Who we are
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A trained ethnographer, Simon is fascinated by the people and organizations that make the greatest and longest lasting impact. Over the years, he has discovered some remarkable patterns about how they think, act, and communicate, and also the environments in which people operate at their natural best.
Simon may be best known for his TED Talk on the concept of WHY, which has been viewed over 60 million times, and his video on millennials in the workplace—which reached 80 million views in its first week and has gone on to be seen hundreds of millions of times.
He continues to share inspiration through his bestselling books, including global bestseller Start with WHY and New York Times bestsellers Leaders Eat Last and The Infinite Game, as well as his podcast, A Bit of Optimism. In addition, Simon is the founder of The Optimism Company, a leadership learning and development company, and he publishes other inspiring thinkers and doers through his publishing partnership with Penguin Random House called Optimism Press.
His unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention, and he has met with a broad array of leaders and organizations in nearly every industry. He frequently works with different branches of the US Armed Forces and agencies of the US government, and is an adjunct staff member with the RAND Corporation—one of the most highly regarded think tanks in the world.n text goes here
Simon Sinek, Founder
How The Curve Came to Be
The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 was a significant turning point in the movement to modernize policing in the United States. Though there were incidents of abuse of authority and use of excessive force for years, George Floyd’s murder created a national reckoning. There was such shock and such a ground swell of emotion and self-reflection across the country that any argument to maintain the status quo in policing was simply no longer defensible.
In the weeks after Floyds murder, Simon Sinek reached out to some of the more forward-thinking police chiefs and sheriffs that he had met over the years to find out how we could do more, how we could take the things they were doing in their agencies and share them with others. They, in turn, invited some of the chiefs and sheriffs they knew to join a Zoom call.
The first few calls felt more like therapy. The chiefs and sheriffs had an opportunity to vent their emotions, to say things they wanted to say about their own profession that, in the past, would have been more complicated to say publicly. The group then started to grapple with what was the real cause of the abuses and excesses. It wasn’t sufficient to say “racism” or “racist cops.” As we dug deeper, we came to realize that culture was the common theme. And if culture is set by leaders, the general lack of effective leadership training in the profession was either contributing the problem or at least not providing any guidance on how to fix it. This was where we needed to focus.
The Curve was formed to support early adopter leaders in policing to help them evolve their cultures and build their leaders. Our work comes directly from the chiefs and sheriffs who are “ahead of the curve,” already embracing modern theories of leadership and evolving their cultures for the better, combined with some of Simon Sinek’s work and others like him. We are committed to advance the profession away from traditional policing towards the more modern One-by-One policing and to change the definition of what a healthy police culture is.
Founding members of The Curve
Sheriff Mike Adkinson
Mike has 30 years in the public safety arena. He was previously with the Tallahassee Police Department and later became the Chief of Police in DeFuniak Springs, FL. In 2008, he was elected Sheriff in Walton County, FL. Mike is interested in developing trust equity with our stakeholders by adopting innovative best practices. He is past president of the Florida Sheriff’s Association and current board member of the National Sheriff’s Association
Chief Jack Cauley
Jack Cauley became police chief for Castle Rock (CO) Police Department in 2012. He has served in policing for over 35 years. Previous to Castle Rock PD, Cauley served with Overland Park (KS) PD. Cauley’s focus on One-By-One Policing transformed CRPD’s culture which now serves as a model for other police organizations.
Colonel Joe Gasper
Col. Joe Gasper became the 19th Director of the Michigan State Police on January 1, 2019. As Director, Col. Gasper has pledged to communicate openly and transparently with both department members and stakeholders. He is a visionary thinker whose leadership style can be described as both ‘decentralized’ and ‘inclusive,’ in that he seeks to involve those people most closely impacted by an issue when developing solutions and strategies.
Chief Dwight Henninger
Dwight Henninger was the 2021 – 2022 President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). In addition, Dwight is Chief of Police in Vail, Colorado, where he has served since 2002. Prior to that, Dwight served in Orange County, CA. His a COPS Office Anthony Sutin Civic Imagination award recipient.
