Leadership Styles of the Royal Bahamas Police Force - Research Paper Example

?Running head: THE ROYAL BAHAMAS Leadership Styles of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Its Impact on the Employees and the Country Insert Insert grade course Insert instructor’s name April 8, 2011 Outline Introduction The Royal Bahamas police force The leadership styles of the current commissioner vs. the past. Benefits of each form of leadership Democratic/participative Autocratic leadership The impact of the leadership at the Royal Bahamas police force on employees A comparative analysis of the RBFP with the Bahamas Electicity Corporation A comparative analysis of the RBFP with the Royal Customs Leadership styles of the royal Bahamas police force and its impact on the employees and the country Introduction Leadership styles within a body/ organization or an institution have a direct impact on the management as well employee performance and productivity. Leadership entails provision of divine directions by an authoritative individual or body, having been mandated by a functional body. Distinct entities have earlier practiced different leadership styles due to organizational or institutional settings in use. The royal Bahamas police force is a relevant example of variation in leadership styles, thereby experiencing different effects at distinct times and seasons. Leadership transitions are also a source of varying impacts among organizational employees as well as the entire leadership. Every country, however, usually has a security-keeping body that is charged with the responsibility of guarding the state as per the law requirements. Security bodies are usually in the leadership of royal commissioners, ordained by the minister for security in a nation, and serving under a president or rather the country’s overall leader, always the commander of the armed forces. The most commonly identified leadership styles within an organization or a state are democratic or autocratic. The democratic leadership is one where decision-making is not entirely for the overall leader, but provides a chance for the employees to demonstrate their participation in every activity of the institution. Mainly, the leadership management within a security body should distinctly differ from the leadership of business organization or any economic boosting corporation. Every form of leadership, however, has its benefits in addition to disadvantages, depending on its realms of practice. Most countries have long faced conflicts emanating from poor leadership as well as leadership misuse in the security institutions (Griffith, 1993). The discussion in this paper addresses leadership styles that have taken preeminence in the earlier years at the royal Bahamas police force, owing to the frequent change of the institutional commissioners. To enhance this understanding, it is ample to investigate into the impact of the styles of leadership at the royal Bahamas police force. It is also important to look into a comparative analysis of the RBFP with the Bahamas Electicity Corporation (a private corporation) as well as that of the RBFP with the Royal Customs (a public corporation). The Royal Bahamas Police Force The royal Bahamas police force is an entity that is charged with law enforcement in the Bahamas commonwealth. The Ministry of National Security portfolio is the main location of the RBPF in Bahamas. Its inception dates back in the 1840,s, with its initial stages comprising of only sixteen people, who were then under the leadership of General John Pinder. It also comprised of night guards as well as slaves who were willing to provide extra security to their nation. The inception of the force was not aimed at provision of military services, but rather patrolling the New Providence Island for twenty-four hours a day. Its progress was awesome and lasts for several years, which saw some members of the group being transferred to other neighboring islands to take patrol charge. The end of the 1840 saw the patrol consist of the Inspector General in addition to thirty Sergeants and Privates, as well as Corporals (Griffith, 1993). The force today constitutes of a massive group, within the management of a decree enforcement bureau, comprising of approximately 3000 security officers operating in the whole country. Among them are also police civilians as well as generals. Policing services are so prided to the residents and Bahamas aliens, controlling a 700 cays and islands archipelago. These islands are strewn at a distance of 258,998 square-kilometers of the Atlantic oceans. The force has long experienced distinct forms of leadership styles from different commissioners since its inception. The overall leader is a commissioner, assisted in leadership activities by a deputy commissioner, an executive body, as well as other lower leadership branches operating under the executive bodies. The ruling commissioner is superseded by the minister of security, also under the supersession of Queen Elizabeth 11 who is the commander of the armed forces (Strachan, 2010). The leadership styles of the current commissioner vs. the past The entire leadership of the RBPC force is entrusted in the hands of a police commissioner, sundry in the control of its overall activities. There have been major differences in existence between the leadership of the former police commissioner and that of