Practically Fearless

By Joe Biffar, CFE, CFI
Manager, Corporate Loss Prevention & Security
Chico's FAS, Inc.

Although unspoken at times, Fear is ever present in both our personal and professional lives and those with which we interact. My relationship with fear has evolved over my career, taking many shapes and forms along the way. Early on in it was both a help and hindrance: acting as a stimulus for improved situational awareness in dangerous situations, to using fear as a crutch in trying to sell LP programs to cross functional partners and Executive Leadership. (With little success I might add).

It impacts us from a young age; as children, fear of the monster in the closet may keep us up at night, yet we enjoy a good ghost story or scary movie. As adults, it varies in extremes, whether its fear of making a ‘bad stop’ on a shoplifter, giving a presentation to the C-Level, or the sleepless nights wondering whether you’ve done all you can to prepare your teams to respond effectively to the next incident of workplace violence or devastating weather that may hit.

How often does fear come into play in your choices, actions and career? Do you lead through fear? How often have you played on fear to sell your new initiative, ask for more resources, or push a product offering? Are your crisis response plans based in fear?

Personal Fears
Early in my career I feared a number of things; feeling not qualified enough compared to my seasoned peers or equipped for the new position I was in, and afraid to speak up with new ideas for fear of ridicule. Much of this fear driven self-doubt stemmed from me, internally; thankfully, I had a great peer group and mentor who helped me harness my fear, using it to identify opportunities and outline a roadmap for success. This gave me the confidence to let go of my fears and the courage to share ideas, experience new developmental opportunities and grow my scope of responsibility.

Understanding that fear plays a role in your team’s mindset may help you foster a more open environment conducive to learning and growth. Being open about your own fears allows your team to do the same. Do you have people that don’t contribute at meetings? They may not be disinterested but rather afraid to speak up in a group setting. Reach out to them, share with them, encourage them. Fostering an environment of trust and respect may pay dividends with improved productivity, fresh ideas and innovation.

Fear as a Crutch
Recently, we sought approval from Executive leadership for a new E-Commerce/M-Commerce Fraud mitigation solution. It would’ve been easy to lead with scary statistics such as Cybercrime losses at $118 Billion a year, or the absolute worst case scenario for our business in potential millions loss to fraud should we not implement. Putting scare tactics aside, we chose to highlight the positive ROI and Internal Rate of Return for the solution. Additionally, emphasizing the positive benefits including a ‘white list’ for high value, high spend customers, improved shopping experience, increased efficiencies, and decrease of total labor costs, helped us achieve buy in.

By continually using a fear based approach, leadership may relegate you to the sidelines of discussions as a fear monger. Rather, maintaining a pragmatic methodology to risk and presenting cogent solutions delineates you as a trusted advisor who can provide value added solutions.

Diving into Fear
I’m an avid scuba diver and spear fisherman; living in South Florida affords me great opportunity to do both. When preparing for a deep, technical wreck dive in a closed overhead environment, fear can raise its ugly head. Scenarios of getting lost inside, being tangled in old fishing line, or succumbing to Nitrogen Narcosis, run through your mind. The dichotomous nature of fear manifests itself in direct action or paralysis. Ignoring fear is not an option as it could lead to carelessness and possibly death so far removed from the surface. However worrying about all that could go wrong during a dive may drive someone to bring too much gear, too many backup tools to deal with a crisis. This needlessly bogs one down with extraneous equipment, turning a technical dive into a dangerous one.

While updating crisis response/workplace violence plans I noticed the same multi-faceted fears creeping into the discussion: various ‘What if’ scenarios being discussed, each more troubling than the last. While being the impetus for responsive planning, fear should not be its foundation. Fear can have a deleterious impact in the preparation of crisis response plans, resulting in overreaching regulation, impractical policies and programs too cumbersome to be effective during an actual event.

If an emergency occurred at depth, deep inside a wreck, there’s no time for complex response plans, or fancy tools, rather one reverts to their training; simple steps to remedy the immediate situation are required. In the same fashion, we should replace our associates’ fear, with simple, practical response plans that can be quickly executed during a crisis such as an Active Shooter.

