DENVER — Gordon Graham has spent a career teaching cops how not to get killed, sued or fired. At the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference, he aimed even higher: how not to end up exhausted, unfulfilled and unprepared when the badge goes in the shadow box.
We meticulously maintain our vehicles and buildings, yet routinely under-maintain the people who make the mission possible. “Life/work” — in that order, says Graham — must become a deliberate risk-control strategy, not a buzzword. Here’s Graham’s “10 Fs” for achieving that balance.
The 10 Fs
Faith — Graham isn’t prescribing doctrine; he’s pointing to the well-established link between belief in something larger than self and resilience. Faith gives meaning to the inevitable “why me?” moments of a public safety career.
Family — “Take care of the one who raised you — and the one you’re building,” notes Graham. Family is both responsibility and buffer. The job absorbs what you give it; families shouldn’t be what’s left over.
Friends — Your best friends may become your peers. Invest in them. The right colleagues become your support network when the wheels come off — professionally or personally.
Food — “Everything in moderation,” says Graham, “and if your grandfather wouldn’t recognize it as food, don’t eat it.” Simple rules, repeated daily, beat extreme fads followed briefly.
Fun — Too many tragedies are preceded by lives that forgot how to laugh. Joy isn’t frivolous; it’s protective. Find reasons to smile — just not at the wrong time.
Funds — Here Graham got blunt: “Retire debt-free.” Teach financial literacy at the academy and reinforce it across a career — compound interest for the win, compounding car loans for the loss. Small, habitual choices (yes, even the daily coffee) add up. Agencies can help with on-duty financial education and benefit navigation.
Fitness — Longevity depends on movement, not machismo. Swap one-size-fits-all fitness tests that sideline mid-career officers for sustainable programs that protect joints, backs and long-term capacity. The goal is career durability, not Instagram aesthetics.
Function — Everyone has one. For line staff: know the policies that apply to your job and follow them. For supervisors: the primary mission is enforcement of organizational policy. For chiefs: build good policy, keep it current, audit it, promote supervisors with the competence and courage to enforce it, and run a fair, prompt, consistent discipline system. “We can’t rely on luck; we have to rely on process,” Graham says.
Freedom — Perspective recalibrates gratitude. Graham urged leaders to expose young professionals to the wider world, to see both how fortunate we are and how much our communities rely on us.
Fulfillment — Live “the dash” — the line between the dates on the headstone. Every tour offers a chance to change a life for the better.
| Download a copy of Gordon’s 10 Fs here.
Everyone is a recruiter (and retention starts at Day 1)
Graham also positioned recruitment as a universal duty: “If every employee finds one good person in their career, you beat attrition.” Equip your people with the message, the card and the confidence to invite talent in — at the coffee counter, on a plane, at the hotel desk. And when new hires arrive, start retention immediately: day-one classes on wellness and money, realistic fitness plans, clear policy expectations, and supervisors who coach early rather than discipline late.
Seatbelts, speed and the tyranny of willful blindness
Graham also referenced Below 100’s pillars — wear your belt, watch your speed, WIN (what’s important now), fight complacency. Why don’t some officers wear seatbelts? “Arrogance, ignorance and complacency,” Graham said flatly. Leaders must audit compliance, not assume it. If your culture can predict the next crash-prone driver, the next intersection tragedy or the next harassment complaint, then your culture can prevent it — if someone acts.
That “someone” is the supervisor who knows policy and is willing to have the hard conversation before a career-ending event. It’s the chief who refuses “we’ve always done it that way” and replaces it with policy, training, supervision and discipline that actually work. It’s the peer who refuses to accept willful blindness as normal.
What to implement this week
Graham’s checklist doubles as a culture test — when agencies live these fundamentals, good officers last longer and lead better.
- Teach money and wellness early, reinforce often. Put financial planning and sleep/fitness education into the academy and in-service. Aim for “retire debt-free” as a norm, not a fantasy.
- Audit what matters. Seatbelts, speed, pursuits, backing and restraint systems — measure, review, coach and discipline. Luck is not a strategy.
- Select supervisors for spine and skill. Promote those who can enforce policy and mentor people; train them to have courageous conversations.
- Right-size fitness. Prioritize career-long mobility and strength; stop injuring mid-career staff with performative tests.
- Recruit like it’s everyone’s job — because it is. Give every employee a story, a script and a pathway to refer candidates.
These aren’t abstract ideals — they’re the daily habits that turn a risky profession into a sustainable one.
Changing lives every day
Graham closed by thanking the room for choosing a profession that quietly changes lives every day. That’s the paradox: the job is both relentless and rewarding. His 10 Fs acknowledge the grind while insisting on a better outcome — more years, better years and a legacy measured not in calls answered, but in people served and colleagues developed.
If you build the habits and the systems, the career won’t just be survivable — it will be sustainable. And when the badge finally goes in the box, you’ll have something even more important left: health, relationships, options and a dash worth reading.
| NEXT: Watch this video to learn from Gordon Graham about crafting a lasting legacy in policing, ensuring your career has a positive and enduring impact.
