In various organizations, especially in poorly managed law enforcement departments, the leadership mantra tends to be the absolute control of officers rather than encouraging productive principles such as honesty, integrity, and team building. The existence of such a coercive type of leadership within a given department makes it challenging to retain police officers (Landa & Tyson, 2017). It is, therefore, imperative for leaders within the police department to shift their emphasis from leadership principles that stress employee control to the ones that encourage employee building, meaning that officers should be present, or consulted at every level of decision-making ( Hassan & Jiang, 2019) . Effective leadership usually affects the organizations from diverse perspectives, and that is the reason organizations and departments should strive to have leaders who are endowed with honesty, integrity and have the ambition to transform the organizational culture and performance to reflect improvement. Organizations such as the Chrysler Corporation, which was near bankruptcy and certainly faced closure, have become more effective and efficient by replacing their leaders with dynamic and competent leadership. In the same way, successful law enforcement leaders have turned ineffective and inefficient police units and departments into operational, functional, and motivated teams.
Leadership Problem in Law Enforcement
Notably, various police departments do not evaluate management practices as often as they should. The evaluation of the management practices within the law enforcement circles mainly occurs in the time of or after a crisis occurs. The crisis may include but not limited to an accident, a lawsuit, or pressure from the public arising from purported misconduct of a police officer that forces the department to re-evaluate the positions and practices of the department. Reactive response is costly and disruptive to the functions of departments; it has even caused permanent closures of certain police departments. The apparent absence of good leadership and management practices within law enforcement agencies is because it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of a police department. It is worth noting that the lack of measurable standards usually leads to a lack of notable change within organizations, including police departments.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Leadership Principles
The same leadership skills that lead to higher profitability and better performance in private organizations such as Chrysler can be utilized, albeit with a little modification, to streamline law enforcement departments by ensuring efficiency and effectiveness. The principles are applicable to change the departments and motivate the personnel that operate therein. Certain ineffective police practices and leadership styles witnessed today come from the management styles that were applicable during and after the industrial revolution and the military styles that defined the authoritarian management styles found in the police departments (Russell et al., 2014). The mentioned leadership styles were founded on the assumption that employees were fundamentally lazy. Leaders subscribed to the notion that the military style of management and leadership was essential in ensuring that the employees are productive. Corruption and other forms of unethical political influences also informed the development of police departments to what they are currently.
In an attempt to handle the identified problems within the police departments, it is imperative to have a strong-willed chief executive that will stir and subsequently maintain productive change. Presently, the police departments contain personnel that has low education levels coupled with the structure-oriented society that the police department operates in, made the authoritarian kind of leadership more relevant and effective. Nonetheless, the authoritarian leadership styles that are common in police departments across the globe do not meet the expectations and the needs of the current competent, better educated, and well-equipped law enforcement personnel. There is a need to embrace a different kind of leadership that will ensure the improvement and effectiveness of the police force.
A critical look at human evolution and development reveals that, for the most part, leadership styles and work ethics changed to respond to the changes that the society underwent. In the contemporary setting, the expectation is that the police officers should operate efficiently; taking into consideration the needs of the sophisticated society that defines humanity today (Russell et al., 2014). The increase of the prestige and the education levels of the police officers mean that the leadership dynamics and principles should change as well for better service to the society and humanity at large. Currently, the officers do not respond well to autocratic leadership that requires them to follow orders without raising questions or asking why the orders were given. Autocratic leadership has various negative impacts on law enforcement officers, including diminished morale and the minimized overall organizational effectiveness. Furthermore, autocratic leadership is credited for the loss of personnel that seeks employment in companies and organizations that value their opinion and dignity. The reason for the mass resignation of police officers is the fact that they are subjected to poor, unreceptive, and unconcerned leadership.