Just as in diving, we cannot train for every type of crisis that may occur but we can create an effective response framework giving our teams the best chance for success, even in the most dire of circumstances. One must temper fear with practicality, objectively asses the risk and the likelihood of the event occurring. Determine what proactive steps, training or tools one can use to mitigate the risk, in the simplest, most direct fashion.

Fear is a natural part of life; harness its power but do not let it control you. Address it but don’t let it become the salient issue with your leadership teams. Use it to spur healthy discussion on risk but let practical, rational planning lead the way.

Take a moment and ask yourself, what role does fear play in your life? And can you become practically fearless?
 

Southfield Dollar Tree store employee shot during robbery attempt
A masked man entered a Dollar Tree in the 20200 block of Eight Mile with a handgun and demanded money from the clerk, police said. At some point during the robbery attempt, he shot the clerk before fleeing across the street. The clerk was treated at the scene by Southfield officers before the fire department took him to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery for his gunshot wound, police said. It is unclear if the man was able to recover any money in the incident. (Source cbslocal.com)

Intoxicated man with a gun threatens to ‘shoot up’ Walmart in York
A Clover man was arrested at York’s Walmart Sunday after threatening to “shoot up” the store if a clerk didn’t let him leave with a shotgun, according to a York police report. Joshua Zirkle, 26, entered the store and asked the clerk at the firearms counter to see a 12 gauge shotgun. After looking at the weapon, Zirkle handed it back and said he needed to call his wife to ask for permission to buy the gun. He then motioned the clerk to the end of the counter and pulled up his shirt to reveal a handgun in his waistband. Zirkle said he was going to walk out of the store with the shotgun the clerk had showed him. If anyone stopped him from leaving, Zirkle said he would “shoot up” the store. When police arrived at the store, Zirkle was sitting on the floor two aisles from the sporting goods section. (Source heraldonline.com)


Syracuse Police investigate armed robbery at Cricket Cell Phone Store  Police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred at the Cricket Cell Phone store. Police say the suspect pulled out a black handgun after entering the store and demanded money and cell phones from an employee. The suspect is described as an 18-year-old white male, who is about 5-foot-9, weighs 150 pounds and has green/blue eyes. No one was injured during the robbery. (Source syracuse.com)

Minnesota man gets 2 years for attempted Walmart robbery
A botched shoplifting spree has earned a Winona man 21 months in a state prison. Philip Ray Flatten, 28, pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree aggravated robbery in August and was sentenced late last week. Ten other charges were dismissed through the plea agreement. Flatten was approached by Walmart Loss Prevention as he broke into an electronics showcase, he threatened the store associate with a knife. Flatten fled the store pushing a cart full of merchandise, but was quickly apprehended by Police. (Source winonadailynews.com)

Pittsburgh Teens charged with multiple store robberies
Two teenagers arrested earlier this month in connection with the robbery of a Lawrenceville Gold and Silver store were arraigned over the weekend in connection with other robberies. Terry Harrison, 18, was arraigned Saturday on charges that he robbed the Verizon Wireless store on Sept. 24 and the Walgreens in East Liberty on Sept. 25. Police also charged him with robbing the Rite Aid in Friendship on Sept. 20. Darby Wilson, 17, of the Hill District was arraigned in connection with a Sept. 17 robbery in the city. (Source post-gazette.com)

Walmart associate in Salina accused of stealing electronics from store’s lock-up area  A Walmart employee was arrested Saturday, accused of three separate thefts of electronics from a back room at the store. Logan M.C. Jones, 21, is accused of stealing two iPads and a Surface tablet valued at a total of $1,347 from a security room in the store between 1 and 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Those items have been recovered. Jones is accused of stealing two televisions valued at a total of $976 from the security room on Oct. 5. and also accused of stealing two iPads with a total value of $660 from the room on Sept. 29. None of those items has been recovered. (Source salina.com)

