Adoption of Transformational Leadership - Research Paper Example

Adoption of Transformational Leadership Abstract Leadership and humankind are inseparable. Every sector requires sound leadership to realize set goals and objectives. For instance, many police departments are facing problems concerning leadership because they have lagged behind in adopting changes in the leadership scene. Whenever such instances occurs, there is need to put strategies to correct failures that might hinder realization of long-term goals. This paper will highlight the need and benefits of adopting new leadership style, which might ultimately help solve the existing drawbacks. With the changing lifestyles, it elaborates the roles expected from a leader in the 21st century. In addition, it presents the two main categories of leadership in society today. One of these is transactional leadership. To meet the expectations of leadership as a social influence, the paper also presents the theories that support transactional leadership and its assumptions. Moreover, the effects of this leadership style and its inability to produce future leaders appear in the paper to serve as an effective contrast with transformational leadership. The paper will discuss transformational leadership in details as well as its effectiveness in transforming the society. After analysis of both types of leadership, the paper recommends transformational leadership as the potential solution to the agency’s problem. This is after a keen evaluation and a detailed analysis of the merits of the leadership. Finally, the paper will address the implementation phase elaborating the different programs and describing the assessment of progress. The paper will appreciate the potential of transformational leadership in satisfying an individual’s higher needs such as self-actualization leading to higher levels of effectiveness. Introduction In the 21st century, leadership styles have greatly changed. Leaders have realized that the old ways of leadership are less valuable today. In an era when human creativity and innovation is at its highest, leaders must adopt leadership styles that accommodate different personalities. World organizations are operating in different structures with a mission and vision in mind. Decision-making depends on the vision and mission. In addition, each individual lives up to personal objectives and goals. Employees expect to get some space in their workplace to apply their creativity. On a different note, each leader must have the ability to inspire and motivate employees. Most organizations have taken notice of the emerging employee needs. They are ready to adopt new forms of leadership in order to improve the effectiveness at the workplace. The police department cannot afford to lag behind and needs readjustment in leadership. This paper will address the different leadership styles designed today and highlight the most effective for the police department (Emery, 2012:1). Research Phase An overview of the structures that have existed in police agencies concerning leadership indicates that the power of command has been the commonest form of leadership. In previous centuries and part of this century as well, police agencies have operated within the power hierarchies that exist in the police department. Getting work done is highly determined by the power of command. Most police leaders have been using their power to get things done. However, the dissatisfaction among the police officers is clear evidence that things need a different approach. Most authors have noted the importance of a change in leadership to allow the officers to be more innovative and creative. The change must start from the top. The police boss must realize the need for change. The police chief has a relatively high influence on the officers because of his position and power. An adoption of an effective leadership style integrated with the power of command may bring a positive shift in the effectiveness of a police agency. An exploration of the varying leadership styles from other police agencies and other leaders from the both the public and private sectors provide worthwhile theories that if put into practice can change the current situation in the police department (Baker, 2011:73). According to Baker (2011:276), before adoption of a change in leadership, the head of the police department must understand the purpose of the changed role. In addition, preparation for the change in role is very essential. Preparation for the role must start from a mental outset that things need a different approach. Following this will be the formulation of a new structure that will accommodate the new role. Moreover, it is worth noting that the police head will require formulating ways in which the executive role will receive sustenance both internally and externally. In a contemporary police setting, the police heads and managers need to play a complex role. The role involves decision-making, community leadership, facilitation, management, mastering tasks, leading, disciplining, being agents of change, educating, ministering, administrating, developing new leadership strategies, and mentoring. The role is complex but it effectively brings out the bigger picture of a more effective leader of the police department in this era. The responsibilities associated with the role surround all aspects of the leader’s place of work. They touch on aspects concerning the work force, departmental issues, community, body in charge, and the personal profession. Embracing the complex role may not be a radical change due to human limitations. However, a stepwise and integrated approach can aid in actualizing of the change. The process must move from a leadership theory to a practical endeavor (Mitchell and Casey, 2007:136). According to Mitchell and Casey (2007:19), the police head must be able to deliver to the community majorly through effective communication and collaboration. In addition, it is essential to form relevant partnerships and have a clear understanding of the needs of the community. From such an understanding, a police chief would have an idea of how his leadership will affect the society. It is worth mentioning that a good relationship and a favorable workplace provided by a police chief to police officers translate to better service to the community. Concerning the leader’s responsibilities to the department and workforce, an effective leader must work on some duties. The leader should realize that he has a responsibility of molding some of the employees to become the future leaders. Good leadership must ensure continuity by up building the young and less experienced. A police agency should provide career opportunities for the employees. This should include the formulation of clear concepts on careers and effective mentoring on talent and skill development. Effective leadership should have its basis on integrity and respect. An agency must provide the principles and a code of values that officers must uphold at all times (Mitchell and Casey, 2007:136). It is essential for the agency to create an environment where officers experience equity in terms of treatment. One cannot undermine the value of an agency to provide all resources for the officers in good time. It