Importance of Leadership

Louis Thayer
Professor Carpenter
October 28, 2013
Leadership is a very important aspect to any fied of !or"# It is a s"i that must be
possessed to have the abiity to ma"e a difference in the !ord# $rom business professionas to
the hi%her ran"s of the a! enforcement a%encies, eadership pays a bi% roe in mana%ement#
This is important because !ithout eadership, nobody !i "no! !ho can ta"e char%e and ma"e
sure that peace and order has been %iven# &o! !oud you i"e to ive in a pace !here your
poice a%ency does not have a eader or someone to ta"e responsibiity' The thou%ht of havin%
eadership s"is mi%ht scare some peope but !e have to overcome that and pursue a stron%er
understandin% of !hy eadership is necessary in a crimina (ustice a%ency# )any fee that the
s"is re*uired are a natura trait that !e have# This is not true because it can be proven that
eadership can be achieved even if you don+t have the born taent for it# ,ith the ri%ht practice
and motivation, bein% a eader can be easier then it seems#
The purpose of the artice I found is about or%ani-ationa eadership in poice
mana%ement# They !ant to step a!ay from peope (ust havin% a hi%her ran" name and have a bit
more purpose to the roe they pay in any a%ency# )any put into these hi%her positions do not
possess any eadership abiity and (ust there to do !hat.s necessary of them to %et paid every
!ee"# /very mana%ement position shoud be more invoved !ith the company rather than (ust
tryin% to %et throu%h the !or" day# 0 position of authority does not necessariy mean that you
need eadership, it can be found in any ran" of officia in the poice a%ency# 1ein% a eader does
not ma"e you a boss, but it does set you aside from those !ho are (ust there to do the minimums#
0nother purpose of the artice is to promote eadership abiity and s"is throu%h assessments and
promotions# It.s hard sometimes because of bud%et and cost issues but they are tryin% to ma"e
eadership trainin% necessary to hep buid that promotion they !ant#
The approach seen by the author is that !hat needs to happen in order to have successfu
eaders in the hi%her ran"s of poice a%encies# They need to promote the ri%ht peope that obtain
the ri%ht eadership s"is to further the or%ani-ation and themseves# ,e are a!ays oo"in% at
the commitment to the or%ani-ation but this artice focuses on or%ani-ationa eadership in the
promotiona process# It is a different approach to eadership but its try that !e need to be abe to
have these s"is as !e move up the poice adder# The research %iven in this artice is very deep
in thou%ht and %ives you a perspective that another artice !oudn+t# ,hat is interestin% is ho! it
mentions that the transition bet!een ho! poice mana%ement use to be and no! ho! it is
transformin% into a !hoe ne! idea# The !ay this artice !as !ritten %ives the reader a cear
understandin% of !hat ou%ht to be done in order to succeed in the !ord of crimina (ustice#
There is no bias here2 this is (ust strai%ht truth about !hat is happenin% in the administration#
,hen spea"in% in terms of the crimina (ustice mana%ement, this pays a bi% roe in !hat !e are
seein% happen# The shift of no %ood mana%ers out the door and peope !ith the s"is, abiities,
and eadership traits ta"in% over !hat peope have never done before in the a%encies# In order to
be a successfu person in poice mana%ement you have to be motivated to be better than the
others in front of you# 3on+t et your personaity %et in the midde of this but don+t be a do!ner to
yoursef either#
,hat the artice has concuded is very important to "no! !hen you are thin"in% about
bein% a poice mana%ement eader# They are sayin% the eadership in poicin% is no different than
any "ind of eadership in a different "ind of business# 4ou can %et any "ind of eadership trainin%
and it !i hep you no matter !hat "ind of or%ani-ation you are in# 0so, it is not very easy to
chan%e a poice or%ani-ation, on the !ay they behave or thin"# This is a tou%h obstace !hen
tryin% to infuence behaviora chan%e for the sa"e of the a%ency# 1ut, there are those individuas
!ho are !iin% to chan%e personay for the better# These peope !ant improvin% eader s"is
and ho! superiors shoud be actin% at !or"# 0nother concusion to this artice is that ma"in%
trainin% for eadership avaiabe to those !ho !ant it creates an impact for the or%ani-ation#
)any peope aspire to be eaders and !ith the %iven trainin% you can hep the person out and
coud positivey affect the poice a%ency in the on% run#
Choosin% this artice for a primary research topic !as very important because it is !hat
!e need to in the !ord of crimina (ustice in order to be successfu# 3emonstratin% eadership
s"is and abiities opens up that opportunity to ta"e responsibiity of your career and continue
%ro!in%# This artice is "ind of a !a"eup ca to those tryin% to enter the a! enforcement fied
and !hat you are %oin% to e5pect# Times are chan%in% and !ith that aso empoyment
opportunities are drasticay more competitive# ,ith eadership abiities you can infuence
anyone to better themseves and chan%e the !ay peope mi%ht see you# The *uaity of this source
is very in depth and reay %rabs a hod of !hat is happenin%# If anyone !as thin"in% about bein%
a hi%her ran" officia i !oud te them to read this because this is the future#
The concusions for this are vaid because !e can see this happenin% in the or%ani-ations
around us and the crimina (ustice or%ani-ations# 6esearch %ives us the po!er to "no! !hat the
