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Developing Police Leadership

NCJ Number
132711
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 60 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1991) Pages: 4-8
Author(s)
P Hansen
Date Published
1991
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Although effective leadership has a dramatic effect on organizations, police departments do not always evaluate management practices until a crisis occurs.
Abstract
This type of crisis management in police organizations is disruptive and costly and has even threatened the existence of some departments. Fortunately, the same leadership principles and skills used in private industry and in the military can be used to change police organizations and motivate personnel. If police leadership is to improve, department officials from the chief executive on down must be committed to change poor leadership practices and values. They must stress the importance of patience, understanding, fairness, judgment, consideration, caring, and loyalty. An important step in changing leadership practices involves identifying various leadership styles and how they affect employee performance. Studying leadership styles also allows supervisors to identify their personal management styles and make necessary changes. In general, leadership styles are either job-oriented or employee-oriented. Although one leadership style is not clearly superior over the other, the employee-oriented leader usually promotes higher morale in subordinates. This results in lower absenteeism and fewer employee grievances. Additional leadership styles include task management, "country club" management which emphasizes good employee relations, impoverished management which attempts to maintain organizational membership, middle-of-the-road management which tries to maintain both good employee relations and production, and team management. Team management is considered to be the most effective in solving problems and encouraging employee development. Leadership effectiveness, disciplinary measures, and employee promotions are discussed. 9 footnotes