Leadership Expert and Former Deputy Director of ICE Kumar Kimble Talks Collaboration and Connection

We all know that quality collaboration makes an investigation easier. Teamwork makes the dream work, right? However, that’s easier said than done. We brought in Kumar Kibble, former deputy director of ICE and current leadership expert at Guide Quest, to cut through the noise and give us his thoughts on why collaboration is essential for success—and outlined PenLink’s newest enhancement, PLX Connect, to demonstrate how technology is making collaboration easier than ever before.

Advice from the Expert

Kibble joined the 2022 PenLink Summit to talk to attendees about leadership, but the thread of effective collaboration ran throughout his talk. “Develop networks—that’s what it’s all about,” he explained as he shared stories from his past, including how collaboration made a dent in San Francisco’s 2003 murder rate and helped further the investigation into the 2015 attack on Paris.

Kibble emphasizes that building trust, proving integrity, and being authentic are keys to success in leadership and collaboration.

Build Trust

Find common ground. Start simple: making a basic connection with someone over common ground can open the door to people feeling comfortable to come to you more frequently.

Prove Integrity

Show that your actions match your words. Those around you will be able to tell that you’ve got high ethical standards and that you genuinely care about what you’re doing, making it easier to know that you’ve got the team’s best interests at heart.

 Be Authentic

Being genuinely yourself is the best way to build connections. Know who you are and what your values are, and live them out loud. People around you who share those values will identify you as like-minded, and the connection will begin to flourish.

Following these basic instructions will start you down the road to being an effective collaborator and leader. Want more in-depth advice? Reach out to Kibble’s company, GuideQuest, for expert leadership coaching.

How Can PLX Connect Help?

A common assumption in today’s world is that in order to connect the data of your investigation, you must first collect all of that data. And in that process, the piles of data you receive can be overwhelming.

PenLink’s new feature, PLX Connect, was crafted with community in mind. Just as Kibble suggests, building a network has just been made easier. PLX Connect allows agencies to share and search data in a safe and secure way to build a community of agencies, all working together toward a common goal: a safer world for everyone.

You get to decide whom you choose to allow into your community through a multistep registration process, so you can be sure it’s secure. Make connections digitally with agencies you trust. That way, you can share information and gain access to insights more quickly, and your investigators can make faster case connections, improve officer safety, and identify larger criminal networks. Turns out, teamwork really can make the dream work.

Want to see this feature at work? Drop us a note to get a quick feature demo with the PenLink team.