Behind The Badge: The Lifeworld of Philippine National Police Officers in Leadership Practices

Leadership in policing has become a growing global concern as law enforcement agencies confront increasing security demands, rapid technological change, and heightened expectations for transparency and public accountability. This study explored the lived experiences of Philippine National Police (PNP) officers in practicing leadership, focusing on how police leaders perceive, enact, and assign meaning to leadership practices within both the organization and the communities they serve. Anchored in a transcendental phenomenological research design, the study was conducted at the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Police Office (SKPPO). Participants included five (5) Chiefs of Police under the SKPPO. Findings revealed six themes describing the lifeworld of police leadership practices: integrated moral identity, service-driven responsibility, capability formed through policing experience, guidance rooted in personal and professional life, operational command and accountability, and conflict mediation and community linkage. Seven contextual themes further illuminated leadership practice, including relational trust and community connection, continuous adaptation and personal change, emotional engagement and meaningful fulfillment, empowerment and sacrificial thinking, embodied awareness and self-regulation, quiet joy and transformative reward, and navigating complexity and cultural tension. Moreover, four themes emerged reflecting future self-perception in leadership: insightful and evolving practitioners, future-oriented service-inspired leaders, resilient individuals, and morally integrated servant leaders. This underscores that leadership in policing as a deeply moral, relational, and transformative practice shaped by lived experience and community engagement.