Paris, Texas women charged with shoplifting and exploitation of a 9 year old child to commit the theft  Two women were arrested this weekend for theft of merchandise. One of them was also charged with exploiting a child for the same incident. Mary Ella Bailey, 49, and Iesha Y’vette Gordon, 33 both of Paris, were arrested at about 10 a.m. on Saturday when they were seen in the 3000 block of Clarksville concealing merchandise and leaving a store without paying for the items, according to the Paris Police Department. (Source eparisextra.com)

China Cashes In On Counterfeit Beat Headphones  The popularity of Dr. Dre Beat headphones has led to a rise in fakes coming out of China where the counterfeit musical accessory is being produced in factories and workshops attracting business people who sell the headphones on global markets, CNN reported. Wholesale companies in China are selling high-end Beats that would retail about $400 in the United States for $70. The better audio quality is what users are paying for, and the counterfeits deliver that, as well. In-ear Beat headphones that retail for $100 dollars in the United States can be bought for merely a dollar in the underground subway stations. Beats Electronic, the company behind Dr. Dre's Beat headphones stated in an email that the "company shows a fierce commitment to fight piracy and that it works in close collaboration with anti-counterfeiting organizations, police and customs authorities to identify counterfeit sellers, distributors and manufacturers on key markets. "Since efforts began, Beats has seized hundreds of thousands of counterfeit products in more than 50 countries”. (Source cnn.com)

Fairfield, California Police looking for Wal-Mart Arson suspect
Police are looking for a suspect who started a fire inside the 24-hour Wal-Mart store early Monday morning. Police and fire responded to the store at 3:25 a.m. after citizens reported a fire and explosions. The building was evacuated, and it was determined a fire burned through a wicker basket and caused several carbon dioxide containers to rupture. No one was injured in the evacuation or explosion. (Source news10.net)

Walgreens manager hit with Bear Spray in Spokane
Police in Spokane say a late-night robber who grabbed a cartful of electronics from a Walgreens store also blasted the store manager with bear spray when he tried to intervene. Officers later arrested two men in the Saturday night robbery. They say one of the men drove a getaway van. Aaron Blaine and Tim Gilfoy both appeared Monday in Spokane County Superior Court on charges of first-degree armed robbery. (Source spokesman.com)

Cargo Theft: Best practices when a driver is being followed
As targeting and tailing drivers have become more common practices over the past several years, it’s crucial they maintain situational awareness at all times – whether the truck is moving or not, says Carl Tapp , a retired maintenance director for P.A.M. Transportation who now runs Solutions Advocates . If a driver suspects they’re being followed, have them change speeds and slow down to see if the vehicle passes them. If that doesn’t work, take the next exit and see if the suspicious vehicle does likewise. If a driver is confident he’s being tailed, contacting the home office should be their first priority for help; finding a safe, secure location to park is another good idea. All Prime drivers go through a security course prior to hitting the road, and if they feel threatened, they contact the fleet security office for immediate assistance. (Source ccjdigital.com)
 

CFI Scholarships Nominations 2013

New-International Scholarship Offered this Year also!

Time to expand the CFI! We would like to offer three free CFI Scholarships, to include a CFI Prepatory Online Program and the CFI Examination ($845.00 value). One scholarship will go to an individual in the private sector (In honor of Fred Wilson, CFI who was part of the Advisory Board), another scholarship to someone in the public sector, and new this year a scholarship will be awarded to an international interviewing professional.

Potential recipients will need to be nominated by a current CFI by filling out an application found at http://www.iaofi.org/CFI-Scholarships. Fill out the application explaining why they should be chosen to receive the scholarship. The CFI Advisory board will then select the winners and the winners will be announced in the next issue the CFInsider due out in December, 2013. The winners will be previewed in the next issue of the CFInsider.

The minimum requirements for the nominees will be:
    1. Qualify under current standards and eligibility requirements.
         a. High School degree with 4 years’ experience in the Interviewing/Interrogation Field
         b. Associates Degree with 3 years’ experience
         c. Bachelor’s Degree with 2 years’ experience
    2. Must be someone that clearly has the desire to be a CFI.
    3. Currently holds a position with interviewing responsibilities.
    4. Please make sure all areas are covered in the letter for the person being nominated. Go out and find someone you think deserves this honor.