Leadership Values and Skills
The improvement of the performance, efficiency, and effectiveness of police departments there is a need for a change in leadership. Embracing a transformational leadership style will serve the police department exceedingly well. Towards this, all the officials within the police department, which includes the entire chain of command, should embrace progressive leadership values and practices. Leadership skills such as understanding, fairness, patience, and judgment are important in ensuring the improvement of the performance of police departments and services that reflect the intricacy of the current society.
The leaders should recognize that conventional practices, such as fear of criticism, unfairness, and tactlessness that defined law enforcement then, are destructive and should not be condoned. The emphasis should be on the consideration of certain values such as care, loyalty, honesty, fairness, and integrity to move the department to the standards of service required. Stressing the significance of the stipulated values has the propensity of producing positive results within the police department. The positive results that such values principles and values will bring include but not limited to higher levels of employee motivation, employee retention, morale, and overall improved performance. In turn, such will lead to an effective organization that has personnel ready to accomplish their duties and responsibilities to meet the demands and the needs of the society.
Loyalty is an important leadership virtue within law enforcement agencies. Loyalty is two-way traffic, meaning that the junior officers, as well as the supervisors or the superintendents, show loyalty not only to each other but also to the duties and responsibilities that they execute. In the traditional police setting, most administrators expected loyalty from their juniors while failing to show the same in return (Russell et al., 2014). Such is often demonstrated by the sheer lack of confidence, faith, and trust towards their subordinates. For instance, when certain supervisors receive complaints about the officers, they automatically take if the officer is on the wrong. The assumption of guilt without proper investigation is a trademark of disloyalty within the force that will only serve to derail any progress or performance within the organization. Employees usually feel valued and motivated when the supervisor shows a degree of confidence in their work. The mentioned acts often derail the confidence of junior law officers, as it casts aspersions on the ability of the senior officer to lead and to initiate any meaningful change or action. Furthermore, such acts confuse and reduce the performance of the officer. A transformational leader would assume that the officer is innocent until proven guilty.
Leadership Styles and Employee Motivation
The trademark leader is one that is committed to positive change. Nevertheless, various styles of leadership determine one’s ability to initiate and maintain change. The internalization of different leadership styles allows the supervisors to identify the styles that suit their personality and then apply the same within the organization for transformation and improvement of performance in general. Leadership styles normally determine the management styles that an individual applies to enhance performance. Noteworthy is the fact that their two major categories of leadership styles, which are employee-oriented and job-oriented. Job-oriented leaders are concerned with tasks (Newton, 2016). Such leaders are reliant on the formal close supervision and power structure for the accomplishment of tasks. On the other hand, employee-oriented leaders are mainly concerned with ensuring good relations with subordinates.
Law enforcement is a complex department or organization that requires the application of both the task and employee-oriented leadership styles. Nevertheless, since it encompasses the attainment of tasks through subordinates, the supervisors need to give more emphasis to the people that help in the accomplishment of tasks rather than the tasks. An employee-oriented leadership style entails delegation of the task while the leader is simultaneously concerned with the growth and development of the employee. It is worth noting that no leadership style is superior to the other, but the employee-oriented leadership portends higher levels of morale concerning the task-oriented style. In the police force, stress and depression are often quite high due to the nature of the work. For instance, in case of an accident, the police are the ones to be called. They handle crime, dead bodies, shootouts, and other gory situations imaginable. The nature of the work is, therefore, depressing and traumatizing. They need a leader who is concerned with their well-being and morale. Employee-oriented leadership style promises greater morale, which, in turn, guarantees to decrease the cases of employee absenteeism while simultaneously registering fewer employee grievances. In terms of productivity, the leaders who subscribe to the task-oriented leadership style tend to show less volume. Such employees produce less since the supervisor closely monitors them. Additionally, such employees are not allowed to participate in the decision-making process, which naturally results in lower levels of job satisfaction (Sakiru et al., 2014).