the current commissioner. These two leadership forms have affected distinctly on the employees in the force as well as the country. First, the former leader has been utilizing an autocrative leadership style as compared to the current, who has been utilizing democratic/ participative leadership form. The autocratic style has long entailed the decision-making processes lying entirely in the hands of the commissioner, and the employees have to follow to the decisions without posing any query. On the hand, the democratic process entails the making of informed with the assistance of employee participation and their overall participation in the strategic implementation processes (Strachan, 2010). Reservations are part and parcel of the former commissioner as compared to the current commissioner who has an open heart that is able to accommodate the employees, who are to work below him and their weaknesses. The spirit of authoritativeness rests upon the heart of an autocratic leader as compared to a listening, correcting and understanding heart that is found in a democratic person. All the commissioners that have been in the position in the past years have had an experience of rampant challenges that were able to impact on the attitude of the employees as well as the country’s perception about the RBPF. A wind of change seems to have swept over the force in the recent years, with the current commissioner who offers room for debate in leadership and progress issues. This is contrary to the former commissioner, very decisive and determinative of the end results on a lone ground in addition to authorizing the employees to perform implementation procedures without questing them (Strachan, 2010). Benefits of each Form of Leadership Each leadership style applied by the former as well as the current commissioners respectively has successes and limitations. Democratic/participative Democratic leadership styles allow the employees at the RBPF to have a chance of making some decisions, whether they are later taken in as policies or not. It is also possible for cooperation and full participation spirits to spring up in this kind of leadership. Increased productivity is a major rationale where democracy takes preeminence for cooperation has to find its way in such organizations or firms. It is also easy to foster employees’ job satisfaction due to their inclusiveness in the decision-making processes. The job satisfaction aspect has a rationale over the promotion of the customer service, making the employees of the Royal Bahamas serve the nation appropriately leading to a nations’ satisfaction. The nation’s service delivery by the royal Bahamas police emanates from freedom offered to those in charge of providing the offer (Kleiman, 2011). On the other hand, democracy has a risk of offering a compromising ground for the overall leadership. According to Kleiman (2011), “broth spoilage occurs when too many cooks get involved in its preparation.” In addition, decision-making processes that involve all people may be accompanied by non-accomplishments and non-performance, where too many people feel that theirs are the best arguments. This may infect the services delivery and reduce productivity (Kleiman, 2011). Autocratic leadership Autocratic leadership has the advantage of enhancing short-term achievements within a group. The authoritative leaders will not provide room for questions on something already proposed; there measures of efficiency and effectiveness can easily be enhanced. On the other hand, Organizations governed and run through an autocratic system of leadership have the top management determine the direction of an organization in its following years after its inception. Nevertheless, due to difference in personality and character, it is not always easy for one to cope with an ever-changing environment. At the same time, it is not always easy to lead a group, since every team leader has his/her uniqueness, likes, and dislikes in addition to values and personality. Therefore, for everybody in the top management, it is always easy for them to flex their hearts in order to overcome barriers that exist between them and other lower level employees (Karatnycky, 2002). The Impact of the Leadership at the Royal Bahamas Police Force on Employees and the Country The RBPF plays a pivotal role in ensuring the progress of the country as well as its employees. The former autocratic leadership has been seen as a tool for ensuring delivery of security services to the nation by the employees. However, crime rates have continued to have their way in the recent few years, and an increased insecurity has ideally hit the nation. With the recent introduction of the leadership of Ellison E. Greens lade, Commissioner of Police, the mission achievements goals have taken an appropriate paths. Leadership within any organization fosters way for success, sustainability, and productivity, as well as employee performance. It has been possible to foster commitment of the employees via democratic leadership application at the force, where the employees have had room to participate in all the activities of the corporation. Job satisfaction has spearheaded the setting up of new strategies that are aimed at enhancing services delivery to the entire society. As a result, the country has long enjoyed security and peace maintained by the RBPF. The organ of the government