is evident that each police chief must do things geared towards improving and maintaining the integrity of the police profession. There are several ways of doing this and involves developing a worthwhile leadership policy that applies to each office and officer. It also entails mentoring and building of more effective leaders from among the employees. In addition, this responsibility requires a head of the police and other managers in the force to uplift the professional standards of the officer at all times (Mitchell and Casey, 2007:195). From the outlined responsibilities of the changing role of police executives in any agency, it is worthwhile to analyze the available leadership styles and identify which of them can enable the executives to carry out the above responsibilities effectively. For a police agency to function effectively, the executives must influence the police officers in various ways so that they stand in a position to function more effectively. This has proved itself a fact standing the test of times in several organizations. A research carried out in Britain indicates that police officers have their expectations on the type of leadership their executives portray. For them, an effective leader must portray commitment and strive to ensure that the community receives quality service. According to the police officers interviewed, the executives must offer relevant support to the police officers to ensure efficiency. In addition, it is important for leaders to maintain remarkable standards both at the personal and professional level. The study also revealed that police officers realized that the leaders had a responsibility of mentoring, educating, and developing future staff. Moreover, the study revealed that good leaders are those in possession of adequate knowledge and relevant skills. It is worth noting that this study highlighted that police officers experience a psychological effect from the type of leadership in place (Madueke, 2010:49). Consequently, their performance, morale and satisfaction level reveal this effect. It becomes a key concern for leaders of police agencies to adopt leadership that can have positive impact on its employees for it to be effective. There are two broad categories of leadership described by researchers as the commonest in many police departments and other organizations. In the police setting, many researchers have recommended an integration of both types of leadership. It is wise to highlight the key principles of both types of leadership. Transactional leadership is one of the broad categories of leadership. In this leadership, the leader takes the role of a supervisor, organizer, and focuses on the performance on the group. In such a leadership, the leaders expect the people to give their best as long as they receive outright command on how to perform. In return, the people receive rewards if they succeed and punishment if they cannot remain competent. The followers of the leader in such a leadership strive to make the instructions they receive the key focus of their work. The leaders assume that without supervision the people cannot produce the desired results. In a transactional setting, an individual avoids any forms of innovation and creativity and adheres strictly to the already set rules, standard operating procedures, and standards. The leaders believe that the employees are getting a reward for the work they are doing and should therefore produce their best (Madueke, 2010:47). Failure to bring the expected outcome, they bear the consequences and blame. Often, leaders use four key strategies in ensuring the employees do their best. One of them is by use of contingent rewards. This strategy works when the employer makes mutual agreements with the employees. The employer provides the necessary resources and instructions and expects the employee to keep rolling. The employer defines goals that the employee can achieve and designs how the employee can reach such goals. In this way, the employee works because of the reward at the end of the journey. In a different strategy, the employer chooses to manage the activities of the employee actively by a keen monitoring of all their ventures. In this monitoring, the employer seeks to identify whether the employee deviates from set out procedures. Other transactional leaders commit to a more passive way of monitoring the employees. The employer gives the instructions, sits back, and only intervenes when there is need to do so. The need only arises when problems, challenges, or deviations from the norm occur. In a different strategy, some transactional leaders choose to present the employee with many opportunities and expect them to make relevant decisions. The leader does not symbolically shepherd the employees and they eventually lose direction. As Madueke (2010:47) compares leaderships, he mentions that transactional leadership functions within well laid out structure and culture. In such a chain, it is easy for employees to receive and follow orders. The employees lack the opportunity to define their scope of potential as regards the objectives of the organization. Most of them give outcome far below their potential. Transactional leaders tend work from a responsive approach. They motivate those under them by promise of reward. The leader takes a caretaker position. Effects of Transactional Leadership on the Organization and on the Followers Researchers consider transactional leadership as the earliest form of leadership that man adopted. People have wanted to dominate others over time. Several theories have explained the form of dominance that results in transactional leadership. Many transactional leaders rarely take notice of the effects of their style of leadership. In the first place, this form of leadership believes in motivation through reward or punishment (Madueke, 2010:84). This affects the dignity accorded to humans as individualistic beings who can reason and make rational decisions. This form of leadership denies the followers any opportunity of being able to express their creativity and criticality. The followers only obey commands. They carry out instructions that they do not even view as logical at times. Followers need space to be able to put their creativity, authenticity, and criticality into use. In most cases, the relationship between transactional leaders and their followers is that of fear and not respect. The followers often obey out of fear but not out of will. These are reasons why most employees celebrate when the boss is not at work. Worse still, the reward system takes advantage of the hierarchical order of an individual’s need. Basic needs are necessary for the individual to survive. If the motivation from leader comes in form of incentives, the follower will perform in order to receive the reward. These followers rarely get to satisfy their higher needs such as self-actualization. This is the reason why many individuals today live far below their potential. An individual who does realize the higher needs never finds fulfillment in life. In any case, work should be fulfilling (Bosher and Hazlewood, 2008:57). However, many people in transactional structures work for the money. With time, the lives of these followers find their drive in