“Leader becomes not because they have power, but because of their ability to empower others” - John Maxwell.
6100- Leadership Theory and Assessment
Name: Tosca
Larry Faerman, PhD
Florida Atlantic University
Date: 19-05-2015.
Abstract:
If we a take deep look at the law enforcement’s history, many styles have been used to lead employees, groups by leaders coming from democratic to transactional. The earlier styles that were prominent and rigid among the leaders are Autocratic leadership and Laissez-Faire leadership. These leaderships slowly evolved with perspective modulations to Participative (democratic) leadership, which bifurcated into …show more content…
Transactional and Transformational leaderships. What is a leadership? Leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this. Leadership has evolved down the timeline with many policies being incorporated into it while being applied large scale and small scale organizations. However, democratic style has gained quite an interest among the people with many leaders still clinging on to an antique and domineering style of leadership. This paper will provide you a suggested outline after identifying the traits of various leadership theories and adapt strategies that are required by analyzing and designing the policy culture that is required in the leadership. As the society is evolving, changes are mandatory to meet the needs of the organizations and their psychology in order to attain benefits in the competing world of 21st century. Stating several aspects of the leadership along with a depth review of goals and outcome which would help to meet the needs of the followers, and to which can aspire them towards self-actualization, this paper gives you a brief description of leadership plan.
Although, it’s not possible to provide an empirical research of the plan in this paper; the literature, blackboard, readings and various resources from internet are reviewed and analyzed to design the leader ship plan. This paper’s key role is to emphasize that a leader should be transformational with the employees, involving them in the decision-making process with a functional outline.
Introduction:
Leadership establishes sophistication in any organization. Therefore, even agencies like law enforcement require leadership to maintain an order. However, when the leadership turns dependable and apposite, the benefits turn larger in any agency (Spinelli, 2006). Leaders plan the outcome and the goal and aspire people towards the goal with desired modifications in the system.
Lussier & Achua (2004) stated that leadership is not merely an influence, but an inspiration which push people towards the accomplishment of the goals through organizational change. A well established leadership binds leaders with employees, target the organizational objectives, incorporates the psychological patterns of the people for the change and influence them accordingly. With seven billion people around the world, everyone leads someone somewhere at some point of their life. But the greatness exists in terms of where did they lead and how did they lead. The key point of being a good leader is to be a good follower, first.
Scholars often define leader as the one who plans, executes, implements, directs and guides the followers towards the mutual goal. Definitions of leadership changed from time to time with person to person and perception to perception. In 1999, Hesser noted that the leadership is a two component phenomena, both organizational and personal. He also added that success demands commitment and knowledge of both the components over time.
However, Spinelli’s definition of leadership has been pretty distinct from this. Spinelli (2006) stated that a leader should be suitable and accountable to be successful. On the other hand, Leadership was stated as trustful and influential relationship among the leader and the followers, in which changes and outcomes are the reflections of their shared interests and purposes (Daft, 2005).
Irrespective of the decision, the qualities remained same for the followership and an influential leadership (Daft).
The main characteristic required for a good leadership is the ability to be selfless while delivering the services to the organization and the followers and the ability to be a responsible personality (Clark, 1997).
According to ). Kouzes & Posner (2007), the best leader is the one who is deeply influential and the one who is interested in the follower’s psychology. Understanding the behavioral patterns, one should be able to change/modify the followers to bring the best out of them (Daft). An exemplary leadership is only achieved through shared vision, confronting the procedure, challenging it, influencing others to transform, enabling them to act, encouraging them to attain aspiration, modeling a specific way of living.
Leadership in the law enforcement culture has changed over the decades, but must continue to change in order to address modern day problems. The purpose for this paper is to examine police leadership from a historical and empirical standpoint and discuss possible theories for change. An in-depth review of the advantages and disadvantages of two leadership theories (transactional and transformational) are explored as well as the possible outcomes of …show more content…
each.
Leader Mission/Vision Statement:
Going through various discernments of leadership theories, one will have various thoughts and strategies about the execution of leadership. The course Leadership Theories and Practice through a profound teaching along with readings, literature has provided a cosmopolitan approach of leadership practice.
