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Part IIIPeople in the Police Organization

Chapter 6Police Leadership

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Learning Objectives1. Understand the differences among leadership, power, and authority and how they are

applied in the police organization.2. Identify the different styles of leadership that occur in the police organization.3. Know the two-factor theories of leadership and how they can be applied in the police

department.4. Understand the contingency approach to leadership and the factors that affect how a

police administrator can make decisions.5. Understand transformational leadership and how it can be used to change the

organization, particularly when implementing community policing.6. Discuss the role the police chief plays and how personnel become police executives.7. Understand the tenure issues facing police chiefs and the politics involved in their

dismissal.

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Primary Components of Leadership

• People– Subordinates follow the leadership

• Power– The ability to influence or control others

• Influence– Clearly acceptable directives– Questionable orders to subordinates– A directive completely outside the bounds of acceptability

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Types of Leaders

• Formal leaders– Placed in positions of leadership by the organization– Have authority and responsibilities by virtue of the position they hold– More effective when they use leadership skills

• Informal leaders– Recognized by their peers as individuals who have knowledge and can

provide assistance outside the chain of command– Have a modicum of power, but no recognized authority– Successful departments promote informal leaders to formal leadership

positions

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Three Types of Positional or Organizational Power• Reward power

– The ability to control valued resources within the organization• Coercion power

– Embodied in one’s ability to punish others• Legitimate power

– The power people perceive as a result of their position within the organization

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Two Types of Personal Power

• Expertise power– Officers’ knowledge or ability to perform a specialized task

• Referent power– The ability to influence as a result of one’s association with other

powerful figures in the organization– Such associations are developed through:

• Friendship• Past working relationships• Kinship

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Four Ways People Acquire Power Within an Organization• Performance of extraordinary activities• Higher visibility• Solving a perplexing problem• Sponsors or referent power

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Machiavellianism• The manipulation of others within the organization to achieve and

hold power and use that power for personal, rather than organizational, benefits

• Machiavellian leaders are successful in the short term, but ultimately run afoul of the organization.

• Simple rules1. Never show humility, as arrogance is far more effective when dealing with

others in the organization.2. Only weak people subscribe to morality and ethics. Powerful people feel

free to deceive whenever it suits their ends. The ends always justify the means.

3. People are successful when they are feared.

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Trait Theories of Leadership

• It’s difficult to understand leadership by examining leadership traits.

• The number of traits can become expansive, and few people possess all the traits generated.

• Leadership is better understood by examining how leaders approach the act of leadership.

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Styles of Leadership

• Likert’s Leadership Systems• Down’s Bureaucratic Leadership Styles• Engel’s Supervisory Styles

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Likert’s Leadership Systems• Exploitive-Authoritarian Leadership

– No confidence or trust in subordinates– Subordinates are not allowed to provide input into decisions.

• Benevolent-Authoritarian Leadership– Most policies and decisions are made by top management and are distributed by the chain

of command.– Managers sometimes listen to subordinates’ problems.

• Consultative Leadership– Management establishes goals for the department, with subordinates making some of the

decisions on methods of goal achievement.• Participative Leadership

– Subordinates have input into tactical decisions and into police formulation.

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Down’s Bureaucratic Leadership Styles• Climbers

– Ambitious, unethical people who use every opportunity to further their careers

• Conservers– Bureaucrats who strive to maintain the status quo

• Zealots– Organizational members with a mission

• Advocates– Leaders who care only about their sphere of influence

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Engel’s Supervisory Styles

• Traditional Supervisor– Expects subordinates to engage in aggressive law enforcement and sees

community service as non-essential or unimportant

• Innovative Supervisor– Values community policing and community-building activities– Attempts to solve problems

• Supportive Supervisor– Emphasizes his or her relations with subordinates

• Active Supervisor– Often takes control of situations from subordinates– Typically does not aspire to become a manager

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Behavioral Theories of Leadership

• Two-Factor Theories of Leadership• Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid

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Two-Factor Theories of Leadership

• Initiating structure– The leader's behavior in emphasizing organizational goals by

delineating the relationship between the leader and the subordinates when establishing well-defined patterns of organization, communication and procedure

• Consideration– The leader's behavior in emphasizing friendship, mutual trust,

warmth, and a respectful relationship between the leader and subordinates

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Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid

• High-Performing Leaders• Task Leaders• Supportive Leaders• Bureaucratic Leaders

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Contingency Approach to Leadership• Identifying the environmental and employee factors that are most important

in a situation and then utilizing the most appropriate style of leadership for that situation

• Stoner and Freeman’s factors:– Leader’s personality, past experiences, and expectations– Superior’s expectations– Job requirements– Subordinates’ characteristics– Peer expectations– Departmental culture and politics

• Three contingency models:– Fiedler's leadership style and work situation model– House and Mitchell's path-goal theory– Vroom-Jago Leadership Participation Model

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Fiedler's Leadership Style and Work Situation Model• Focused on changing the structure or problem rather

than style of leadership applied• Quality of leadership is determined by three dimensions:

– Leader-group relations– Task structure– Leader’s power

• The leader’s style should be matched to the situation.

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Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

• Two propositions for path-goal theory:– Subordinates accept leader behavior and find it motivating if they

believe that the leader behavior is instrumental in satisfying their immediate or future needs

– When employees are productive, leaders satisfy subordinate needs by providing guidance, support, and rewards

• Four styles of leadership:– Directive– Supportive– Participative– Achievement-oriented

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Vroom-Jago Leadership Participation Model• Leadership success is dependent on how well leaders

make decisions.• Leadership is conveyed through quality decisions.• Degree of participation depends on:

– Who possesses knowledge about the problem– Acceptance of the solution– Constraints in terms of how quickly a decision must be made

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Applying Contingency Leadership

• Leaders must pay close attention to subordinates’ needs.• Leaders must treat everyone equitably.• Leaders must be adaptive in their behavior.

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Team Building

• Develop the team with an end in mind.• There should be ample and early planning.• The team should have a facilitator who is familiar with

teams and the problem at hand.• Manage the facilitator.• Ensure the team spends time on the goals and social

bonding.

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Ways to Keep Teams Focused

• Managers can introduce competition.• Managers increase “interpersonal attraction.”• Managers can increase the level of interaction within a

group.• Managers “establish common goals and clearly

understood and defined roles” for the team and its members.

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Transformational and Transactional Leadership• Transactional leadership

– Leaders broaden and elevate their followers’ interests.– Leaders generate awareness and acceptance of the group’s purpose

and mission.– Leaders stir their followers to look beyond their self-interests.

• Transformational leadership– Police executive attempts to broaden the interests and horizons of

subordinates and move the organization in a new direction.– Key component is charisma.

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Qualities of Transformational Leaders

• Vision• Charisma• Symbolism• Empowerment• Intellectual stimulation• Integrity

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Four Styles of Police Leadership

• Administrator• Top cop• Politician• Statesman

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Police Chief Tenure

• Most chiefs serve short periods of time.• The police cannot adequately satisfy all the groups that

vie for police attention and services. • The police chief often faces attack from a number of

directions. • Most police chiefs basically are in a no-win situation.