In terms of management styles, team management is generally the most effective and appropriate for law enforcement agencies. The police often work in teams. In cases of affecting an arrest, the police work in teams, which mostly depend on the gravity of the situation to be handled. For instance, when they are alerted to handle a possible terror threat or to arrest a terror suspect, different agencies come together. Law enforcement has various teams that carry out different tasks that include but not limited to intelligence gathering, effecting arrest, taking suspects to court, and gathering evidence. All the mentioned activities require different teams to work in harmony to ensure that the processes within the department move smoothly and efficiently. A leader with a team management style can build good teams that are better placed to accomplish different aspects of a given task.
Team management entails building effective teams, resolving conflicts, solving problems, and ensures the development of employment. The team manager will realize high levels of productivity because it takes into consideration the input of each member of the team. The subordinates are allowed to participate in task planning, execution, and the decision-making process, which proves that they are valued and will put in more effort to ensure that any particular project or undertaking is a success (Sakiru et al., 2014). While it is suitable for a leader to have a specific management style, the leader needs to adapt and change the style following the prevailing circumstances. Such is referred to as situational leadership, which is relevant in the context of the law enforcement because the officers and the departments they belong to face various situations daily that require adaptability (Newton, 2016). The constant change of circumstances within the law enforcement jurisdictions requires adaptability to suit every single situation. Therefore, a good leader, particularly the one that works in a volatile environment such as law enforcement, should be flexible, adaptable to different situations, and should have the necessary experience and will to choose the most appropriate type of leadership to apply based on the situation. Notably, a leadership style may be effective in one situation, while the same may be disastrous in another situation.
In certain situations, a combination of leadership styles may prove the most effective in dealing with certain cases. The focus of a situational leader is sensible within the law enforcement circles that require a commonsense approach to adapt to the needs of the situation as well as the followers (Ferguson, 2014). The needs of a particular employee in a given case, define flexible leadership. To meet the needs of the employees, the leaders need to apply four different styles that include selling, telling, delegating and participating. The telling style entails high tasks while ensuring low relations. In this regard, the style is most successful when the leader applies it when dealing with new employees (Ferguson, 2014). New employees tend to have limited experience and abilities to perform certain tasks. Conversely, when dealing with motivated, willing, and experienced employees, a leader should use the delegating style since it portends high levels of success. The latter permits the employees to participate in the decision-making process and then accords them the much-needed autonomy in executing their duties and responsibilities (Sakiru et al., 2014). Therefore, a leader should analyze and subsequently determine where the employees are in terms of their career progress and development will help in determining the leadership to apply in any given situation.
The readiness and the flexibility of an employee is a determinant of success when it comes to delegation of duties. The evaluation of the employee should entail their ability and willingness and flexibility to accomplish a certain task. Based on flexibility and the employee’s willingness to perform a given task, the leader may choose the leadership style that will help in accomplishing the task in the desired fashion (Newton, 2016). A leader, such as a police superintendent that works with groups, should remain flexible since every member of the group has a different personality. The flexibility in determining the members of the groups to perform a particular task helps in readying the members of the group to achieve a pre-determined objective. In essence, the leadership style should be founded on the employee’s level of job maturity. It is worth noting that new employees often lack the experience levels to perform certain demanding tasks.
The employee tends to mature with time as they gain the necessary experience to perform certain aspects of a given job. Training is also essential in expediting employee on-job maturity. As the employee matures, it is vital for the leader may then move from a task-oriented style of management to employee-oriented management style to enhance the maturity process. Once the employee matures and understands and the procedures and the processes of executing a job, it would then be advisable for the leader to delegate duties and responsibilities to the employee to show them that they are valued and trusted members of the team (Sakiru et al., 2014).
It is imperative to note that not all employees will mature to the desired levels by merely being delegated tasks. Therefore, the choice of an appropriate management style, there is a need for the assessment of the employee’s level of maturity (Ferguson, 2014). Settling on the improper style of management may lead to the choice of inappropriate supervision levels. For example, within the law enforcement circles, the performance of new officers should be subject to close monitoring and supervision. New officers tend to require incessant feedback because they lack the necessary confidence. Nonetheless, seasoned veterans within the law enforcement circles may perceive close supervision as improper and inappropriate because they have the job maturity gained through practice and experience.
