Shawn Lauda was a member of the Milwaukee Police Department for
nearly 20 years when he decided to go back to school to not only fulfill a
lifetime dream of obtaining his bachelor’s degree and preparing for another
career after law enforcement, but to provide an example for his children. After
completing his associate degree at an area technical college, Shawn enrolled in
Wisconsin Lutheran College’s adult accelerated degree completion program.
| I chose WLC due to the excellent national rankings the school has earned, as well as offering my desired major, business management and leadership. The small class sizes, beautiful campus, and reasonable tuition were secondary factors in my decision to enroll. |
The Importance of Servant
Leadership
While at WLC, Shawn studied
business management and leadership, specifically servant leadership. Entering
the program, he didn’t think that the leadership courses would be significant to
him, but soon discovered that the servant leadership concepts being taught and
modeled were having a profound impact on his life.
| I immediately took to servant leadership like a fish to water and now practice it in every capacity that I possibly can. I believe that helping others be the best that they can be is incredibly important, rewarding, and contagious. |
Applying Knowledge and
Skills
During his years as a member of the
Milwaukee Police Department, Shawn became family with his fellow officers and
says he’ll “bleed blue forever.” That is why, in 2012, he decided to run for a
position on the Milwaukee Police Association (MPA) Executive Board, the union
board that represents all 1,600 Milwaukee police officers and detectives.
During his campaign for the Board, he utilized many of the skills that he learned
at WLC. For instance, he developed a strategy and timeline, created
professional flyers, sent emails, and tweaked his resume for distribution to
the membership of would-be voters, all concepts and skills he learned within
WLC’s program. He then went around the city to nearly all of the police
department’s districts and bureaus and spoke to officers and detectives at
their roll calls about his vision for the MPA.
| I was able to speak confidently and concisely, which I directly attribute to my Wisconsin Lutheran College education. |
Servant Leadership in Action
In October of 2012, Shawn was
elected to join the seven-member MPA Board as a part-time Trustee. The Executive
Board then later elected him in January of 2013 as their full-time
Secretary/Treasurer.
| I have no doubt that my business and leadership education at WLC was a major factor in my selection to this position, as other Board members have told me that my credentials were a perfect fit for the job. I am honored to be given the opportunity to represent the brave officers and detectives of the Milwaukee Police Department. I take this entrusted position very seriously and currently employ a servant leadership philosophy. Helping my fellow officers has become my life’s work and it’s incredibly rewarding. |
The WLC Experience
Shawn is grateful that he had the
opportunity to attend WLC and found it to be one of the best experiences of his
life. He says he thoroughly enjoyed working with each member of his cohort and
feels that he made some lifelong friends.
| I also valued the excellent professors, as each were extremely knowledgeable, caring, and above all, servant leaders. The biggest compliment that I can give the school, is that one day I hope that my children enroll there. |
Shawn still makes his way back to
Wisconsin Lutheran College to regularly visit with staff and friends, and would
like to use the servant leadership skills that he learned in the program to
give back to the school in any way that he can.