I love CEO searches. Each is a unique opportunity to work with a company’s Board, or owner, to assess a company’s strategic plan, map out the skills needed, and then go out into the market to hunt down the person best able to make those plans come true.

The appointment of Charlie Beck as the new chief executive of the Los Angeles Police Department has transported me back to the last time we picked a police chief and I was a Deputy Mayor.

November 2002: Our administration was grappling with an LAPD in crisis. The city was prey to soaring rates of violent crime, with our poorest neighborhoods the most victimized. After a decade bracketed by the Rodney King beating and the Rampart corruption scandal, people were starting to wonder whether the LAPD were the good guys or the bad guys. The department was being run by those the Los Angeles Times editorial board called the LAPD’s “infamously insular insiders.” Public distrust of the police was matched only by the racial politics around the selection of the next chief; both were at fever pitch.

We ultimately concluded that we needed to bring in a hard-charging outsider who could bring a fresh approach and desperately-needed reform. Our pick was former New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

November 2009: With Chief Bratton’s resignation to join a private security company, current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa faced a police chief search of his own. Chief Bratton had pushed crime rates to historic lows, introduced sophisticated data-driven policing principles, and dramatically improved community relations.

Mayor Villaraigosa chose Charlie Beck, a 32-year veteran of the LAPD on whose behalf Bratton had vigorously lobbied. Given how closely Chief Beck is identified with his former boss, he has surprised many by outlining a new model of leadership. In his words:

The only way that real change is made is from the bottom up. You can mandate change from the top… but the only way an organization really changes is from the roots up; that’s much more powerful. So what you’ll see is different with me is I’m going to concentrate on the roots of the organization.

Whereas “Mr. & Mrs. Bratton” have been fixtures on the Hollywood circuit (see Mrs. Bratton’s official website here), Chief Beck says:

I think I have a little more of a common touch, much more of a common touch. I think that maybe at the end of the day you’ll think of me more of a cop’s chief rather than a leader-manager.

Chief Beck even jokes about Chief Bratton’s extensive travels to faraway places for conferences, speaking engagements and the like:

I certainly won’t travel as much as [Bratton] did. This is my home. This is where my family is. . . . I’m a local boy, I always have been and that’s the way I’ll be as chief. And, again, with my philosophy of driving these changes down internally, I’ve got to be here to do that. I’ve got to touch people. I’ve got to have conversations with the [officers] and I can’t do that from out of state…

Chief Beck is the kind of guy you could have a beer with. Whereas Chief Bratton will take his Champagne Krug chilled at 38 degrees, thank you.

As I reflect on the week’s news, two things come to mind:

• When conducting a search, resist the urge to look for a carbon copy of the old guy. LAPD now is a dramatically different place than it was in 2002, and this CEO search was an opportunity to find a new chief to take the department to its next phase of growth. Mayor Villaraigosa was smart to focus on the challenges in front of the department now, and to focus on finding the person to lead the department out of the Bratton era. A CEO search should not just answer the question “What does this company need?” but “What does this company need right now?”
• As you move up the food chain, don’t lose touch with the little guys. I’ve been inspired by Chief Beck’s emotional connection with his troops. It’s rare to find a leader who maintains a common touch as he or she has risen through the ranks. Most leaders lose their empathy as they move up the corporate food chain. According to a recent study:

People in power are prone to dismiss or, at the very least, misunderstand the viewpoints of those who lack authority… Power can inhibit empathy, the ability to perceive another person’s emotional states.

Since the Mayor is an elected position, there’s no civic CEO search more important to Los Angeles than that of police chief. I’ve not been privy to the discussions around the selection of Chief Beck, but given the goal that both the Mayor and Chief have laid out – to continue the ambitious agenda defined by Chief Bratton and push it through the ranks – Chief Beck’s deep roots within the department will serve our city well.

While Chief Bratton has been lauded for his brilliance at defining a new path for the LAPD, Chief Beck looks like a fine choice to shepherd the department into the next decade.

Congratulations to Mayor Villaraigosa and Chief Beck. You have all our best wishes and support.

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Hat tip to strategy consultant Dave Brock for the link on leaders and empathy.