LEADERSHIP : This is particularly important in times of confusion. If we have leaders who are decisive in action and remain calm in crisis, we give them our trust and the right to lead us. A good leader would openly communicate, take an interest in the team members, maintain a high standard and ensure that supplies will not fail. The result is a united team. Remember, besides official ranks, everyone of us could be a leader and a follower in one task or another, given the increasing cross-team collaboration in projects and tasks. Support your leaders by preparing yourself to be a good one. It will certainly pay.

DISCIPLINE : Here we mean self-discipline for each of us. It guarantees our self-control and sense of duty in whatever task we are doing. Being disciplined is important because we are responsible not just for ourselves, but for our teammates.

COMRADESHIP : Morale is based on affection and trust for each other. We rely on each other's strengths and do our best not to let our comrades down.

SELF-RESPECT : Self-respect implies a determination to maintain personal standards of behaviour. We, as persons with self-respect, will not allow our quality of work, attention to details, service to citizens or standards of our physique to drop. If you are a team member, it is our role to maintain it. If you are a leader, you are in a good position to reinforce it. Offer praise where it is due. When your team is convinced of their being trusted, they would be more efficient and effective. When it is done right, recognition will seldom fail.

SUCCESS : High morale is possible in failure but not during a long and sustained one. Success reinforces good morale by building confidence in leaders, organisations and us. We could not guarantee success on every occasion, but we could set realistic goals and segregate huge tasks into small ones. Accumulating small successes is definitely better than having a big failure!

ACTION : Everyone has a role to achieve high team morale. Yet nothing will work if there is no action. So act NOW.

Reference : Tozer, J. (1997) Leading Initiatives: Leadership, Teamwork & the Bottom Line. Butterworth Heinemann.

Open Forum on Promoting Harmony and Support in the Police Families

Date : November 1 (Saturday)

Time : 2 - 6 pm

Venue : Table Tennis Room of PSRC

Target Participants : Police officers and their spouse/partner (Priority is given to participants joining as a couple)

Speaker : Dr Ellen Kirschman, experienced clinical psychologist and consultant from the US

Fee : Adult (12 or above) $20; Child (3 to 12) $10 (Including workshop, tea buffet, souvenir and activities for children)

Enquiry and Registration: Please contact Ms Kan at 2735-5308; or fax application form to PSG at 2735-7236 or by PEN (psg@police.gov.hk)

Seeking advice and help from the Psychological Services Group:

PHQ, Hong Kong Island and Marine: 2866-6206 (5/F, 111 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay); Kowloon and the New Territories: 2735-3739 (22/F, Ocean Building, 80 Shanghai Street, Kowloon). PEN: psg@police.gov.hk