The self-assessment procedure along with the antique and modern theories creates a reflection on the current knowledge possessed by a person and change/transform the theories and styles of leadership. The modulation of mind set and skills that are required for a leadership are reflected in the following action plan creating a scope for the improvement and development of leadership skills. A useful personal leadership vision statement is the one that focuses action, provides direction, and inspires your stakeholders in all parts of life to move in a direction you choose — is a compelling image of an achievable future.
Leadership Development Plan Goals/Outcome:
The most efficient and sophisticated theory or style which enables assessment in leadership is situational approach of leadership.
Clawson (2006) stated the situational approach of leadership is the one in which the leader focuses on the contextual factors of the organization, to make it work accordingly (p. 386).
According to Hersey and Blanchard as quoted by (Clawson, 2006) the situational theory can be identified using a two dimensional grid of task orientation and people orientation. The situational approach used a contingent pattern of task and relations behavior with little evidence that this approached increased the effectiveness of the leader (Yukl, 2006).
The fundamental approach that has been taught to a beginner is the antique and domineering approach in which the goal is task oriented. One should transform one’s own self into a transformational leader with effective leadership. Yukl (2006) described a transformational leader as a leader that affects their followers to make necessary self-sacrifices to realize the mission goals of the organization
(p.248).
According to Burns as quoted by (Clawson, 2006), transformational leadership becomes moral raising the level of human conduct for both the leader and the led. Avolio and Yammarino (2002) discuss the characteristics of a transformational leader as being able to present a vision, a future goal or a new direction for the team or organization that they lead (p. 212).
The main characteristics for a transformational leader to be successful is the ability to display ethics and morals as a part of organizational psychology in developing shared visions, attaining goals, performing tasks in the team which will enhance the performance to higher levels. A situational approach should be blended along with various styles of leadership and merging them to one with the right set of leadership skills.
According to Jui-Chen & Silverthorne (2005), leaders seeking the best results from their leadership style do not want to rely on a single leadership style (p. 280). The idea that the true goal of leadership is the ability to do nothing is encapsulated by the Taoist term wu wei which has two meanings: "action without action" and "action that does not involve struggle or excessive effort."
The fundamental goals of the leadership plan are:
Facilitate Communication.
Motivate Team Members.
Planning.
Tracking Progress.
Leadership development activities:
Leadership Strengths:
According to Karkoulian, Messarra, & Sidani, (2009) agreeableness is a personality trait and is considerate of others opinions and feelings. The SAL Scores assessment is an inventory where the leadership skills are to be analyzed and calculated according to the basic definition of leadership. A type A personality is the one with a Jungian 16-type personality of ESTJ indicating that the person is logical, analytical, and decisive (Robins, 2007). According to Barrick and Mount, (1991) as quoted by (Karkoulian, Messarra, & Sidani, 2009) an agreeable individual is one who is sympathetic, tolerant, cooperative, and flexible. These qualities display a person as a leader and his approach in fulfilling the responsibilities of a leader. The leader should be sustained with a strong commitment toward goal attainment. One should focus on the end goal and allow that to drive the actions. Clawson stated that “Behaving as and becoming an effective leader is a secondary by-product of an intense commitment to a purpose” (Clawson, 2006, p. 117). The leadership strengths that one has are the abilities to develop relationships while maintaining a strong focus on task or goal realization.
Leadership Weaknesses:
The emotional intelligence score one has received on the SAL scores was 30 (Robins, 2007). This score indicates that the leader lets the emotions take over their actions in situations that he/she find stressful and this in return results in an emotional over reaction to the situation. The skills of communication are important in all leadership situations. Communication according to Hackman and Johnson (1991) as quoted by (Wren, 1995), leaders cannot be effective without the development of communication skills (p.428). Leader’s communication skills need to be improved; and a leader needs to work on both listening and clearly communicating my intended message.