fied of poice is chan%in% into and !hat !e can e5pect in the future# The thou%ht of bein% a
eader is a !ord!ide concept that is used more and more every day# This supports !hat !e
accept as a %ro!in% industry (ust i"e anythin% ese# The pubic !ants eaders in such areas of
pubic poice sector because of demand and the thou%ht of safety# ,ithout eaders in this fied the
system mi%ht fai and cause %reat harm to society# In a persona opinion, eadin% causes over
po!er and !e tend to abuse it more than !e shoud# The mana%ement in the poice force needs to
be there in order to maintain some peace and contro over the %iven situations# 7ome ta"e a!ay
this artice as they are scared to see a %reat amount of eadership in the hands of the a!# This
shoud not be threatenin% in any !ay because eadership shoud be a re*uirement for any "ind of
mana%ement position, poice or not# There coud be other reasons as to !hat can be seen based
on this research# Poice or%ani-ations are pannin% for the future of eaders in the !or" force#
They !ant to choose the ri%ht ones but they have to ma"e sure they are !e prepared# It.s sad
that some may offer eadership deveopment pro%rams but some (ust choose not to ta"e part in it#
,ith the %iven chance you shoud ta"e any further step for yoursef to be a successfu person
especiay in the area of eadership# There is nothin% !ron% those peope !ho are happy !ith the
o!er eve ran"in% officer positions# The others that are not happy do not ta"e that initiative to
be motivated or supportive in the thou%ht of bein% promoted !ith proper s"is#
0n artice that contradicts the one mentioned above ta"s about eadership personaity and
ho! it is %ettin% in the !ay of future eaders bein% successfu# The bi%%est obstace to bein% an
effective eader accordin% to Lt# 8im 9ennon is your personaity# ,hen you et your personaity
%et in the !ay of everythin% then that puts a burden on the eader tryin% to be the better person#
,hen you are !or"in% you shoud eave your personaity out of the picture and focus on !hat
needs to be done# Lt# 8im does seminars about eadership and as"s poice officers if they !ant
eadership from supervisors# They responded sayin% yes they !ant eadership but not
micromana%ement# :obody !ants to !or" in a pace that invoves micromana%in% because they
don+t trust you and they %et very persona !ith every sin%e person# This is ho! mana%ers tend to
be and nobody !ants that# If you et personaity %et in the !ay then it is %oin% to %reaty affect
ho! you ead# This artice says that assessments need to ta"e pace in order to maintain the
personaity out of the (ob# 4ou need to reai-e !hat stops you from succeedin% and fi5 it before
you ruin your career# If the personaity is a bi% probem then it !i stop you from bein% a eader
and you !i never "no! ho! it fees to be a %ood eader#
)any first ine poice officers %o to their supervisory for their day to day tas"s and
assi%nments# In this artice it says that surveys have sho!n !hen as"ed about the most important
thin% to your supervisor there are various responses such as ;stayin% out of troube; and ;3on+t
do anythin%<# This is not very %ood eadership s"is2 it is (ust a si%n of a-iness and no cares
!hat so ever# If the officers don+t do anythin%, that.s no !or" for the supervisor and that in
return, may ead to a of them bein% fired for not doin% anythin% at a# This coud be a si%n of
personaity %ettin% in the !ay but aso no (ob satisfaction in pay# /veryone is supposed to have a
tas" at !or", and ho! can you %et a tas" !hen you have nobody eadin% at !or" such as a
7ar%ent in a poice a%ency# 4ou can have as many hi%hy educated, !e *uaified individuas but
!hen it comes to eadership abiities and s"is they oo" at you !ith a ban" face and have no
idea !hat you are ta"in% about# ,hen the e%o you have affects your abiity to ead, it mi%ht be
time for a serious (ob chan%e#
,hie !e are tryin% to promote eadership s"is in a poice a%encies across the nation
there are those !ho sti ruin it for the ones that !ant to succeed# There are so many boo"s,
seminars, ectures, research that can prove that there is no e5cuse for effectin% eadin%# These
artices contradict each other but it %ives you somethin% to compare and contrast the information
and ho! different peope fee about the topic#
The thin%s that !e can %rab from revie!in% these artices can be over!hemin% at first#
,ith a cose oo" and e5aminin% the true facts of eadership one can be successfu in their career
and not be the a-y person !e a fro!n upon# These artices are a %ood source of information
!hen tryin% to motivate someone as to !hy you shoud be i"e this and !hy you shoudn.t et
this affect your personaity or beiefs# The impact upon the primary artice is that trainin% needs
to be assured to promote eadership in the mana%ement !ith the continuousy %ro!in% poice
force# ,e can concude that eadership is a very important aspect to any or%ani-ation but
especiay hi%her ran"ed officias in the crimina (ustice a%encies#
,or"s Cited
9ennon, Lt# 8im# ;Leadership Personaity#; LawOfficer.com# La! Officer, 10 7ept# 2013# ,eb#
28 Oct# 2013# =http>??!!!#a!officer#com?artice?eadership?eadership@personaityA#
&u%hes, Patric" 8# ;Increasin% Or%ani-ationa Leadership Throu%h the Poice Promotion
Process#; FBI# $1I, 11 :ov# 2010# ,eb# 28 Oct# 2013# =http>??!!!#fbi#%ov?stats@
services?pubications?a!@enforcement@buetin?October@2010?copyBofBconfrontin%@
science@and@mar"et@positionin%A# CPrimary 7ourceD