“The first and last task of a leader is to keep hope alive.” You might be familiar with that saying from John W. Gardner which was first published in No Easy Victories (1968) and repeated in his popular book, On Leadership (1993). As someone who promotes Hope-Centered Leadership, I gotta say, I really like that quote! But would Gardner agree with how I view Hope-Centered Leadership? I think so; allow me to explain. Dr. Rick Snyder, the father of Hope Theory, defined hope as a positive...

Hope is different than resilience. It’s better. In the last of my three posts on why hope is different from other positive traits, today I want to talk about resilience. I’ve exhibited a little hubris when it comes to hope. I’ve said it’s better than optimism, self-efficacy, and, now, resilience. I admit I’m a little biased, but I’m confident the science behind Snyder’s Hope Theory is solid. I’m less certain about resilience. The problem with resilience is a lack of uniformity in how it is...

Hope is different than self-efficacy (i.e., self-confidence). It’s better. In continuing the theme of why hope is different from other positive traits, I want to talk about self-efficacy. I don’t often use or hear the word “self-efficacy” in daily conversation. However, I do hear the word “self-confidence” more regularly. The science behind self-efficacy is that people influence the course of their lives through their behaviors. Like hope it deals with goals and how we think about and...

Hope is different than optimism. It’s better. If you’ve been following my posts lately, I’ve been discussing how hope (as measured using the Adult Hope Scale) acts a personal resource against burnout, low job satisfaction, and PTSD, for example. For most people, the science of hope is a new concept. We use hope as if it were a wish - “I hope it doesn’t rain” or “I hope you’re feeling better.” Nice sentiments, but not much else because you don’t have control over a wish. In essence, you’re...

Is there such a thing as false hope? Recently, a friend suggested that the Peanuts comic strip hero, Charlie Brown, had a high level of false hope because Lucy kept pulling the football away at the last minute. I disagreed. I suggested Charlie Brown didn’t have false hope, he was simply overly optimistic because he put his success in Lucy’s hands when he should have sought a new pathway around the barrier (i.e., Lucy). Of course, Charlie Brown may also be a low-hope person because he didn’t...

At the heart of any healthy and productive relationship is trust. However, if their formative years were characterized by physical, emotional, or traumatic abuse, they can be robbed of the ability to trust others both at home and in the workplace. For individuals working as law enforcement professionals, finding ways to build or rebuild trust in the midst of trauma is imperative.

On Thursday, October 7, 2021, First Lady Sarah Stitt opened the Hope Summit in Enid, Oklahoma as part of the state’s Hope Rising Oklahoma Initiative. The theme was “Hope Rising in Enid” and over 300 people spent the day at the Stride Bank Center learning the framework of hope science: goals, pathways, and willpower.

When the FBI Evidence Response Team of which I was a team member arrived the morning of September 12, 2001, the Pentagon was still smoldering.

One after one, time after time, from both men and women, young and old, white-collar and blue-collar, the message was the same, “I’m not worthy. I’m not important. I’m not enough.” It shouldn’t surprise us then when we seek to protect ourselves by displaying anger, hiding our emotions, turning off our feelings, becoming rebellious, engaging in dark humor, developing eating disorders, numbing ourselves with drugs and alcohol, being promiscuous, self-destructive, or disconnected.

When people feel burned out, stressed out, and left out they are much more likely to seek comfort from artificial, illicit, and pharmaceutical substances. I’ve seen trauma result in too many kids encountering the juvenile justice system; too many women (usually) who are subjected to domestic violence; and too many police officers who see no other option except for suicide. At the heart of most, if not all, of these challenges is trauma that is connected to or exacerbated by narcotics.

In my speaking, consulting, and advocacy work, I’ve been focusing on three keys to better leadership: trauma, trust, and hope. I believe representativeness heuristic is what we do when we take mental shortcuts in order to process information quickly. Often, that can be helpful in a world with so much information. However, as we’ve discussed before when it comes to neuroscience and bias, how we see the world is often not how the world really is.

Depending on where you live, it’s possible that your local police force is overwhelmed with mental health assistance calls in addition to the normal calls for service. Oh, not to mention the constant barrage by some calling for the defunding of the department.

Links Related to Inherited Trauma, Children of Deaf Adults, and TIC in Schools

While we like to think of our law enforcement officers as stoic, strong, and resilient, officers are not immune from the effects of trauma simply because they wear a uniform, enforce the law, or carry a badge and gun. Precisely because of their profession, they experience both primary and secondary trauma at higher levels due to their proximity to death, illness, accidents, and crimes.

Our society has a myriad of social issues that need strong leadership, selflessness, and solidarity. Most importantly, though, our society needs hope. Specifically, we need an understanding of the science and power of hope and its framework for empowering people, communities, and societies.

