Let's Create Culture Shifts
‘Cause Culture Eats Policy For Breakfast
Transform your organization into a meaningful movement by profiting from the triumphs & failures learned through my 30 years in law enforcement.
Get real world, engaging, action-oriented inspiration from Kristen Ziman as your next speaker.
Real World
The stories and strategies I share come from my 30+ years of real world experience in law enforcement and beyond. I’ve blazed trails as the first woman Lieutenant, first woman Commander, and first woman Chief in the Aurora Police Department. I was the chief on watch during a mass shooting in my hometown.
The strategies and information I share aren’t hypothetical – they’ve been tested and proven to fail or work. Yes… I have failed publicly and privately but I have failed forward. Every time I fell short, I gained knowledge and experience. All of which I’ve carried forward to benefit you, so you save time and energy while profiting from lessons learned in my own triumphs and failures.
- Sample Story
I was like a kid backpack on one of the first suspects I had to chase down. Although I pounced on him as he fled and wrapped my arms around his chest, he was quite larger than me and I was unable to knock him down. He kept running, and refusing to let go, I hung onto his back.
I’d lost my radio and couldn’t call for backup. I was terrified as I knew he could kill me if he wanted to. So I did the only thing I knew to do: I started talking with him. I told him if he stopped running I wouldn’t charge him for fleeing and we could just address the warrants.
He did something that still surprises me to this day: he stopped. After I slid off his back and had him in cuffs, I asked him why he stopped. He said, “Because you talked to me. No cop has ever bothered talking with me before.”
Engaging
As a speaker invited into your team, community or organization, I’m here to start a different kind of conversation: one that engages your audience and wakes them up to feel a spark of hope, possibility, perhaps even excitement for something different. Because people who are engaged never cease to surprise you with what they’re capable of.
Action-Oriented
Inspiration alone isn’t enough. If you walk out the door and you’ve changed nothing about yourself, your organization, or the world – it’s useless. This is why I inspire people to take action. Period.
Sometimes we need to shatter the template of what we’ve always done to begin a transformation. And that might mean making others uncomfortable in the process.
Talk Topics to Ignite Your Organization:
Organizations I’ve Worked With
Reimagining Blue: Thoughts on Life, Leadership, and a New Way Forward in Policing
A passionate and personal analysis of a misunderstood profession from the vantage point of female Police Chief Kristen Ziman.
This deeply moving memoir is a story of resilience and perseverance in policing―and in life. It’s a raw and honest portrayal told by a flawed human about a noble profession suffering an identity crisis.
Reimagining Blue is an urgent call to find a way forward, not because the system is broken, but because it can always be better.
Police Chief Kristen Ziman Is on a Mission to Prevent Mass Shootings
The former top cop of Aurora, Ill., says that when it comes to shooters, ‘we are tripping over red flags’
The Hollow Bunny Leadership Podcast
By Kristen Ziman and Sylvia Moir
Some leaders are full of substance, and others are hollow bunnies. Kristen Ziman and Sylvia Moir, having experienced both, share what they've learned and talk with other industry leaders in conversations that will frequently devolve from focused to fun.
