Scholarships From Risk Pools

The WCRP is offering 8 paid seats membership-wide on a first come first served basis, limit 2 seats per member county. Don’t wait to apply! Submit your scholarship request using the form below.

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Please select the Pool you are requesting a scholarship from (your agency must be a member of the pool)?
- Washington Counties Risk Pool (WCRP): The WCRP is offering eight (8) paid membership-wide seats on a first-come, first-served basis, with a limit of two seats per member county.
Insert below the name of each participant followed by their e-mail address (e.g, Mark Joens, [email protected]; Tom Lamb, [email protected], etc.) for whom you are requesting a scholarship for:

Description

The Elastic Badge: Leadership Beyond Rust

In law enforcement leadership, years of service, complex decisions, and constant operational demands inevitably leave their mark. That mark is what we call rust—the wear and tear that accumulates beneath the badge. But rust is not a flaw to be hidden; it is evidence of perseverance, experience, and resilience. The Elastic Badge: Leadership Beyond Rust introduces a modern, human-centered approach to leadership. It challenges the outdated idea that grit means impenetrable toughness and instead defines true grit as the ability to bend without breaking, to recover without closing off, and to grow while staying open and connected. Drawing from the MAGNUS ONE Science and the Elasticity of Identity Theory, this workshop equips leaders to:

Stay resilient without becoming emotionally closed.
Lead with grit without sacrificing connection.
Sustain identity, purpose, and peak performance over the long term.

Participants will receive two books, a workbook, and multiple self-assessments—including the “Elasticity Index”—to deepen their personal and professional practice. Rust is not something to fear. It can be managed, healed, and integrated. Through elasticity, leaders transform rust into renewal and sustain both strength and humanity in their leadership journey.

Workshop Experience

Introduction: The Elastic Badge

Framing rust as a natural part of leadership.
Overview of Elasticity of Identity Theory.
Review of key findings from the Elasticity of Identity National Study.

Elasticity of Identity in Law Enforcement Leadership

Recognizing leadership drift and identity fatigue.
Personal agency and self-regulation in high-stakes environments.
Understanding how elasticity protects purpose and prevents burnout.

The Three Dimensions of Leadership

COMPASS: Building social connection and relational leadership.
ARMOR: Developing inner resilience without emotional isolation.
MISSION: Sustaining purpose, fulfillment, and professional impact.

The Leadership Spiral and Pulse

The phased progression of leadership growth.
The continuous rhythm of renewal and elasticity.

De-Rusting Rituals and Habits

Small Positive Incremental Changes Over Time (SPICOT) as a framework for daily renewal.
Creating personalized “de-rusting” routines.
Building organizational rituals that sustain resilience at the agency level.

Key Takeaways and Leadership Commitments

Recognize and manage leadership rust before it undermines identity, purpose, and performance.
Adopt a sustainable definition of grit that blends strength with openness and elasticity.
Apply daily leadership practices to stay agile, connected, and mission-driven.
Leave with concrete strategies for embedding renewal and resilience into your agency’s culture.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will:

Understand how to recognize and manage leadership rust before it corrodes performance.
Develop a modern definition of grit that balances toughness with openness, resilience, and connection.
Apply elasticity principles, SPICOT, and personalized rituals to sustain leadership identity and agency culture.

This session supports your agency’s macro vision: Together in Service. It provides actionable strategies to sustain leaders, strengthen teams, and foster cultures that thrive over the long game of leadership in policing.

Justin King

Justin King is the Chief Product and Strategy Officer (CPSO) of the National Command and Staff College. With over 33 years of Military and Government experience, he leads the organization’s product and business development and implementation of the company’s strategic initiatives.

Justin is a trusted consultant and coach with a reputation for developing strong, resilient organizations and confident, capable leaders. Drawing on his breadth of experience in business management, training facilitation, and in-the-trenches investigations, he inspires individuals and teams to unparalleled heights of performance.

Justin has designed, directed, and advised on high-stakes initiatives in the United States, Afghanistan, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Paraguay, and Ukraine. He has also restructured organizations, sky-rocketing productivity and boosting morale.

Over the years, Justin built a standout career with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). As a member of the Senior Executive Service and Special Agent in Charge of the Omaha Division, he led hundreds of employees to mitigate risk, combat threats, and promote the agency’s global mission—while creating a more accountable, people-centric culture. Before his assignment to the Omaha Division, Justin served as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Little Rock District Office, where he strengthened investigations by providing focused, compassionate leadership to a talented and hard-working team.

Earlier, Justin advised and supported the head of the DEA’s Global Training Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Offering a combination of strategic and hands-on leadership, he ensured efficient administration and seamless delivery of training programs for agents, diversion investigators, intelligence analysts, chemists, and leaders in 60+ countries around the world.

Before joining the Office of Training, he excelled as Section Chief and Team Leader of the DEA’s Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Teams (FAST) initiative. He mobilized teams and worked alongside foreign agencies and Special Operations Forces to provide training and drive complex operations in Afghanistan, Mexico, Paraguay, and Ukraine. His rigorous in-country programs deepened international partnerships and improved host-nation law enforcement efforts, while offering vital instruction on tactical, medical, and investigative techniques. In addition, he expanded US capabilities by facilitating the first certification courses for DEA’s elite Special Response Teams, after helping to develop the curricula earlier in his career.

His previous field assignments include Group Supervisor and Special Agent with the Oklahoma City District Office, where he brought discipline, tenacity, and enthusiasm to his work as a business and investigative leader. In these positions, he directed and contributed to a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force that implemented pivotal investigations with local and worldwide impact.

Justin joined the DEA as a Special Agent in the Laredo District Office and was quickly promoted to the FAST program due to his strengths in leadership, training, and diplomatic communication. Collaborating with peers and international partners, he designed and delivered training courses and conducted joint operations with law enforcement and Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Honduras, and Kyrgyzstan.

Throughout his career with the DEA, Justin increased teamwork, eliminated friction, and enhanced outcomes at every turn. He laid the foundation for this success in the United States Army and Army National Guard as both an enlisted soldier and officer. Serving in the Infantry Branch, he held multiple leadership positions while also working as a staff officer, trainer, and Officer Candidate School Instructor.

Justin is an engaging speaker and presenter with great communication skills, solid instincts, and an unwavering commitment to people. He has completed executive and leadership development programs at several institutions including the National Command & Staff College (top graduate), the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma.

Event Details

Start date: October 28, 2026

End date: October 29, 2026

Start time: 08:30 a.m. PDT

End time: 05:00 p.m. PDT

Venue: 100 19th St NW East Wenatchee, WA 98802

Phone: 9197531127

Email: [email protected]

Sponsored by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Scholarships From Risk Pools

Description

The Elastic Badge: Leadership Beyond Rust