The only thing I knew about Oprah Winfrey until recently was that she was a successful media personality and for a long time struggled with her weight. What I didn’t know about Oprah was the extent to which she suffered childhood trauma and how that trauma manifested itself throughout her life.

While being on the lookout for constant danger is normal for people who have had severe childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences, we all move through a continuum of determining whether the cues we are receiving from others are cues of danger or cues of safety. Understanding how our bodies react to cues of danger and safety is the science supporting The Polyvagal Theory.

Do I just assume this is something I already knew? Do I assume that something bad has happened and I need to be afraid and hide? Or do I want to be curious and explore?” When I read those questions, I couldn’t help but think of the one thing that would allow me to “be curious” when it came to overcoming my fears and embracing new encounters, new people, and new ideas: trust.

Our brains do a lot of things without our conscious control. For example, we breathe without thinking about it. We make split-second decisions without thinking. And we often pick up ideas from around us without even knowing it. Sometimes these unconsciously learned ideas, whether positive or negative, can spill over into hot topic areas such as race, gender, education, medicine, and religion. In other words, we have implicit biases.

For some time, I’ve been thinking about the question, “What does success look like?” But the question I ask today is actually focused on what success really means? Also, how do the experiences in our childhood, positive or negative, affect our ability to be successful? And what can we learn from Phil Jackson on this point?

In Mississippi, We Do Hope. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Mississippi needs to do a lot of things. In the scheme of things, are you sure hope is really all that important?” My answer is an emphatic, “Yes!” What I want to share are four lessons I learned from having been one of the event planners of the three-day conference.

When you hail a cab or Uber in a foreign country, do you trust the driver to take you to your destination? When you place a first-time order from a third party residing across the country (or world), do you trust them to send you the item you purchased? When we start dissecting trust and how it informs our relationships, it becomes obvious that we place a lot of trust in people we barely know or don’t know at all.

Since 1993, April has been designated National Child Abuse Prevention Month. This year’s theme for the national campaign is “Every day, we help positive childhood experience take root!” Positive childhood experiences (PCEs) is an idea we should all support. As leaders, how can we help that idea take root?

We know a lot about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), but what do we really know about PCEs? Turns out, we know both a lot and not enough.

At the heart of any healthy relationship is trust. We instinctively understand this fact. Yet, we sometimes allow our own insecurities, weaknesses, and selfishness to rob us of trust which, in turn, robs us of the joy and peace we could be experiencing with other people.

One of the blessings for me was learning about Steve and Dorthy Halley’s work through their company, Family Peace Initiative (FPI). As Licensed Master Social Workers, their work for nearly 30 years has centered on facilitating batterers intervention programs (BIP). In other words, they help people who have been involved in committing domestic violence against a spouse or partner.

Recently, I was provided a form letter addressed to a local police chief and friend of mine who knew of my interest in trauma-informed policing and who thought I should read the letter. The letter claimed that trauma-informed policing, specifically as it related to domestic violence and sexual violence allegations, was everything from “junk science” to “prejudicial against men.” Needless to say, I found the letter uninformed and unpersuasive.

In the last of my three-part series on the connection between emotional intelligence and trauma, I want to share insights related to Daniel Goleman’s idea of focusing on the wider world. For example, if you want to improve your leadership skills, pay attention to the books and resources that expound upon the lingering effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and childhood trauma.

I sat down with Jered Odegard for his podcast where on, "Each episode we talk to senior leaders to uncover the powerful yet counterintuitive ways to be a high performer. Learn to build a better career and company." Trauma-informed Leadership definitely fits that mission! I encourage you to subscribe to his podcast and to also give a listen to our conversation.

It's hard to be a leader without accepting the responsibility that leadership is about serving and empowering others – not yourself. Leadership is about relationships and relationships require trust. Daniel Goleman wrote in his Harvard Business Review article, “The Focused Leader,” that leaders who focus on others are people “who find common ground, whose opinions carry the most weight, and with whom other people want to work.”

Self-control is what helps people (and leaders for this discussion) follow Goleman’s insight for the need to: “stay calm in a crisis, tame their own agitation, and recover from a debacle or defeat.” I heard in Goleman’s insightful statement three words: trauma, dysregulation, and resilience.

I said then what I believe even more strongly now: "Hope is the belief that your future can be brighter and better than your past and that you actually have a role to play in making it better."

As I share with you some of the multiple authors’ insights from the journal article, I would like you to think about what you know about physical and emotional abuse and neglect. Then think about how human relationships, especially with a father or father-figure, are affected and see if you agree with the authors’ conclusions when it comes to a person’s worship of, relationship with, or picture of God.

