What Policing Teaches Us About Teamwork, Resilience and Leadership

Effective leadership is not confined to boardrooms or corporate offices.

High-pressure settings such as policing offer powerful insights into leadership, teamwork, and crisis management that translate directly into the business world. The ability to build strong teams, stay composed under stress, and lead decisively during uncertainty is just as essential for business leaders navigating competitive markets as it is for frontline responders managing critical incidents.

When deadlines pile up or unforeseen challenges arise, leaders who can remain calm, think strategically, and empower their teams are the ones who drive sustainable success.

In a recent episode of The Bottom Line with Aret Muradyan, a lawyer and a retired sergeant, shares how the core principles of success—building resilient teams, maintaining composure under pressure, and fostering strong leadership—are just as vital in business as they are in frontline service.

1. Resilience Is Built in the Moment

During his career, Aret faced everything from street brawls to critical incidents involving fatalities. As an operational supervisor, he was responsible for overseeing teams across Melbourne—sometimes managing multiple major events at once. In one particularly intense shift, he coordinated police responses to a mass affray and an armed robbery, all while tracking limited resources and relying on mental maps of the city to deploy backup.

The key to staying composed? — taking a deliberate breath, quickly assessing the situation, and making clear, focused decisions without letting emotion take over.

“If I panic, everyone else panics. If I stay calm, the team knows we’ve got this.”

2. Strong Teams Are Built Before the Crisis Hits

One of Aret’s most important leadership rituals was calling every team member before a shift. “You get to know who you can rely on. You learn their strengths, and they learn that you’ve got their back,” he said.

He explained that trust is what gets you through the high-pressure moments—because you can’t micromanage when the stakes are high.

When a crisis strikes, the best leaders are the ones who have already taken the time to build rapport, develop their people’s confidence, and create a culture of shared accountability.

3. Scale Leadership by Teaching Others to Lead

Policing isn’t just about doing the job—it’s about teaching others how to handle it when you're not around. As a Sergeant overseeing dozens of officers, Aret would challenge his top performers to mentor less experienced team members. If one officer was great at presentations or tech, he’d assign them to coach another team member through it—not do it for them.

“That’s how you create future leaders,” he said. “Don’t just give them the answers—help them figure it out, and build the confidence to do it themselves.”

4. Mental Health Support Starts with Peer Conversations

It’s no secret that police officers face traumatic events on a regular basis. But Aret points out that the greatest barrier to mental health support isn’t always the trauma—it’s the stigma.

“Especially among men, there’s still a belief that talking about what you’ve been through is weak,” he said. “But when one person opens up, others realise they’re not alone.”

During his time in the force, Aret saw firsthand how peer-to-peer conversations, backed by accessible welfare programs, helped officers recover and stay in the job. The takeaway for business leaders? Start by creating a culture where people feel safe being honest, and make sure support is easy to access. You don’t need to be a psychologist to be a good listener.

5. Calm Isn’t a Personality Trait—It’s a Trained Skill

In high-level leadership, the ability to remain calm under pressure is often mistaken for a natural gift. In reality, executive composure is the result of rigorous preparation, intentional practice, and strategic self-awareness.

Effective leaders don't simply react to crisis—they train for it. By conditioning themselves to manage stress proactively, executives position themselves to make critical decisions swiftly, protect business continuity, and lead teams with confidence.

In today’s volatile business environment, the ability to stay composed is a core leadership competency that separates reactive managers from resilient, future-ready executives. Policing might seem like a world apart from corporate life—but the qualities that make someone effective on the street are just as powerful in the office.

Resilience. Composure. Teamwork. Accountability. Leadership through mentorship.

These are not skills acquired solely through formal education—they are forged through real-world, high-stakes experience. In the corporate environment, they are equally critical to executives steering organisations through periods of transformation, growth, and disruption.

Some  of the most effective business leaders are those who have honed their skills outside traditional corporate pathways. Leadership at its highest level is not just about making decisions—it’s about guiding teams through complexity, building future leaders, and creating stability when it matters most.

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