has been an outgoing and outstanding one in the state to strategically prevent, intervene, as well as respond positively to the crime occurrence expectations (Karatnycky, 2002). Safety is a rationale that emanates from cooperation of the police officers. Commitment and excellence in service delivery has been part of the motto in operation in the RBPF. The continued economic growth in the Bahamas has been because of the RBPF efforts since promotion of peace has taken preeminence in the country. A multi-sectored approach has been enabled, which entails the involvement of all economic and business sectors in the maintenance of peace by all people. Emanating from the employees of the RBPF, a spirit of participation and cooperation has had its way into the economic sectors, which in turn is a prerequisite to the initiation of a Harambee spirit. Thus, facilitating the application of the motto of the security body, which advocates for, “Working together towards a safe Bahamas” (Strachan, 2010). A comparative analysis of the RBFP with the Bahamas Electicity Corporation The RBFP is an organization with the structure of any other operational corporation, regardless of its scope. However, quantitative analysis with private corporations portrays some pronounced distinctions. The Bahamas electricity corporation is a privately owned body, supplying electricity to the country’s society. The two are service providers to the nation of Bahamas ensuring satisfaction in terms of security as well as human sevices. The similarity is evident in the application of a hierarchical leadership in the two corporations, with a top most performing individual overseeing the organizational activities performance. They are both parts of the multi-sector that is involved in the interplay of fostering peace, security, crime prevention and intervention in the country (Strachan, 2010). However, as the Royal Bahamas Police Force provides security services in the country the electricity corporation provides electricity services to the country. As the RBPF is controlled and directly superseded by the government under the government act, the electricity corporation is a private one, which has no experience of the government’s direct control. The electric corporation fosters the activities that promote economic growth while the RBPF promotes social and effectiveness in the political governance realms. The leadership of the electric corporation is facilitated by the employment of a CEO as compared to the leadership of the RBPF, which is under the leadership of a commissioner (Strachan, 2010). A comparative analysis of the RBFP with the Royal Customs The RBPF and the Royal customs are crucial to the social, economic, and political life of the people in Bahamas. The Royal customs likens to the security force since they both have an experience of direct control by the government. Both are also parts of the economic promotion and multicultural sectors that are entitled to the e enhancement of the security. The royal customs is a body that does the role of collecting custom duties in the country form the economists, industrialists, as well as urban and agrarian promoters. Both are governed and superseded on by governmental ministries and organs that play the role of overall control. The service provision by the two organs entails interplay of factors that are aimed at promotion of individual’s economic stability, social fitness as well as political stability (Strachan, 2010). On the other hand, the inception of the royal customs body dates back in the 1979, while that of the RBPF dates back in the 1840s as a result of the rising security needs. More over, the customs body is charged with a responsibility of collecting custom duties from the sectors in the Bahamas while the RBPF is charged with the responsibility of enhancing security as well as the country’s safety. The management of the royal customs also entails a hierarchical arrangement with the CEO in the top-most position as other employees work under him for the facilitation of services implementation (Strachan, 2010). Conclusion Leadership styles within a body/ organization or an institution have a direct impact on the management as well employee performance and productivity. The royal Bahamas police force plays a pivotal role in the enhancement of security as well as safety in the country. The leadership styles within a body/ organization or an institution have a direct impact on the management as well employee performance and productivity. The leadership of the current as well as the former commissioner at RBPF has had great and distinct impacts on employees as well as the nation. Formerly, autocratic leadership versus democratic leadership has been experienced. Nevertheless, the RBPF compares analytically with private sectors and public sectors. However, more empirical and theoretical research should be conducted to reveal the best leadership styles that would enhance the performance as well as the RBPF sustainability. References Strachan, C. (2010). Flying the Pride. Bahamas: Xulon Press. Griffith, I. (1993). The Quest for Security in the Caribbean: Problems and Promises in Subordinate States. NY: M.E. Sharpe publishers. Karatnycky, A. (2002). Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties. NY: Transaction Publishers. Kleiman, M. (2011). Encyclopedia of Drug Policy. NY: SAGE publishers. Read More