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Last week I had the opportunity to see Mr. Paul Butler from the great state of South Carolina present at the Iowa Chapter -- FBI National Academy Associates spring conference in Cedar Rapids. If your business is looking for a speaker to come in and discuss leadership and team strategies, Mr. Butler is worth your time. I have seen Mr. Butler before, but I always walk away with something new to consider.
Mr. Butler talked briefly about plans and purpose and it has given me enough to think about that it has inspired this column. As a 30-year law enforcement veteran, I am used to making plans. I plan everything. Planning consumes my day both personally and professionally.
I set short-term goals and long-term goals. I plan meetings, projects, training, the list goes on and on. I plan for the future. Heck, my family plans for weekly meals, and my wife runs a tight weekly schedule (plan) for the family to follow. I am certain most of you reading this column do many of the same things.
Do your plans always work? Mine do not. Do your plans ever fail spectacularly? Mine often have. What do you do when the plan fails?
Mr. Butler reminded me of something very important in my life. He brought back into focus for me the purpose behind all the planning. I am certain I did not forget the importance of purpose. I do think it is easy to lose sight of purpose though.
Plans come and go. Plans are soon forgotten, whether they succeed and fail. You will be remembered for your purpose. Your purpose must be your guiding light, especially when things do not go as planned.
I became a police officer, and ultimately a police chief, for a few simple reasons. I wanted an adventure that would allow me to make a difference, to help. I remain passionate about my profession and the opportunity I have each day to help build a better community.
I deeply enjoy the possibilities a public service career provides. I truly have daily opportunities to help people. Sometimes these opportunities are filled with chaos and strife but they are there for me if I am up to the challenge.
My career offers me the chance to be part of things important, to make meaningful change, and to give back. My purpose exists no matter what happens with the plans I make.
In fact, my purpose drives me to overcome failed plans and to build new partnerships that will allow the next plan to succeed...hopefully. Many things in my life have not gone as planned but instinctively, I fall back on my values, my faith and my purpose to refocus and fight forward through the challenges in front of me.
In our community, we spend a great deal of time planning. It is fair to say that not everyone agrees on the plan.
We debate these issues, and sometimes the issues create a division that was never part of the plan. We lose sight of our purpose and we focus too much on the plan.
In 2018, when our community was devastated by a horrible tornado event, we found out firsthand that life does not go as planned. We certainly did not expect or plan for the challenges a natural disaster creates.
Do you remember what did happen following the tragic day in July? We all set plans aside and fell back to purpose. We picked up our neighbors and dusted them off.
We helped with the clean-up. We helped financially. We continue to help with the rebuild. We were purpose-driven to help, to serve, to give back. We set aside differences, we set aside competing goals, we came together for the purpose of serving our neighbors, our friends, our community. We were united, and we were Marshalltown strong.
Almost five years have passed since that fateful day and sometimes it feels like we have lost sight of our purpose. We have become too focused on the plans we favor or perhaps the plans we do not like.
We allow the planning to drive everything and maybe we forget why we are doing all of this planning to begin with. Planning is an important process. I understand that fully and I am not trying to discount that.
However, don't lose sight of your purpose. Remember the values of community, of neighbor helping neighbor, of supporting each other through all challenges. It is our community values and purpose that will drive us forward to the promise of a better tomorrow.
We need all voices at the planning tables. We should listen to, and consider, opposing views. Sometimes, our plan is not the best path forward. Live a purpose-driven life and the planning becomes easier.
At the end of the day, we are not all that different really. We all want safe neighborhoods and schools. We want our kids to receive a top-notch education.
We want to have meaningful work that supports our family comfortably. We want a strong and successful community that we can proudly call home. Our plans to get there might look different, but we share the same purpose.
Embrace the shared purpose. Embrace our shared community values. Embrace your neighbor. Everything else will take care of itself.
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Mike Tupper is the Chief of Police
for the city of Marshalltown.