I'm pretty sure I learned as much or more about trauma-informed policing while presenting the class as did the police chiefs who attended. After not presenting at all during 2020, I was excited to be invited to present a block of instruction on Trauma-Informed Leadership for Police Chiefs at the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police 2021 Winter Conference. There were about 50 chiefs in attendance on January 14, 2021, and while we all had to deal with the COVID precautions, it was good...

On January 6th I was glued to the television and online news watching the coverage of how the U.S. Capitol was being overrun by a mob - a mob that turned violent and deadly (i.e., violent extremists). I don't talk about politics much because that's not my focus and I'm not going to start today. What I do want to discuss is, "What leads people to take the actions they take and what can we do to provide leadership during a time of crisis?" To read more, please visit:...

If you are tired of hearing how bad 2020 was, I completely understand. I think it's ok if we start thinking about how good 2021 can be. I began the new year by doing something I haven't done in a long time - visiting a drive-thru safari! Ok, so maybe the "safari" in small town Mississippi isn't the same as a safari in Africa or even a big city would be, but it was still lots of fun and we saw lots of cool animals. Many of them came up to the car and ate from our hands. I can assure you that...

Have you ever wondered what causes rifts in relationships? You and someone else have developed a close friendship. Maybe its a best friend with whom you share all your thoughts or even a romantic relationship which leads to a commitment to spend the rest of your lives together. However, at times something gets in the way of that relationship and what was once awesome is now only average - or worse - acrimonious. I wish I had a great insight or answer to that scenario. Instead I only have...

Hi. My name is Christopher Freeze and I support ACEs Connection. It’s a great organization, one I’ve come to love and enjoy over the last couple of years. It’s something that’s really been meaningful in my life. I spent over 20 years in law enforcement, and saw a lot of the same people coming into the system over and over again. And I realized the messages I’d probably heard most of my career, most of my life, about “tough on crime” and “we just gotta have more resources” and “more focus”...

Do you know that feeling of relief and excitement when things finally seem to turn around? For most people, the year 2020 has been tough. No exception for me either. A number of my speaking engagements were cancelled and conferences moved online. Unfortunately, I wasn't really prepared for the online rush and I'm still slow to that game. As you can imagine, frustration built and then some depression set in and the next thing you know I've watched too much Judge Judy. And then the email...

While serving as a Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Mississippi, I first learned about the concept of "adverse childhood experiences" through a newspaper article. But when I wanted to learn more, I wasn't sure where to turn. After lots of research and trial and error, I found these resources to be some of the best. (Yes, ACESConnection is on the list!) I'm convinced EVERY leader needs to be trauma informed. While there is significant focus on helping children overcome their adversity,...

Do you know anyone who thinks the Earth is actually flat? I'm not sure why that question occurred to me. Perhaps, I was looking for a unique or different way to talk about trauma-informed leadership. Don't laugh too hard! Stay with me for a minute, please. If you asked a random person if they had ever heard that centuries ago people thought the Earth was flat, I'm going to guess they will say, "Yes." In fact, some people still do! Not sure about that? Ever heard that people thought...

When reading an article on LinkedIn about leadership, I realized that Simon Sinek was right...but not for the reasons leaders assume. For a few years now, I've been trying to harmonize the various writings by authors whom I like. For example, how do Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , Susan Cain's Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking , and Simon Sinek's Start With Why compliment each other? In addition, how does Bruce Perry's The Boy Who Was...

The question he asked everyone was, "What is the opposite of hope?" Dr. Chan Hellman, a professor of social work at the University of Oklahoma and Director of The Hope Research Center, posed that question to the attendees of the Mississippi Commission on Children's Justice (MCCJ) the week of October 20, 2020. He had been invited by MCCJ and other state leaders to help Mississippi learn how to better engage people, especially children in foster care, with an attitude and expectation of hope.

While serving as a Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Mississippi, I first learned about the concept of "adverse childhood experiences" through a newspaper article. But when I wanted to learn more, I wasn't sure where to turn. After lots of research and trial and error, I found these resources to be some of the best. (Yes, ACESConnection is on the list!) If you would like your free copy of this PDF, just click the link and download: mrchrisfreeze.com/top38resources (Sometimes web links...

Retired FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Freeze presses on the need for the police to work with behavioral health centers, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health and the community.

At the heart of the argument over whether the economy should be open or closed is an explosive question that is often ignored: “How much is a human life really worth?” Put another way, “Do we save thousands of lives or do we save the economy which affects millions of people?” Either way, almost everyone is facing a traumatic experience.

Considering the role of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in a person’s life can prove useful in understanding and mitigating the risk of workplace violence.