Michael Kasper

In the course of my career, I've gained a lot of experience in dealing with all types of people. As I strive to continue to educate myself, my dedication to work shows. I've taken many Department sponsored management classes that have allowed me to identify characteristics of others and myself in order to best match a communications method. Crisis Intervention Training and Institute for Credible Leadership and two that I have taken to inventory my characters and virtues in order to continue to align and work with others to overcome my weaknesses, selfishness, and fears in order to do better and more important work as a team. I'm aiming toward character driven performance rather than simply measuring performance. If you start with good character, you'll end up with a much better product because you have a stable base to build upon. It's much easier to teach the skills needed to perform a job than to build character and virtue. I am technical and analytical which allows prioritization with emotional influence to accurately assess a situation or project. I'm deliberate with task and procedures. This, at times, can be detrimental to my success because I might cause a delay, but through leadership and management studies I've identified my weaker characteristics and strategies to counter them. I hold myself to a high standard. When working as a commander, it's important that you be able to do the job your subordinates perform. To that end, I do occasionally "take the chair" in the dispatch center to help with their duties. Not only do I get to refresh in my mind their procedural tasks, I can feel what they go through on a daily basis. I am dependable in that when asked to get something done, I will be diligent in my duties to its completion. Although I have a position of authority delegated by the Sheriff's Office, I find my humility is an asset. I know I am ultimately responsible, but at the same time, know that I cannot do it by myself. In fact, I've found that being a cooperative leader with input from staff helps subordinates buy into the change, especially because they have offered expert input into it. I am a previous member of two State Boards. The Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications Systems Board (ISICSB) provides all public safety jurisdictions and some non-governmental agencies with communications interoperability in Iowa. I sit on the Standards Working Group with ISICSB.

• Paramedic
• AHA CPR Instructor
• L3Harris P25 Radio System Administration