Assessment Leadership Portfolio - Personal Statement Example

Assessment Leadership Portfolio for (7038CCJ STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE) Name of the Student Subject Name of the Concerned Professor October 22, 2011 Assessment Leadership Portfolio for Subject (7038CCJ STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE) Part I: Self Assessment The self assessment presented is based on the insights gained from the completion of the leadership instrument given at the end of the textbook chapter. In case of the leadership style appropriate for organizations undergoing a strategic change as in the case of organizational downsizing and consolidation, I found that my leadership style as per the situational model of leadership was apt and supportive and low-directive in its approach. There is no denying the fact that in case of the public safety environments undergoing a strategic change, it is most appropriate to locate the suitably skilled and experienced subordinates and to delegate the well defined responsibilities to them, while extending the requisite inputs and encouragement (Randall, 2004, p. 108). In case of the organizational problems like a lack of follow-through by the employees who are enthusiastic but not appropriately skilled, it is much better to resort to a transformational approach towards leadership that involves bringing up the desired changes in the concerned employees approach by building relationships with them and by extending the required help and support (Bass, 1998, p. 11). I found out that my leadership approach in such cases tilted more towards an authoritarian manner. However, in a pragmatic and theoretical context, the right way is to assign the motivated but inaptly skilled employees, the well defined job profiles, backed by a systematic and continual monitoring. I also realized that even when the team members are allocated responsibilities, backed by commensurate enunciation of the accompanying responsibilities and the expected level of job performance, still there may be some situations when employees may get demoralized and de-motivated owing to temporary setbacks. This insight was indeed a revelation. I personally do feel that under such circumstances, it may get imperative for a team leader to come out as supportive and helpful and allow ample empowerment to the team members by extending to them a say in the decision making process (Castellan, 1993, p. 250). Such an approach affords the team members a better insight into what needs to be done, and makes them feel empowered and responsible. It is my personal opinion that that many a time, a leader may come across a team member who is suitably experienced and skilled to take the onus for a specific project. However, such a person may be held back by self doubts and personal fears. In such scenarios I believe that it is more appropriate to engage in a one to one conversation with such team members and to positively redress their fears and doubts. I found myself a little mistaken in handling such situations as many a time I resorted to communicating with such followers in a group environment, which left them more doubtful and intimated. I really need to work on these aspects of leadership. There is a growing realization in me that a leader should resort to a group or individual conversation, depending on the need of the situation at hand. The completion of the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) Measure task helped me a lot in realizing the respective strengths and weaknesses of my personal leadership profile. After attempting this task it became amply clear to me that while working with a team in a public safety environment, it s a must for a leaders to understand as to whether one’s leadership style is task motivated, independent or relationship motivated. A task motivated leader always prefers to set goals, structure the tasks to be performed and to measure the performance (Chemers, 1997, p. 38). In contrast, independent leaders tend to be creative and self motivated and bear with little intervention in their work (Bass, 2000, p. 5). I personally found out that I am relationship motivated leader. It is my fast held belief that for a leader to be successful, it is very important to strike positive relationships with the group members and to ameliorate the factors that cause friction in a team and de-motivate the team members. I do know that being a relationship motivated leader, I tend to trust the people who follow me and do respect their ideas, views, opinions and feelings. I know that if I further refine and better my relationship motivated approach towards leadership, it will go a long way in helping me become a successful public safety leader. After completing the Path-Goal Leadership Questionnaire I came to the conclusion that while operating in team scenarios, I predominantly opted for Support Style and Participative Style models of leadership. I do prefer to forge cohesive professional relations with my team members and tend to support them with the necessary advice, insights and inputs so as to help them be both an individual and professional success (Fairholm, 1998, p. 95). I do believe in teaching by example and under tough situations I do prefer to participate in the activities and decisions taken by the team to accomplish the envisaged goals and targets. I only tend to be Directive in my leadership approach when I need to delegate the responsibility for a specific task to an employee or a select team. Under such situations I do feel that the concerned followers ought to have access to the well defined charter of responsibilities assigned to them and must be clear about what is expected of them. I also believe that the collective group responsibilities do take precedence over the individual achievements. My professional leadership style is conversant with the fact that when leaders and followers have positive and meaningful exchanges with each other, both of them tend to feel better and accomplished. In that context I do adhere to the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory in the sense that I do believe that as a leader I simply cannot afford to extend the same attention and support to every team member (London, 2001, p. 207). There are some team members who tend to be more responsible, and have the required competencies and accomplishments (London, 2001, p. 207). Focusing mostly on such in-group followers helps the leaders develop a pool of followers who tend to be trustworthy and dependable. Part 2: Goal Setting and Action Planning The insights accrued from the drafting of the above personal leadership profile extended to me ample feedback regarding the changes and adjustments I need to make into my leadership style to be an effective leader in the police services. Not only I recognized a need to be conversant with the theoretical and practical aspects of the varied leadership models that are charismatic, authoritative, and directive, but also the necessity to develop the