Leadership Traits and Decision-Making
The effectiveness of the nay style of leadership depends on three particular traits, namely, ability, intelligence, and personality. Intelligence normally has a bearing on the timeliness and the correctness of a particular decision (Ferguson, 2014). A leader, especially one that operates win a volatile environment such as law enforcement, should be creative, confident and adaptable with the integrity to motivate the employees and influence their actions to ensure the accomplishment of departmental and organizational objectives (Newton, 2016). A leader should be influential to the point that he or she commands the cooperation of the employees. Therefore, effective leaders are the ones that plan, communicate, supervise, and communicate to get things moving as envisioned. However, as mentioned, close control may lead to counter-productivity. The lack of freedom and autonomy may hinder the decision-making process of the employee, thereby derailing the task at hand. Lack of employee ownership often derails the decision-making process at the lowers level, thus making it hard for the entire team to be slow in executing its mandate.
The level of care that a supervisor or a leader accords the subordinates has a bearing on the effectiveness of the leadership style. For instance, the organizational procedures and practices are designed to help the management while at the same time harming the employees; then, the latter may get the wrong message that will derail their performance because they may understand such to mean that they are expendable. Such may create feelings of alienation and resentment among the junior officers, which is not good for the overall performance of the department and the organization in general (Newton, 2016). For instance, in certain departments, there is favoritism because the promotion system is skewed and not fair. Certain leaders go around the rules to ensure that they promote officers of their choice and not the ones that deserve it. Such kind of leadership may demoralize a bigger fraction of the personnel in a given department and may reduce the effectiveness of the organization.
Conclusion
Leaders within the police department must shift their emphasis from leadership principles that stress employee control to the ones that encourage employee building, meaning that officers should be present or consulted at every level of decision-making. Effective leadership normally impacts the organizations dramatically, and that is why organizations and departments should strive to have leaders who are endowed with honesty, integrity and have the ambition to transform the organizational culture and performance to reflect improvement. Law enforcement has various teams that carry out different tasks that include but not limited to intelligence gathering, effecting arrest, taking suspects to court, and gathering evidence. All the mentioned activities require different teams to work in harmony to ensure that the processes within the department move smoothly and efficiently. A leader with a team management style can build good teams that are better placed to accomplish different aspects of a given task. Team management entails building effective teams, resolving conflicts, solving problems, and ensures the development of employment. The team manager will undoubtedly ensure high levels of productivity because it takes into consideration the input of each member of the team. The subordinates are allowed to participate in task planning, execution, and the decision-making process, which proves that they are valued and will put in more effort to ensure that any particular project or undertaking is a success.
References
Ferguson, B. B. (2014). The relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership styles of African American law enforcement executives (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
Hassan, S., & Jiang, Z. (2019). Facilitating Learning to Improve Performance of Law Enforcement Workgroups: The Role of Inclusive Leadership Behavior. International Public Management Journal, 1-25.
Landa, D., & Tyson, S. (2017). Coercive Leadership. American Journal of Political Science, 61 (3), 559-574.
Newton, M. R. (2016). Emotional intelligence and leadership styles among law enforcement leaders: A correlational study (Order No. 10180904). Available from ABI/INFORM Collection. (1850631952). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1850631952?accountid=45049
Russell, L. M., Cole, B. M., & Jones III, R. J. (2014). High-risk occupations: How leadership, stress, and ability to cope influence burnout in law enforcement. Journal of Leadership, Accountability, and Ethics , 11 (3), 49.
Sakiru, O. K., D'Silva, J. L., Othman, J., DaudSilong, A., & Busayo, A. T. (2013). Leadership styles and job satisfaction among employees in small and medium enterprises. International Journal of Business and Management , 8 (13), 34.
