Here’s an exclusive look at the SPF’s overseas experiential leadership training, a rite of passage for Senior Officers!
By: Insp Leow Su Ling
Throughout our nine-month training as Senior Officer Trainees in the Singapore Police Force (SPF), we’d engaged in numerous exercises aimed at optimising our collective strengths, enhancing teamwork and strengthening our leadership competencies. Such activities also included discussions on complex cases and scenario-based simulations.
The culmination of our comprehensive Senior Officer Basic Course was an overseas experiential leadership training in Nepal. Designed to enhance our competencies in leadership, frontline policing, incident management, criminal law and investigation, this training transformed us from trainees into leaders.
C5/2023 Hits the Trail
Stepping off the plane in Kathmandu, we braced ourselves for the difficult, three-week journey ahead. As we became acclimatised to Nepal’s altitude, we took to the trail and were tasked to complete a series of missions that thrust us into a world of unfamiliar mental and physical challenges.
Along the way, we made many mistakes, often due to oversights in what appeared seemingly simple decisions. Yet, amid our struggles, we underwent a transformation, and began to understand that effective leadership isn’t a solitary effort, but a collective endeavour.
Embracing the Challenge
The mountainous terrain posed relentless challenges: leeches, landslides, the threat of earthquakes and unforgiving rivers all tested our resolve. Yet we pressed on.
As we trekked to each new waypoint, Nepal’s beauty began to reveal itself – a splendour that softened our hardships. From traversing dense jungles to crossing waterfalls, each step revealed new wonders. The aches and pains we felt melted away when we were greeted by the radiant smiles of village children or the majesty of snow-capped mountains in the far distance.
Growth and Camaraderie
A pivotal moment came when we shifted our mindset from individual action to functioning as a cohesive unit. Instead of thinking only about our personal goals, we began to focus on collective effort and mutual support. We started to make decisions more strategically and execute them with greater confidence. The trust and camaraderie that we developed propelled us down each new trail.
As our team dynamic strengthened, the heavy backpacks and steep inclines became secondary to our shared drive to succeed. What had once felt like overwhelming obstacles were now met with confidence. The jungle became an ally, the rivers a passage and the mountains our guide. We embraced our journey, trekking forward with resolve.
Returning Home
All too soon, we reached our destination and completed our final mission, together. Reflecting on all that we’d gone through, we realised that the challenges we’d faced on the trail shaped us not just as leaders but as individuals, preparing us for our future responsibilities in law enforcement.
Arriving back in Singapore, it was clear that we were no longer the same people who’d departed just three weeks before. We carried a quiet confidence, tempered by the humility of what we’d overcome. After facing the unknown, adapting and growing through adversity, challenges now appeared not as roadblocks to us, but as opportunities — the very trials that make us stronger!
In October, we graduated as Senior Officers. Our training has ended, but our journey as leaders has just begun. As newly minted Senior Officers embarking on the next phase of our careers, we carry with us not just knowledge and skills, but also a strong ethos of teamwork and the determination to excel in our mission to serve and protect Singapore.
Kickstart your SPF journey today and step up to a career that goes beyond!
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