Texas Department of Familyand Protective Services. WhenWhitman retired from DFPSlast June, Governor GregAbbott recognized his service,saying he’d “helped create asafer future for Texas.”We spoke with Whitmanabout his time as a Ranger,the leadership challenges heencountered at DFPS, andthe fulfillment of his role in,as he describes it, protectingthe unprotected.
FeatureDid you know when you were small that you wanted to be aTexas Ranger? No, I didn’t. I’ll tell you that I didn’t have a reallong career with the Texas Rangers. I only did 11 years. I don’tthink anybody’s ever made it to chief that quick, but thingshappen quickly within our division. I was a police officer in CorpusChristi for ten years before I came to DPS, where I was laterpromoted into the Criminal Intelligence Division. I completed mygraduate degree and was promoted into the Rangers in 2001.Before the governor asked me to be the commissioner ofthe Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Ithought being the chief of the Texas Rangers would be thepinnacle of my career. But this whole new family [DFPS] thatI took on for the last three years really captured my heart.It’s two different worlds. The Rangers are completely apolitical.They do a lot of public corruption work and investigate mostlyhigh felony crimes. Public corruption cases are a huge partof their daily work and are often referred to the Rangers by adistrict attorney or a law enforcement agency head. Those casesare sensitive and sometimes controversial and, understandably,should not be investigated by the local law enforcement agency.On any given month, we’re also working 40 to 60 homicidesaround the state. But this latest job [with DFPS], I went fromoverseeing a $22 million Ranger budget and a $20 millionborder budget to an almost $3 billion budget. A large increasein personnel too. DFPS has 12,250 employees while the Rangersnow have 150. There really aren’t that many Rangers. WhenI came on to the Rangers, there were a little over 100.Wow. That’s not many for a big state like Texas. That is true!But I had to learn how to deal with politics in the new jobat DFPS. Something that I didn’t have to do in my previousposition. Lawmakers would either be hugging each otherfrom both sides of the aisle or arguing. It was tough and thatis a big understatement. I met with lawmakers on a regularbasis. A lot of them were fantastic to work with. Many Iconsider personal friends. Obviously, I didn’t see eye to eyewith all of them, and likewise they didn’t with me at times.But I don’t think I left that capitol with any enemies. We allrespected each other. They too have a very tough job.It was difficult to see our caseworkers get pounded on a dailybasis, when they’re doing the best job they can with verylimited resources and funding. If a legislator would startyelling at me in a hearing, I would think, “Well, I’m going toyell back too. I may be an appointed commissioner but I’m acitizen of this state too.” Fortunately, I had nothing to lose—Ididn’t apply for the job. So, I thought, “Well, I’m going toyell back. Fire me! I don’t care. I’ll go home right now.”I was mindful of not crossing the line too far and knewI had to maintain a professional demeanor for myemployees. It wasn’t about me. It was about them and tothis day, I say they have the hardest, most thankless job ingovernment service. I’m proud to have been their leader forthose three years. They have saved so many children andelderly people from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.What were some of the first challenges you faced when youtook on the commissioner job at DFPS? One of the things Iasked the governor was, “Will you allow me to build my ownexecutive team?” He said, “Absolutely.” There was no influencefrom above. There was no “Hey, you need to do this or thator consider this person or that person.” We were allowed todevelop sound policy that was proven, develop an effective,dedicated executive team, and challenge the status quo.The generals underneath the executives were a different challenge.About half of them were engaged, and the other half were like,“We’ve seen cowboys ride in here, but eventually they ride offinto the sunset. We’ll watch this guy ride off into the sunsetlike the rest.” That attitude did not sit good with me at all.When I called all the field leaders in for a face-to-face meeting,I could tell which ones despised me even being there. And Iunderstand that. Here’s a guy coming into their world whodoesn’t even have an inkling of knowledge about child welfareor adult protection services. I respected that wholeheartedly.I’m not a caseworker. I’m not a social worker. I was a copand I didn’t want them to think I was arrogant and notrespectful of what they do. But I do know public administrationand I have a solid understanding of human behavior.One of the things I noticed was that there was a lot of complacencyin upper and middle management—middle management beingthe hub of a successful agency. They weren’t the ones gettingyelled at by the lawmakers, so they saw no need for change.How did you handle that situation? I said, “Accountabilityis big to me, and no more are we going to blame thecaseworkers when you, as their supervisors, oversee the casesyourself.” We’re supposed to be leaders and mentors, notjust people filling leadership roles. Two different things.Boy, did that change the agency immediately. I picked up sixnew enthusiastic regional directors, and the other six wouldnot return. Those six great new leaders were like, “Put me in,coach. I’ve been sitting on the bench waiting for this.” Somepeople still saw me as an outsider, but I wasn’t the enemy. “We’regoing to be bold,” I told them. No more status quo. “We’re goingto change, and we are going to change big.” Surprisingly, thechanges we made proved to turn the ship in a big way. DFPS islike a huge aircraft carrier—you can’t turn it on a dime. But itturned, and it turned in the right direction. It still needs lots ofimprovements, as any agency does, but it turned for the betterbecause of its dedicated employees and a new direction.TexasCEOMagazine.com9
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