Challenging Up and Supporting Down
Inspired by Dr. Mitch Javidi
Great leadership isn’t about sitting at the top of an org chart—it’s about standing in the middle of a mission. It’s about understanding that leadership is both vertical and relational.
To lead well, you must be fluent in two critical directions:
Challenging Up: Bringing real issues to the surface, holding your senior leaders accountable to vision, purpose, and clarity.
Supporting Down: Equipping those you lead with direction, resources, and encouragement so they can succeed and serve well.
This is the heartbeat of elite public safety leadership.
Vision Isn’t Enough—It Must Be Understood and Delivered
Executive staff must do more than cast a compelling vision. You have to make sure people actually understand it. That means translating vision into everyday behaviors, communicating expectations clearly, and verifying comprehension—not just assuming it.
This doesn’t happen through memos. It requires:
Face-to-face meetings
Two-way communication
Ongoing dialogue about roles, mission, and values
If your people can’t articulate what the agency is about and how their role supports it, the leadership chain is broken.
Accountability Is a Conversation, Not a Directive
When vision is shared, clarity must follow. One of the most important forms of leadership accountability is frequent communication—top down and bottom up—about the “why” and the “how.”
When your people know their purpose and understand how they’re expected to deliver on it, performance aligns with mission.
But that understanding must be verified. It’s not enough to push information down. Leaders must pause, check for clarity, and adjust training or communication when gaps emerge.
True leadership is iterative—you communicate, listen, observe, and improve.
Proximity Builds Trust and Effectiveness
In Dr. Javidi’s words, “Two blocks away and two miles away are never the same.”
Proximity matters. Leadership by walking around is still one of the most effective practices in high-performance teams.
You don’t need a town hall meeting every day, but you do need:
Short, face-to-face check-ins
Unscheduled walk-throughs
Genuine presence where your people work
This builds familiarity, trust, and relational bandwidth. Your presence is your most powerful communication tool.
The Dual Responsibility of Leadership
When you’re challenging up, you’re ensuring the integrity of the mission.
When you’re supporting down, you’re empowering the delivery of that mission.
Both are essential.
Both are your responsibility.
Call to Action: Walk, Listen, Align
This week, your challenge is to pick two 15-minute time blocks:
One to walk and connect face-to-face with someone on your team. Ask them what’s going well and what’s unclear about the mission or their role.
One to meet with someone above you—or reflect deeply if you’re at the top. Consider: What part of our vision needs sharpening? What feedback from the frontlines isn’t making it up the chain?
Write down one takeaway from each conversation. Then act on it.
Because real leadership is lived in proximity, powered by clarity, and delivered through relationships that go both ways.