Week 2 Paper (for Hifsa Shakaut)
Alessandro Volta
EMPA311.MicroLesson.2.docxEMPA 311: Micro Lesson – Session 2:
“To reach high performance, employees are empowered to apply their skill, creativity, ability to adapt to change and capacity to be continuous learners to achieve the organization’s mission (Popovich, 1998, p. 18).” It is no different in a criminal justice setting where effective leadership is essential to meet the tough demands facing LE organizations. Employees are the most important asset for any type of organization. Staff cannot feel empowerment when they are not involved in the decision making process and are continually directed in an authoritarian style.
Kania & Davis list some attributes (P. 74) of what employees admire and appreciate of their managers. I would add that empowerment, influence, and character should be included to the list. The number one cause of employees’ lack of commitment or dissatisfaction with the employment remains the same – it’s the boss! Good leaders build commitment for change and help facilitate the transformation that requires staff to be challenged to achieve goals, create trust in their followers and establish credibility. A leader does need to have an appeal to his workers that inspire confidence and respect. As General Schwarzkopf stated in the video last week, “to be a leader you must have competence and character,” and one way that people know is that you communicate your vision and instill your influence, especially “when nobody is watching.”
Therefore, leaders in today’s LE environment must have the capacity to influence a diverse group of individuals, gain buy-in and strive towards meeting a mutual mission. This is done by understanding their staff’s motivation and talents, involving them in collective problem-solving decisions, analyzing the stages of behavioral development of their members, their emotional state and awareness, and a reciprocal relationship between leader and follower. McGregor’s theory X assumes that workers are bad and lazy and Theory Y assumes that people are good and relies heavily on positive reinforcement. I would posit that Theory Y to be what a leader should strive to be, to include listening, inspiring and empowering their workers. A leader must understand the bases for their power:
Reward -Influential due to control over desired resources
Coercive -Influence due through negative
Expert -Influence due to expertise/knowledge in a certain subject matter
Referent -Potential influence due to leader/follower relationship
Legitimate -Formal or Official authority based on the organizational structure
In LE, rewards are difficult since we do not have bonuses or commissions as in the private sector. So can we reward an officer? Typically with better shifts, a choice day off, better assignment, training, equipment and trust in decision making (empowerment). As we stated last week, our rewards are intrinsic versus extrinsic as in the private sector. Coercive sanctions become necessary in maintaining ethical behavior, but can be damaging to employees when used consistently for any type of commands. LE is a paramilitary organization, and troops will receive orders and are given by those with legitimate power. It is how the coercive power is used that can cause a negative environment for any employee. Expert power comes from a leader’s expertise in a specific area, i.e. investigations of sexual assaults. This leader may be held up by those under him as the “go to” expert to lead in those investigations. Referent power establishes what many leaders inspire to have – the influence, respect and character, that is recognizable when others follow without any obligation or coercion. And as stated last week, legitimate power is that given to a person due to the organization’s structure of the agency, i.e., Chief of Police is at the top of the org chart and is over everyone below him or her.
The impact of a managerial decision is crucial to the troops and the agency. The leader/manager must take into account the situation, the problem and urgency. A leader who listens and takes into account the subordinates ideas and interests is one who inspires and influences a positive environment and image of the department.
A leader today faces some very tough issues due to image and the accuracy of the information displayed in the media. The public listens to the media and social media today is disseminated in seconds globally, thus no longer a local issue. LE’s trust and transparency is at issue overall. High tech crimes and technology have affected how LE responds and acts. As in the FBINAA article by Leonbruno, LE is not interacting personally with the community, but instead they are relying on their tech equipment. LE needs to still portray a positive image and relay accurate information without jeopardizing an investigation to the media. Community policing became important because LE was losing a connection with the public. Now we see implicit biases claims because there is no interaction between LE and the public. The public mistrust’s of police in general is exacerbated due to lack of accurate information, the influence of the media and the lack of connection LE has with the community.
