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This paper will explain that there are different Tyler and theories of leadership which are utilized today. Basic principles of leadership as well as the role of a leader will be discussed in detail along with explanations as to why leadership is crucial in criminal justice organizations. Leadership in Criminal Justice adhering in any organization is directly related to the overall success that organization can expect to see. Leadership in criminal justice is certainly no exception. Having strong leaders in place promotes organization, management, productivity, motivation and creativity in a criminal justice setting.
Moral, productivity, and the overall success off criminal justice agency are a few of the things commonly affected by lack of leadership. This paper will explain the importance of leadership in a criminal justice organization by responding to the following questions: 1. What is leadership? 2. What are leadership theories and styles? 3. How does leadership differ from management? 4. Why is leadership important in criminal justice? What is leadership? Leadership can be defined as a process that helps direct and mobile people and their ideas (Stockpots, Koalas & Chalking, 2012).
Leadership requires that a person have a strong desire to be an influential part of the organization and ant to play a key role in moving towards a common goal. Leaders are primarily concerned with motivating and inspiring their followers to remain productive and to maintain the drive and ability to reach organization goals. A leader must a have an organizational vision and be able to inspire and motivate others to buy into that vision and work towards achieving the goals related to that vision. The role of a leader in a criminal justice organization should not be under appreciated.
A leader plays has an immensely influential role within the organization. First, leaders must have a strong working knowledge in the assignment they wish to lead. This can be developed through education, train ins, and experience. Leaders must have the respect of those they wish to lead in order to be effective. One way that leaders can earn that respect is by possessing the skills needed to be in a leadership position. Secondly, a leader must know themselves, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Many leaders in law enforcement find it easy to know their business, but find it difficult to know themselves (Dobbs & Field, 1993).
Leaders must realize their strengths and weakness in order to develop their won style of leadership. Leaders who act outside their natural style of leadership can cause themselves to appear awkward and ultimately affect their bill¶y’ to lead. Third, a criminal justice leader must know their subordinates. Due to the fact that people are motivated my different things, a leader must realize what motivates each subordinate individually. Also, a leader must have a personal relationship with the subordinate as well. For example, a leader must know his employee well enough to congratulate or give condolences in personal matters when appropriate.
This will remind the abbreviated that the leader cares about their personal achievements and struggles as well. Finally, a leader must operate with consistency and lead by example. For example, a criminal justice leader who punishes a subordinate for poor report writing when they themselves write poor reports will create a lack of respect for that leader. This is due to the fact that the leader does not lead by example. A leader must exemplify the ideals they demand in order for their follows to truly want to follow their lead. What are some of the theories and styles of leadership?
There are many theories about different aspects of leadership and the effectiveness of each in a criminal justice setting. Contemporary research brings into focus the behavioral approach and the contingency approach. The behavioral approach emphasizes the behavior of leaders while the contingency approach emphasizes situational variables that affect leadership. We find in the behavioral approach an emphasis on how leaders interact with their subordinates as well as how a leader creates processes that encourage subordinates to be productive and accomplish the goals of the agency.
The behavioral approach is concerned with whether or not the subordinates feel hat their leader makes them feel like a valued member of the agency and if their opinions carry any weight in the day to day operation of the agency. The contingency approach, founded in the 1 ass’s differs from the behavioral approach. “Examining various situational variables is central to understanding leadership in organizations, according to the contingency theorist” (Stockpots, Koalas & Chalking, 2012). Fiddler’s Contingency Model is one of those contingency theories.
In Fiddlers model we find that how well liked or disliked by subordinates a leader is, will have a direct impact on how effective that leader will be. For example, a detective supervisor who is not well liked might have a hard time finding volunteers to work overtime at their request. In contrast, a well like supervisor might have no problem getting volunteers in the same situation. The subordinates in this example might base their decision on nothing more than who is asking. Also in Fiddlers Model, we find that uncertain task structures can be problematic to leadership.
For example, if officers are instructed by their supervisor to go out and make some arrests and not given any further details on the assignment, they are left not understanding the true goal of the assignment. In this example, a leader would gain better results from an assignment if their subordinates knew the true purpose of the assignment and were aware that there would be measurable results. “It is easier to lead when the task structure is clearly defined and open to direct monitoring by a supervisor (Stockpots, Koalas & Chalking, 2012).
There are many different styles of leadership that one can utilize in an organization. The three that are the most commonly applied to the criminal justice profession include: the autocratic, enigmatic, and the laissez-fairer styles of leadership. It is important for a leader to stick with a style that best fits their personality, but at times and depending on the circumstances facing them at any given time, they might switch back and forth from on style to another. The style Of leadership one elects to utilize largely depends on what that leader wishes to accomplish (Lynch, 1998).
The autocratic leader is authoritarian in nature. An autocratic leader would rather give orders and make all the decisions while gathering little or no input from others. Many times this does not provide the best of environments for subordinates to grow confident in making their own decisions. Autocratic have a tendency personalize criticism and are often times viewed as harsh or rigid. Autocratic leaders work well in times of crisis where an authoritarian is needed to quickly gain compliance and organize resources (Alone, Griffith, Weaver & Wright, 2008).
An example of this would be in an officer involved shooting situation. When an officer is injured in the line of duty, emotions run high which often creates a chaotic situation that is difficult to control or manage. Autocratic leaders are most likely to be able to Andre a situation such as this due to the fact they are quick to give orders and begin making the decisions that need to be made without much hesitation. Autocratic leaders in a criminal justice setting often work best with us borderlines who are you nag and have little experience.
The democratic leader is one that welcomes input from their subordinates under the right circumstances. Democratic leaders encourage their subordinates to participate in the decision making process which promotes teamwork and personal growth. Democratic leaders often times delegate duties to subordinates which further builds their confidence in decision making. Democratic leaders many times can struggle during times of emergency due to the fact they might take additional time to make decisions due to bringing others into the decision making process.
The third leadership style, lassie- fairer, is a style in which the leader will allow the subordinates to make the majority of the decisions on their own with little input or interference from the leader. This type of leadership can be effective in situations where subordinates perform properly without excessive direct supervision. An example of where a lassie-fairer style of leadership could be utilized would be unit comprised of self motivated veterans who require very little supervision.
This style has few truly positive aspects and the agency could actually be placed in jeopardy due to this hands off approach to leadership. The laissez-fairer style may not be leadership style at all; instead, it may be an abdication of administrative duties (Peak, 2004). How does leadership differ from management? Any criminal justice organization would benefit from having both managers and leaders among their ranks. There are managers who are not capable of true leadership and leaders who are not accomplished managers.
In contrast, there are some who have the unique ability to perform well as both a manager and a leader. There are marked similarities and differences that make management and leadership roles important to a criminal justice agency. Management can be defined as “the fluid and dynamic component Of administration” and as “a process Of working with people in a humane way to achieve organizational goals and objectives as efficiently and effectively as possible (Alone, Griffith, Weaver & Wright, 2008). Managers concentrate much of their efforts on planning, organizing, directing, implementing, and valuating.