Chief Maris Herold
Maris Herold has served as police chief in Boulder, CO since April 2020, leading her community and agency through the 2021 King Soopers mass shooting. She is committed to ensuring that the Boulder Police Department is recognized across the country as a model police agency, dedicated to evidence-based innovation and reform.
Undersheriff Chris Hsiung
Chris was recently appointed as the Undersheriff for the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office (CA). Prior to that, Chris was the 11th Police Chief of the Mountain View Police Department. For more than 28 years, he served the Mountain View community, and as the department’s leader, was passionate about creating workplace cultures that value dignity, fairness, and respect. He has been a pioneer for digital engagement in the police profession as well as leading and building adaptive cultures.
Chief Will Johnson
Will Johnson has twenty-six years of law enforcement experience and joined the BNSF Railway Police in June 2020 after retiring as Chief with the Arlington, TX Police Department.
Chief Doreen Jokerst
Doreen Jokerst is the Chief of Police at the University of Colorado Boulder PD. She currently leads a department of approximately ninety employees where she has implemented innovative and community-based policing strategies.
Sheriff Peter Koutoujian
As a prosecutor, legislator, professor, and law enforcement leader, Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian has worked on the leading issues in public safety and public health throughout his career. As sheriff, Peter Koutoujian’s use of specialty units has reimagined the correctional landscape.
Chief Derick Miller
Derick Miller serves as the 11th police chief for the Irving Police Department (TX). A native of Benbrook, Chief Miller joined the Carrollton Police Department in 1992 as a reserve officer. Since then, he worked his way up through each rank and was appointed police chief of the Carrollton Police Department in 2017.
Sheriff Dennis Lemma
Dennis Lemma serves as the Seminole County Sheriff (FL) and was re-elected for his second term in 2020. In February 2022, Sheriff Lemma was sworn in as the President of the Major County Sheriffs of America. The Major County Sheriffs of America is a professional law enforcement association of the largest elected sheriffs’ offices dedicated to preserving the highest integrity in law enforcement.
Colonel Matthew Packard
Matthew Packard was appointed as the 9th Chief of the Colorado State Patrol in 2017. Hired in 2000, Colonel Packard has held positions in field operations, crash reconstruction, homeland security, hazardous materials, and investigations. Colonel Packard has placed a high level of importance on the wellness and safety of the members of the Colorado State Patrol, while leading the entire agency upon the pillars of Member Empowerment, Visibility, and Engaged Communities.
Chief Doug Shoemaker
Doug Shoemaker is the Third Vice President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the former Chief of Police for the Denton, Texas, Police Department. Before his appointment in Texas, he was the Chief of Police for the Grand Junction Colorado Police Department for 4.5 years, and prior to that he spent nearly 27 years with the Jefferson City Missouri Police Department. His passion lies in strong community involvement between police-public partnerships, as well as working to develop healthy organizational cultures. He is currently the 3rd Vice President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
He has a Bachelor in English Literature, a Masters in Criminal Justice, and a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. He is one of the founding board members of The Curve.
Director Jimmy Perdue
Jimmy Perdue oversees the city's public safety services including police, fire and emergency management. He began his career with the Irving Police Department in 1982 and moved up the ranks to the position of assistant chief of police. He joined the City of North Richland Hills in 2005 as police chief and was promoted to the City Manager's Office in 2008 and named director of public safety in 2009.
Chief David Zibolski
David Zibolski was appointed as Fargo's Police Chief in October 2020. Zibolski previously served as the Chief of Police in Beloit, Wisconsin. During his tenure in Beloit, he led major organizational change within the department and its community that positively affected leadership and culture, strengthened community relations, and saw the integration of progressive technology.
Pat Berges - Executive Director
Pat Berges is an executive in the medical device industry, where he has spent 20 years of his career. He has led several highly successful culture transformations at scale. Pat is known for his work in building high performing teams around the world. He was the founder of Ventilator Training Alliance (VTA), for which he received international business recognition, a 2020 Medical Innovation of the Year award, for saving countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.