The SAL scores also indicated that the leadership style has a high concern for people, a score of 10 and a low task concern score of 3 (Robins, 2007). The SAL scores for conflict handling indicated that the leader avoids conflict (16), accommodate (15), or compromise (14). Handling conflict is a component of emotional intelligence and a significant factor in the success of a leader. According to Dulewicz, Young, & Dulewicz, (2005), emotional intelligence makes the greatest contribution to overall performance of a leader (p. 77). To develop as a leader the improvement of the weaknesses identified will improve the leadership abilities and performance.
Leadership Gaps:
The gaps in the leadership skill set now are; balance between people and task orientation, communication effectiveness, and conflict handling strategies. One should improve on conflict handling skills, at the present time the leader needs to avoid conflict situations or subrogate views/position to resolve the conflict issues. One has to improve emotional intelligence abilities. Currently, being a people centered leader that puts the needs of the people one should lead first before task accomplishment. The communication skills possessed by a leader to improve to ensure the message that is intended to send reach the target audience and to develop better listening skills sets.
To become the transformational leader who inspires, one should realize a quantum jump in their abilities to succeed in the realization of task or mission accomplishment. A leader should develop emotional intelligence skill set to handle conflicts with logical decision making letting the emotion of the moment pass without display in the situation. To be a leader who is spoken about with respect and in a sense, one should possess wisdom to move the organization in the directions that is best for the organization and all the people in it. To be a successful leader, one should be a leader that is sought out for their views on varied subjects while their opinions are considered with great weight.
Summary:
The reflective leadership plan will be reviewed on every first of the month, to determine if the elements of the plan are correct or need to be revised. A weekly task list will be developed to be included in my outlook calendar to trigger the competition of the action plan. On intervals of six months this Plan will be fully rewritten to encompass current literature and course work ensuring that I am on target with my leadership development goals.
Conclusion:
This reflective leadership plan is a road map to become the transformational leader. This is a road map to improve communication and conflict handling skills. This plan will increase task concern while ensuring that people concerns are not eliminated. This plan will improve transformational abilities establishing leadership skill at the expert level within the organization.
Self Assessment:
The Self Assessment Tool is a basic guidance for the aspiring leaders with certain goals and motives based on the development in leadership and leadership practices. It provides a precision in the quality of leadership with different types of indicators.
The self assessment of personal leadership resources is based on research by Ken Leithwood and is designed to assist leaders in recognizing the personal characteristics associated with cognitive, social and psychological resources. These resources have been found to help enact the leadership practices more successfully.
Departmental Indicators:
Establish expectations for a safe, trusting, respectful working environment.
Model the belief that followers can learn to their full potential.
Articulate goals for followers.
Ensure equity of opportunity for all followers.
Demonstrate that collaborating is an ongoing and group effort between followers.
Aspiring Leader in the Organization:
How am I deepening and extending my working in the organization?
What am I doing in a more meaningful way to share my practices?
Organizational Indicators:
Model commitment to the organization’s shared vision.
Use relevant data to create divisional or department team goals aligned with initiatives in the improvement plan.
Lead teams and committees to
Establish improvement goals.
Foster continuous improvement.
Facilitate team effectiveness by valuing all members and ensuring meaningful collaboration.
Community Indicators:
Collaborate with colleagues from organizations.
Establish community partnerships and utilize their expertise for professional development (e.g., health, service agencies).
Gain experience at the system level – e.g., system committees, curriculum writing teams, union leadership opportunities.
Communicate effectively with the greater community.
Promote and demonstrate system/board vision to the greater community.
References:
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Dulewicz, C., Young, M., & Dulewicz, V. (2005). The relevance of emotional intelligence for leadership performance. Journal of General Management, 30(3), 71-86.
Jui-Chen, C., & Silverthorne, C. (2005). Leadership effectiveness, leadership style and employee readiness. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 26(3/4), 280-288.
Karkoulian, S., Messarra, L., & Sidani, M. (2009). Correlates of the bases of power and the big five personality traits: an empirical investigation. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 13, 71+. Retrieved October 8, 2011, from General OneFile.
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