Who we are

  • A trained ethnographer, Simon is fascinated by the people and organizations that make the greatest and longest lasting impact. Over the years, he has discovered some remarkable patterns about how they think, act, and communicate, and also the environments in which people operate at their natural best.

    Simon may be best known for his TED Talk on the concept of WHY, which has been viewed over 60 million times, and his video on millennials in the workplace—which reached 80 million views in its first week and has gone on to be seen hundreds of millions of times.

    He continues to share inspiration through his bestselling books, including global bestseller Start with WHY and New York Times bestsellers Leaders Eat Last and The Infinite Game, as well as his podcast, A Bit of Optimism. In addition, Simon is the founder of The Optimism Company, a leadership learning and development company, and he publishes other inspiring thinkers and doers through his publishing partnership with Penguin Random House called Optimism Press.

    His unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention, and he has met with a broad array of leaders and organizations in nearly every industry. He frequently works with different branches of the US Armed Forces and agencies of the US government, and is an adjunct staff member with the RAND Corporation—one of the most highly regarded think tanks in the world.n text goes here

Simon Sinek, Founder

How The Curve Came to Be

The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 was a significant turning point in the movement to modernize policing in the United States. Though there were incidents of abuse of authority and use of excessive force for years, George Floyd’s murder created a national reckoning. There was such shock and such a ground swell of emotion and self-reflection across the country that any argument to maintain the status quo in policing was simply no longer defensible.

In the weeks after Floyds murder, Simon Sinek reached out to some of the more forward-thinking police chiefs and sheriffs that he had met over the years to find out how we could do more, how we could take the things they were doing in their agencies and share them with others. They, in turn, invited some of the chiefs and sheriffs they knew to join a Zoom call.

The first few calls felt more like therapy. The chiefs and sheriffs had an opportunity to vent their emotions, to say things they wanted to say about their own profession that, in the past, would have been more complicated to say publicly. The group then started to grapple with what was the real cause of the abuses and excesses. It wasn’t sufficient to say “racism” or “racist cops.” As we dug deeper, we came to realize that culture was the common theme. And if culture is set by leaders, the general lack of effective leadership training in the profession was either contributing the problem or at least not providing any guidance on how to fix it. This was where we needed to focus.

The Curve was formed to support early adopter leaders in policing to help them evolve their cultures and build their leaders. Our work comes directly from the chiefs and sheriffs who are “ahead of the curve,” already embracing modern theories of leadership and evolving their cultures for the better, combined with some of Simon Sinek’s work and others like him. We are committed to advance the profession away from traditional policing towards the more modern One-by-One policing and to change the definition of what a healthy police culture is.

Founding members of The Curve

Chief Jack Cauley

Jack Cauley became police chief for Castle Rock (CO) Police Department in 2012. He has served in policing for over 35 years. Previous to Castle Rock PD, Cauley served with Overland Park (KS) PD. Cauley’s focus on One-By-One Policing transformed CRPD’s culture which now serves as a model for other police organizations.

Chief Chris Hsiung (ret.)

Chris previously served as the Undersheriff at the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office (CA) and before that, was the 11th Police Chief of the Mountain View Police Department (CA), where he dedicated over 28 years to serving the Mountain View community.

Chris is an internationally recognized speaker and writer, specializing in adaptive leadership cultures, digital engagement, and crisis communications. Chris also serves in several leadership positions on multiple boards, including his position as Chair on the Int'l Assoc. Of Chiefs of Police Human and Civil Rights Committee, advisor for Government Social Media, fellow for the Future Policing Institute, and as board member on the Global Advisory Council for the Crisis Ready Institute.

Chief Doreen Jokerst

Doreen Jokerst is the Chief of Police at the University of Colorado Boulder PD. She currently leads a department of approximately ninety employees where she has implemented innovative and community-based policing strategies.

Chief Derick Miller

Derick Miller serves as the 11th police chief for the Irving Police Department (TX). A native of Benbrook, Chief Miller joined the Carrollton Police Department in 1992 as a reserve officer. Since then, he worked his way up through each rank and was appointed police chief of the Carrollton Police Department in 2017. 

Sheriff Dennis Lemma

Dennis Lemma serves as the Seminole County Sheriff (FL) and was re-elected for his second term in 2020. In February 2022, Sheriff Lemma was sworn in as the President of the Major County Sheriffs of America. The Major County Sheriffs of America is a professional law enforcement association of the largest elected sheriffs’ offices dedicated to preserving the highest integrity in law enforcement.

Chief Doug Shoemaker

Doug Shoemaker is the Third Vice President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the former Chief of Police for the Denton, Texas, Police Department. Before his appointment in Texas, he was the Chief of Police for the Grand Junction Colorado Police Department for 4.5 years, and prior to that he spent nearly 27 years with the Jefferson City Missouri Police Department. His passion lies in strong community involvement between police-public partnerships, as well as working to develop healthy organizational cultures. He is currently the 3rd Vice President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

He has a Bachelor in English Literature, a Masters in Criminal Justice, and a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. He is one of the founding board members of The Curve.