EP #152: Serve, Protect, and Lead with Jim Lewis
Most people in today’s world live in a safe environment. We owe a lot to the law enforcement professionals that ensure it and it’s interesting to understand what that type of career entails.
Many of the guests we have on the show are focused on building something to make a positive impact in the world. In this episode, we are taking a different approach.
Jim Lewis spent over 25 years making an impact by stopping people who were making a negative impact. You could say it was addition by subtraction. He shared some amazing insight about a career as a cop and FBI agent and dropped some gems on leadership that apply in any area of life.
What You'll Learn In Today's Episode:
About Jim’s FBI career
About the first “parking tickets” Jim issued
What it takes to get hired in law enforcement
What the police academy entails
Why poise is important
About verbal judo
What is de-escalation
How Jim met his wife on a whim
How Jim got his master’s degree and made it to the FBI
The difference between local law enforcement and the FBI
About Jim’s FBI training at Quantico
How leadership makes the way
Some important moments that shaped Jim’s career
About Jim’s work on the “crimes against children” division
About a big mistake in Jim’s career and how we rebounded
How Jim learned to be a leader
How Jim handled his team and responsibilities
The number of bad days Jim had in a 25-year career
Jim’s gratitude for the FBI and its work
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“That feeling I had going from call to call with an officer was something I knew I wanted to do for the rest of my life.” - Jim Lewis
“People would tell me that I’m the Michael Scott of leadership.” - Jim Lewis
“The standards back then were very very high.” - Jim Lewis
“The most stressful was probably the driving.” - Jim Lewis
“My first weapon was a .38 revolver.” - Jim Lewis
“That vehicle is a weapon.” - Jim Lewis
“Talk him into the handcuffs.” - Jim Lewis
“No cop really wants to roll around the ground with somebody.” - Jim Lewis
“There were on body-worn cameras when I first started.” - Jim Lewis
“I often think about how lucky I was with some of the decisions I made.” - Jim Lewis
“I certainly make me sound a lot smarter than I actually am but I was able to get a master’s degree in forensic science.” - Jim Lewis
“Local law enforcement helped me tremendously in making the transition to the FBI.” - Jim Lewis
“The success rate is high.” - Jim Lewis talking about FBI training
“I stayed in the Miami division for 25 years.” - Jim Lewis
“I thought I had died and gone to heaven.” - Jim Lewis
“I was the youngest guy on the squad by several years.” - Jim Lewis
“It was fun exciting times for a young agent to be on that squad.” - Jim Lewis
“He had written in his journal, ‘Rob the bank’.” - Jim Lewis
“I thought in my mind that the best decision was any decision.” - Jim Lewis
“I knew that if I ever got into a position of leadership that that wasn’t the type of leader I wanted to be.” - Jim Lewis
“I was knocked off my high horse.” Jim Lewis
“My full circle was when I left the “crimes against children” squad supervisor position and ended up back on the bank robbery squad supervising that squad and task force.” - Jim Lewis
“There was banter and laughter and we all ate lunch together in the break room. We got our work done. We made a difference in lives.” - Jim Lewis
“It takes a special type of person to work those violations.” - Jim Lewis
“If you were the best agent in the office but nobody liked you and couldn’t get along with other agents on the squad. That’s not the type of person I wanted on that squad.” - Jim Lewis
“The best teams maybe don’t have the number one players in the league but they have that group that collection of players that jive together on game day.” - Jim Lewis
“When I was first transferred I was bitter. I was mad. I was not in the right frame of mind.” - Jim Lewis
“You’re gonna go for maybe twenty-hour days for stretches at a time.” - Jim Lewis
“I think I probably had less than five bad days at work.” - Jim Lewis
“The FBI puts the work in beforehand.” - Bob DePasquale
“The young guy goes directly into armored car robberies and shootings. Wow.” - Bob DePasquale
“It’s like you're putting a puzzle together.” - Bob DePasquale
