For many officers, becoming an instructor is a career goal. It’s a chance to pass along knowledge, help other officers become more capable and leave the profession a little better than you found it. Most people think becoming an instructor is about learning a subject well enough to teach it. That’s certainly part of the job, but it isn’t what separates average instructors from great ones.

The best instructors all have one thing in common: they are passionate about what they teach and the people they are training. They understand that teaching doesn’t begin when class starts and doesn’t end when class is over.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to learn from some of the best instructors in the business. From firearms and defensive tactics to instructor development and CIT, they knew their material inside and out, but what impressed me most wasn’t their technical knowledge. It was the way they lived the lessons they taught. Whether they were on the range, working the street or talking with younger officers, they held themselves to the highest standards.

Unfortunately, I’ve also seen the opposite. Some instructors are nothing more than red shirts and Sharpies.

It’s not about you

One of the biggest lessons I learned as an instructor is that the training I provide isn’t about me.

That sounds obvious, but it’s easy to forget. We all like to be seen by our peers as the expert. Trainers enjoy teaching subjects we’re passionate about. But students don’t come to class to admire the instructor’s skill. They come to learn. They come to class to improve skills that may save lives.

Every class has required material that must be covered, but good instructors recognize when students need something more. Sometimes that’s spending extra time answering questions. Sometimes it’s explaining a concept in a different way. Sometimes it’s staying after class because an officer isn’t comfortable with a skill yet. Those moments often make the biggest difference. If your class schedule or syllabus gets in the way of helping students succeed, you’ve lost sight of your real mission.

Connections breed success

If you want to be a great instructor, surround yourself with people who make you better. No instructor gets better alone. One of the best decisions you can make is to surround yourself with people who are willing to give you honest feedback. Find instructors you respect and watch their classes. Invite them to watch your classes and provide you with constructive feedback. 

When you’re doing this, get outside your own bubble. Get outside your own department and outside your own area of expertise. Learn from instructors with different backgrounds and experiences. The connections you make as an instructor will help develop your own skills. We all have blind spots. Sometimes we’re convinced we’re doing something well when we’re really missing opportunities to improve. Honest feedback from instructors with diverse backgrounds helps us see what we can’t see ourselves.

The hardest part isn’t finding mentors who are willing to help us improve. It’s checking our ego long enough to listen to them. Some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned came from conversations after class, over lunch at conferences or from instructors who simply took the time to share an idea that made me rethink the way I taught. Never stop looking for people who can make you better.

Live the standard

Some instructors put on an excellent class but struggle to live by the principles they teach. They talk about officer safety but become complacent on patrol. They encourage officers to keep training but haven’t challenged themselves in years. Others avoid demonstrating techniques because their own skills have faded. And the students notice.

An instructor’s credibility isn’t built by PowerPoint presentations or instructor certificates. It’s built every day through consistent actions. When what we do doesn’t match what we teach, our message loses its impact.

If you’re thinking about becoming an instructor, understand this from the beginning: people will watch what you do just as closely as they listen to what you say. That’s part of the job. Students pay attention to everything.

If you’re a firearms instructor, they’re watching how you handle your firearm when you’re not doing demonstrations or shooting. If you teach defensive tactics, they’re watching whether you stay physically prepared. If you teach driving, they’re paying attention to how you drive outside the training environment. The lesson isn’t just a technique or a topic. The lesson is you.

This is one of the reasons why instructors must keep learning. We should never stop developing our own skills. We must never reach the point where we’re unwilling or unable to demonstrate what we’re asking others to do.

This doesn’t mean you need to be perfect. None of us knows everything. None of us nails every demonstration perfectly every time. If you don’t know an answer, tell your students you’ll find it. Then follow through. If you make a mistake during a demonstration, own it, correct it and move on.

Ironically, students usually gain more confidence in instructors who admit mistakes than in those who pretend they never make them. Humility builds trust.

When what we do doesn’t match what we teach, our message loses its impact.

Teaching is leadership

The best instructors wear a variety of name tags, including trainer, teacher, mentor, coach and counselor. But the most important role is being a leader. Leadership isn’t something you turn on when class begins and turn off when everyone goes home. It’s a daily habit. Unfortunately, most departments fail to include leadership as a primary role for law enforcement trainers. When someone goes to an instructor class, they may receive excellent technical training but very little instruction on leadership.

Unfortunately, many instructors tend to lose credibility over time. Some fail to work to improve their programs, and others fail to incorporate new information and technology into their classes. Too many become comfortable with what they do and how they do it and fail to look for new and better ways. These trainers have no interest in changing or improving. But one reason stands above the rest: they fail to practice strong leadership skills.

There are officers who became instructors because they were the most enthusiastic, the loudest voices, the hardest-working or the most successful. But the officers who make the biggest impact as instructors are rarely the loudest or the most decorated. They’re the ones who consistently do the right things, even when no one is paying attention. That’s the kind of instructor people remember.

Final thoughts

If becoming an instructor is one of your career goals, remember that earning the certification is only the beginning. Your students won’t remember every slide you showed or every statistic you quoted. What they’ll remember is whether they believed in you. They’ll remember whether your actions matched your words. They’ll remember how you made them feel.

So keep learning. Stay humble. Find mentors who challenge you. Help the officers around you succeed. Most of all, be the kind of instructor you’d want teaching your own child, partner or rookie academy officer. Because that’s the standard the profession deserves.