Running Head: Leadership Biases and Its Impact on Followership 1

LEADERSHIP BIASES AND IT’S IMPACT ON FOLLOWERSHIP

By Jaron McAlister
LEPSL 540: Organizational Leadership
02/23/2018
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Many leaders spend the majority of their time evaluating others, but how often do they

turn their focus toward self-reflection. No one person is perfect as multiple flaws can be found in

oneself. It is imperative for a leader to reflect upon themselves in an honest manner to shine light

on their internal biases. It is only when a leader has identified their own biases that they can be

addressed, leading toward a more effective leader.

Today’s dynamic issues require innovative and creative solutions. A leader who is not

willing to allow for creative and cognitive thinking will not be successful in formulating

comprehensive solutions. Thoughts like, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” or “That’s the way it’s

always been done” are detrimental to an organization that is trying to get ahead of the issues.

This thought process is often ingrained in the Law Enforcement culture and the break room is

frequently filled with stories of “how it used to be” or “how we used to do things.” Today’s

problems do not always coincide with yesterday’s problems and should be analyzed, without

bias, in a forward-thinking manner and open-minded to new approaches.

The old approach, of command-level leaders that only issued directives to officers lacks

motivation and inspiration. Long standing culture requires the officer to obey the directives of

those higher on the hierarchical structure, but the quality of the service delivered will not be

superior. Consider the directive, “Officer Smith, you need to go read to some kids at the school.”

Officer Smith will accomplish the task but it will be limited to the amount of effort needed to

avoid a reprimand. A better directive would be, “Officer Smith, I need an officer I can count on

to spear head Reading with the Law at the local elementary school. I am confident in your

abilities to make this a great program for the department and the kids.” By changing the focus to

Officer Smiths abilities, it shows the leader’s trust in, and admiration for, the value of Officer

Smith. As followers begin to imagine and follow their own light, the leader’s role becomes one
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of intensifying that light. They soon give 110 percent, not because the leader is continually

“motivating them,” but because they are self-inspired – that is, the spirit of the activity is within

them (Chaleff, 2009, p. 49). A leader must show trust and empower the follower in hopes of

gaining superior service and productivity from the follower.

Information is power and more than one idea is knowledge. The biased thought of a

leader thinking they have all the necessary information to make a decision without the benefit of

consultation with others is problematic. A leader who only relies on their own experiences and

understanding will more often than not arrive at an incomplete or incorrect solution. A leader

must surround themselves with followers who are willing to constructively contribute,

accompanied by the leader actively listening to their thoughts. “There is no virtue in a follower

who is only agreeable and sheepish and carries out the directives of the leader without thought”

(Reed, 2015 p.14). The leader must understand that a follower who respectfully questions a

directive in the attempt to seek a comprehensive solution is not insubordinate, but is offering a

crucial component to critical thinking.

I believe I embody several strong leadership traits and characteristics. I was not born with

these traits and characteristics, instead they are results from my life experiences. From my

childhood on the playgrounds to my adulthood traveling the world while serving in the military, I

have learned many life lessons as well as experienced many different cultures. This broad vision

of life allows me to better recognize and understand various types of conflict and how they may

be related to cultural differences. I am able to quickly “read” a person by their body language

and discern their emotional state, thereby allowing me to bring about the best outcome during my

interactions with others.

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I am able to clearly and effectively communicate with others to express gratitude as well

as concern. I am a believer in the team concept with implementation of team synergy and input. I

aspire to be the most knowledgeable on a subject, however, I don’t hoard the information I

attain, but would rather share it with my peers in an attempt to stimulate creative thought.

Through action and knowledge, I have presented myself as a person who is loyal, trustworthy,

encouraging, dependable and optimistic. I am always asking supervisors, peers and trainees how

I can improve myself to better help them. I believe these traits are consistent with that of a

transformational leader.

In analyzing why many officers at Madera PD are not taking accountability and

responsibility for the departments community-oriented programs, I have concluded that they are

simply not inspired. As a leader, I would present the opportunity for each officer to place their

mark on our department by taking these programs beyond their current status. I would challenge

individual officers to formulate a way to improve the current program and then have a face to

face interaction with them about their revelations. I would provide each officer with constructive

criticism as well as recognition. By challenging the officers to look for improvements I am

giving them a sense of purpose and a chance to step up to the challenge. Keeping officers

engaged in projects that involve creative problem solving in a team environment, without

imposing any time constraints, would result in a high-quality service delivery.

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REFERENCES:

Chaleff, I (2009). The Courageous Follower (3rd ed.). Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

p. 49

Reed, G (2015). Expressing Loyal Dissent: Moral Considerations from Literature on

Followership. Public Integrity, Winter 2014-2015 vol.17 p. 14.