Please forward all applications to Jen Ziegler, CFI Executive Assistant at jziegler@w-z.com or fax to 630-852-7081 by November 18th, 2013.
 

Axis Introduces Fully Featured, Bullet-Style Outdoor-Ready Network Camera with 1080p detail, built-in IR LEDs and 18x optical zoom

AXIS Q1765-LE Network Camera with sleek design and Corridor Format is perfect for 24/7 surveillance of critical perimeters, city streets and parking lots

CHELMSFORD, Mass. – October 15, 2013 – Axis Communications, the market leader in network video, today announced a strong addition to its line of fixed cameras for around-the-clock outdoor surveillance with AXIS Q1765-LE Network Camera. AXIS Q1765-LE with built-in infra-red (IR) LEDs and outdoor-ready enclosure has a powerful 18x motorized optical zoom with autofocus for covering long distances in crisp and clear 1080p HDTV resolution (see video).

The bullet-style network camera was designed for monitoring entrances, exits and perimeters as well as parking lots and city streets with pole mounting options. The high-efficient, automatically adaptive IR LEDs inside AXIS Q1765-LE cast enough infra-red light in darkness to allow the camera to see at least 50 ft. away in the widest field-of-view and up to 130 ft. in full tele view. This intelligent, built-in IR illumination automatically adjusts its beam to match the camera’s field-of-view, making it especially beneficial for installations requiring around-the-clock surveillance without additional artificial lighting.

Axis’ unique Corridor Format also allows for effective monitoring of long, 9:16 vertical scenes such as highways and city streets for traffic monitoring and fence lines for perimeter security.

“AXIS Q1765-LE delivers wide overviews and detailed images for identification purposes, making the outdoor-ready camera ideal for use in a variety of industries including transportation and city surveillance,” said Fredrik Nilsson, general manager, Axis Communications, Inc. “With products like AXIS Q1765-LE, we continue to address specific surveillance and weather challenges with solutions that provide high quality video, reliability and ease-of-installation.”

The compact AXIS Q1765-LE is lightweight yet tough. The camera is IP66/NEMA 4X-rated, making it resistant to water and dust. Arctic Temperature Control allows reliable start-up in temperatures ranging from -40°F to 122°F, making AXIS Q1765-LE perfect for installations in places with challenging weather. The camera is easy to install thanks to its lightweight design, one-cable installation and support for Power over Ethernet and AC/DC power (see video).

AXIS Q1765-LE Network Camera will be available in Q4 2013 through Axis’ standard distribution channels at the suggested retail price of $1399.

Features of AXIS Q1765-LE include:

AXIS Q1765-LE is compatible with the industry’s largest base of video management software through the Axis Application Development Partner Program and is also supported by AXIS Camera Station. The camera includes the AXIS Camera Application Platform for application developers to provide the camera with intelligent capabilities, AXIS Video Hosting System for simple connection to hosted video systems and compliance with the ONVIF standard for easy camera system integration.
 

Job Opening
 

Company

Location

Origination
 

National Account Mgr

Confidential

Northeast

Downing & Downing

Dir of Loss Prevention

Confidential

Philadelphia, PA

Downing & Downing

Zone AP Manager

Confidential

Vancouver, BC

Downing & Downing

Job Opening

Company

Location

Origination

Five Steps to Standing Out at Work
Don't settle for just being "fine" at work. You should strive to excel and stand out from the crowd. Don't focus on fixing your weaknesses, make your strengths even stronger. If you're a manager, don't encourage mediocrity in your business! (Pump up your strengths)

5 Very Common and Unconscious Mistakes that Interviewers Make  Don't make the wrong choices when it comes to deciding on candidates for your business or company.  Making inaccurate judgments or not allowing them enough time to discuss their job-relevant attributes may lead you to make your decision on an impression. (Don't become swayed in your judgments)