On Monday morning in the Grand Ballroom, Anthony Gangi delivered an engaging keynote on having pride in a career in corrections. His enthusiasm was infectious.

Conference attendees learned about the importance of finding purpose in their field. Mr. Gangi talked about the challenges facing corrections officers, including burnout and lack of resources. He said that you can’t do anything about that, but you can change your perspective. He asked audience members to tell their stories, and the general public will appreciate them better. “Corrections is not a selfish profession. I’m happy to say I’m a corrections person. I feel good about what we do.”

Mr. Gangi emphasized the positive evolution in the corrections field. He said he doesn’t like to use the word change, but rather evolve when discussing what’s happening in corrections. “For me, the evolution of corrections is a positive thing, but change means what we did before was wrong.”

He also discussed the need to bridge the gap between different departments and leadership. He stressed that supervisors should mentor new employers and

Staff challenges, mental illness, suicide, and inmate management. These are just a few of the challenges taking place in jails across the country. Through more than 50 workshops, held over 5 days, attendees at the 41st Conference & Jail Expo learned from the industry’s best experts on how to resolve and manage the variety of obstacles they tackle every day. Attendees of the conference could choose workshops from ten different categories, including professional development, staff wellness, medical and mental health, and strategic inmate management.

In their “Are We Ready for What’s Next?” workshop, Sgt. Jake Corneau and Superintendent Joseph Costanzo of the Merrimack County Department of Corrections discussed the actionable steps that corrections supervisors can take to empower their front-line staff. A big step is adopting a positive leader mindset. According to Sgt. Corneau, positive leaders lead by example, know their staffs, and don’t have their staff do things that they won’t do themselves. Superintendent Costanzo said if leaders have bad attitudes, their staff won’t follow them. Positive leaders actively listen, they lead from the front, and they don’t let ego get in the way.

By acknowledging these signs, like changes in your behavior, not taking care of your appearance, not eating, or eating too much, a stressed individual can start building up their “muscle of resilience” so they can avert a meltdown. She said resilience is a pattern of positive responses when facing adversity, and what’s more, a person can build up their “vicarious resilience” by realizing that others are in the same boat and dealing with the same challenges.

In their “Leading in the Aftermath: Strategies to Lead Effectively in Tough Times” workshop, Lisa Gilbert, CEO of No-Nonsense Training Solutions and Captain Anthony Yeber of the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department (and AJA board member) emphasized that leaders should professionalize conflict. Leaders should establish goals, define roles, express expectations, and document procedures. There’s nothing personal about that process, Ms. Gilbert said. She added that the solution to conflict is agreement. Don’t focus on emotions, or persons, but on the problem at hand.