Study Break

I know I know, I have not blogged in a few weeks.  However, I have a reason....good or otherwise, at least it's a reason.

I have been studying.

You see, our Police Chief's retirement has started a snowball effect of a few other movements, promotions, and retirements.  In short, a few Captain's spots are opening up.

For my friends that aren't familiar with our promotion system, it is almost solely based on exam results.  If you have been at the previous rank for 2+ years, you can take a written promotion exam.  You are placed in order based on the results of that exam, and barring anything huge and glaring in your background and the number of spots available, bingo, promotion.  The eligibility list is good for a year, so if another spot opens up and you are next, bingo, promotion.  However, it is not just a poof-and-promote like that sounds....you gotta do the work, you gotta study, cause spots are fewer and fewer the higher you promote.

So, sitting at the rank of Lieutenant (of which we have 12), and aiming to promote to Captain (of which we have 8), do the math.  Captain's spots don't come along every day....if you want to try and promote, you better darn well study and take the darn test and better hope darn well you score high enough to promote.

The tests are made up of college-style material....at this rank, 2 full-on college text books on management theory, situational leadership, ethics, and the like....along with policy manuals and civil service laws.  Needless to say, it is just a shade bit of light reading.  They hand you this PILE of reading material, and a good luck, better study.

So, it goes without saying, but just about any spare time I've had given family and work obligations, I've had my nose buried in a book.

And as I sit here, I needed just a touch of a break.  Just about long enough to blog.

So, I'll study and prepare the best that I can, and we'll see how the test comes out.  2 months and counting.  Perhaps I'll score high enough to promote, perhaps not.  It's really not me against anyone else...the others taking the exam are friends and are smart, so focusing on who is taking the test does me no good....it's me against me, all I can do is push myself to do my best.  So, I'll give it a go.

And....break time is over....time to bury my face back in a stack of words and text.  "The Johari Window is correlary to Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's contingency model because these theories are relevant to needs satisfaction and motivation....which thus begins the discussion of theory versus model as they pertain to cerebral functioning in behavioral situations............"

sigh............