Crisis at the Top: The Need for Authentic Transformational Leadership in Public Safety

Crisis at the Top is a timely and necessary exploration of the ethical leadership challenges facing public safety organizations today. Through his Leadership HAT (Humility, Authenticity, Transparency) Continuum, Dr. Eric Plummer provides a critical framework for understanding how public safety leaders, from new chiefs to seasoned executives, can either build resilient, ethical cultures or fall prey to patterns of insecurity, arrogance, and corruption.

Dr. Plummer draws from his decades of experience and real-world examples, including case studies based on open-source reporting, to illustrate how leadership failure rarely happens overnight. Instead, it follows a predictable path, beginning with ethical compromises and culminating in damaged public trust. He highlights how both new leaders (driven by insecurity) and veteran leaders (driven by overconfidence) can lose their way if they fail to stay grounded in core leadership values.

The book is both a cautionary tale and a blueprint for reform. It outlines:

• The progression of leadership failure and how it can be prevented through intentional leadership development.

• The critical need for public safety leaders to practice humility, maintain authenticity, and operate transparently.

• The profound impact of ethical (or unethical) leadership on organizational culture, public trust, and mission success.

Crisis at the Top also emphasizes that ethical leadership is not easy. It often requires standing alone under political pressure, making unpopular but principled decisions, and enduring personal and professional sacrifices for the sake of the mission and integrity.

The book closes by challenging leaders to reflect on their own leadership legacy: Are they building organizations that will thrive ethically long after they leave? Or are they unknowingly planting the seeds for the next crisis?

Ultimately, Crisis at the Top offers public safety professionals and any leader in a high-trust field a practical, principled guide for leading with resilience, purpose, and unwavering ethical commitment.