accompanying leadership skills like good listening skills, ability to be culturally sensitive in a multicultural team environment, ability to motivate and the accompanying emotional intelligence. In the future assignments as a police services leader, I will make it a point to identify and compile a set of subordinates and followers, who not only have the appropriate experience, but also have the accompanying skills and academic credentials. A successful police services leader need to be cognizant of the experience and skills profiles of the varied team members serving with one. During crises, it is these assorted set of followers who could be relied upon to manage major organizational changes. The contemporary scenarios that the police officers have to deal with are marked by their versatility and highly differentiated nature. Such scenarios tend to be unique and isolated in the challenges they give way to and require ample ingenuity and creativity on the part of a police leader. So a police leader needs to be conversant with the theoretical and implicational aspects of varied leadership models and styles. During the compilation of the leadership profile I came to the conclusion that I am at home with varied leadership styles like transformational leadership and have a relationship oriented approach towards leadership. However, I need to be conversant with many other leadership approaches like authoritarian, charismatic, directive and accomplishment oriented. Though I have a transformational and relationship oriented approach towards leadership, I do feel that all the situations and challenges that one comes across in a police services environment cannot be appropriately dealt with using these approaches. Sometimes the top to down authoritarian approach and personality driven charismatic approach does work wonders. Proficiency in authoritarian model of leadership will help me deal better with situations where one has little inputs from the followers and the task of decision making is left to the leader (Williams, 1998, p. 37). Many a time police officers have to deal with such situations. This will help take decisions in public safety environments where I may be required to take quick decisions without ample inputs. Besides, knowledge and practice of an authoritarian approach will help me exert a strong leadership in projects which require quick and efficient completion (Williams, 1998, p. 38). Also, commonsensical observations by the experienced police officers do corroborate to the fact that under some peculiarly stressful situations, the followers and team members do prefer and authoritarian leader. So, one goal that I have set for myself is to be more comfortable with the authoritarian style of leadership, without succumbing to the temptation of being a hardcore authoritarian police officer. After analysing the leadership profile I drafted, I have realized that the other leadership model I need to be comfortable with is the charismatic approach towards leadership. A charismatic leader mostly relies on one’s demeanour and personality to sell one’s vision (Sosik, 2000, p. 63). The mastery of charismatic leadership style requires development of varied minute details like the suitable and apt body language; ability to focus on the followers a leader interacts with, the panache for knowing about the details regarding one’s followers, etc. Many a times the police services are required to unleash a change in the police procedures and approaches (Sosik, 2000, p. 64). The personnel often do find it difficult to accept change. Under such situations, the charismatic leaders do come handy. Besides, charismatic leaders do have the ability to inspire the followers by their personal decorum and personality. To be conversant with the authoritarian and charismatic approach towards leadership, I plan to research and study the available academic and online sources pertaining to these leadership styles. Besides, I will make it a point to consciously practice the nuances of these leadership styles on a regular basis and to make them a part of my professional demeanour. Moreover, a hold over these styles will harmonize and balance my over-soft approach towards leadership. The other factor that I have realized that contributes to my inefficiency with some leadership approaches is that I think I am not a good listener. I do believe that an effective police leader needs to be a good listener. I do often tend to listen to my followers, without being emotionally and intellectually sensitive to what they say. So I need to read about, practice and master the skills that go into being an effective listener. One more thing that has caught my attention is that the contemporary police officers are required to perform in a multicultural environment. I badly feel that I need to develop the ability to be able to interact effectively with different cultures (Hogan, 2008, p. 55). So I plan to study the available theories of cultural competence and am dedicated to be a culturally competent leader. There is no denying the fact that in almost all the existing models of leadership, the ability to motivate on the part of a leader plays a central role. It is not only imperative for a police officer to motivate one’s subordinates, but is also important for one to have the ability to keep oneself motivated. So I will make a dedicated effort to develop a positive outlook towards life, and to consciously muster the requisite emotional intelligence, to be able to motivate others. Conclusion Compilation of this leadership profile was indeed an eye opener. It not only made me aware of the leadership styles that I have a natural aptitude for, but also nudged me to master the leadership approaches that I am less comfortable with. The plan I compiled in Part 2 will practically help me develop the requisite skills and abilities to be an effective police officer. References Bass, Bernard M. (1998). Transformational Leadership. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Bass, Bernard M. (2000). The Future of Leadership in Learning Organizations. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(3), 3-10. Castellan, N John. (1993). Individual and Group Decision Making. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Chemers, Martin M. (1997). An Integrative Theory of Leadership. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Fairholm, Gilbert W. (1998). Perspectives on Leadership. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. Hogan, Thomas J. (2008). The Adaptive Leadership Maturity Model. Organization Development, 26(1), 55-56. London, Manuel (Ed.). (2001). How People Evaluate others in Organizations. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Randall, Julian. (2004). Managing Change/Changing Managers. London: Routledge. Sosik, John H. (2000). The Role of Personal Meaning in Charismatic Leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(2), 60-67. Williams, Michael R. (1998). Mastering Leadership. 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