I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
I have never been an activist and am an introvert by nature, but once I learned of how the important work of law enforcement analysis was, I became its advocate. I could not help but have a vocal opinion and it seemed others shared, as well as valued, my perspective.
Lesson: Stretching out of your comfort zone can be rewarding, but it is not easy.
I was privileged to co-chair the International Association of Crime Analyst's original certification committee with Samantha Gwinn, which began in 2002. You can download a .pdf document that describes the process here.
It was intimidating to be part of a prolonged process involving very experienced and vocal leaders of the crime analysis field. We hotly debated what should and should not be included in the skill sets to become certified. (You won't read that in the document link!) I had my differing opinions - mainly that investigative/intelligence charting should be a skill set and that the certified person should be called a certified law enforcement analyst (CLEA) rather than a certified crime analyst. I, along with some others, took a firm stance on that despite some arguing amongst the panel. I am proud of that.
Now that I am retired, I can (happily!) go back to my behind-the-scenes-life, yet still advocate on my terms for what I believe in.
Where can you stretch yourself?
What do you want to stand up for?
How will you do it?
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