reward and not from values. In transactional structures where leaders use passive exception to manage, things often get out of hand. The followers have to make decisions for the organization while it is not in their capacity to do so. Since these followers take up the responsibilities without direction and vision, an organization stands the risk of losing integrity. In other cases, if the followers rely on the culture of receiving and obeying instructions, the organization collapses if anything happens to the leader. This is the case because the subordinates find themselves stranded if they no longer receive commands. This brings to attention the essence of current leaders taking responsibilities to mold followers into future leaders. Transactional leadership denies subordinates any opportunity of self-discovery, learning, and development to acquire leadership qualities (Madueke, 2010:92). In other organizations, the motivation through reward has negative effects to the organization. The followers develop a negative spirit of unnecessary competition for the rewards. Instead of collaborating with other employees for good of the organization, followers will selfishly work towards achieving their selfish interests. In such organizations, some followers strive to find favor in the eyes of the leader. Other followers often feel unappreciated for their abilities. In extreme cases, malice develops in the workplace. When competition reaches its worst levels, the organization experiences negative effects. It may lose its efficiency because teamwork is impossible when competition reigns (Bosher and Hazlewood, 2008:83). On the other hand, there are transformational leaders. The concept of transformational leaders is the product of Burns. These strive to lay a vision for the group. They have a commitment and dedication towards achieving the vision. According to Brower and Balch (2005:24), these leaders have a sense of faith in themselves and their followers. They realize that with the right kind of motivation and inspiration, the followers can work together towards the long-term vision they have set. At times, they may have thought of the way towards achieving. At other times, transformational leaders believe they will find a way towards achieving their objectives. Transformational leaders portray passion in what they do and seek to instill passion and enthusiasm in their followers. They believe that their outcome must come alongside positive impact in them and their followers (Batts, Smoot, and Ellen, 2012). To these leaders, each individual has a role to play and they take the responsibility to instill drive in the people so that they perform. According to Brower and Balch (2005:58), transformational leaders use several strategies. One of the powerful strategies is the use of charisma. Charisma drives an individual to portray behavior that is worth the admiration of others. In addition, charisma acts like a magnet that pulls others to an individual. When a leader puts charisma into the right use, a leader can have massive influence to the followers. A transformational leader has a unique set of personal values, ideals, and ideas. When charisma a draws others to such a leader, it is easy for the followers to buy such principles and values. When those values focus on achieving an organization’s vision, they give the followers a reason to work towards the organization’s objectives. Being charismatic requires an individual to apply certain values in every aspect. Charisma helps the people develop a sense of trust in the leader. The second strategy used by transformational leaders involves using inspiration and motivation to put people onto the path of working towards the vision. These leaders are able to communicate in ways that capture the attention of the followers. They bring out the purpose of working towards the vision. They share their inner drive and faith with the followers. Through this, the followers begin to realize that future goals are worth achieving (Dobby, Anscombe, and Turrin, 2004:9). This inspiration implants a spirit of possibility in the followers. The followers experience a form of inner transformation and begin to share the passion of the leader. It is essential for the leader to impart the sense of purpose in the followers. These leaders must come up with persuasive ways to convince the followers (Brower and Balch, 2005:37). According to Madueke (2010:50), transformational leaders have the ability to stimulate their followers intellectually. They give the followers an impulse to develop creativity and innovation. These leaders can wisely determine when it is worth taking a risk and bringing new products and services into the market. They devise ways of soliciting new ideas from their followers and appreciate their contribution. Transformational leaders give their followers the space to come up with viable ideas that help the organization to achieve its goals. Followers with such space are able to form connections with the leader. As Brower and Balch (2005:50) state, they have an idea of the organization’s destiny and are in a better position to visualize ways of getting there. In addition, transformational leaders realize the importance of understanding the individual needs of each follower. These leaders have the power of listening and they portray respect to each individual. Transformational leaders appreciate diversity among the followers. They realize that diversity of thought forms different centers of innovation and this is an advantage to the organization. In such an environment, each individual feels motivated to undergo a process of self-actualization and appreciation. In such a transformed state of the mind, the individual can perform effectively (Lussier and Achua, 2010:264). Effects of Transformational Leadership on Organizations and Followers Transformational leadership has positive effects on both organizations and the followers. In the first place, each individual gets an opportunity of attaining the higher needs. This is often fulfilling. The followers find a drive to work in the values portrayed by the leaders. This type of leadership advances society because it transforms individuals to a higher moral level. The followers often feel appreciated and they can strive to contribute positively to the organization (Lussier and Achua, 2010:339). The organization generally has a clear sense of direction known by each follower and gains higher integrity. This systems molds leaders and in the absence of the executives, the organization can still achieve its goals. Implementation Phase After analyzing the two broad categories and explored their aspects, it becomes possible to address the leadership problem in a police agency. According to Gaines and Worrall (2012:109), It is worth noting that the current situation maybe unique to the police department because of its ranks and power chains. However, it is possible to embrace change. The change will start from a re-evaluation of oneself. This compels the leader to examine his feelings and thoughts afresh. It is essential for the leader to take notice of the inner passions, potential, and interest. Now, much of the leadership in the agency has been transactional. For a long period, it has brought out some positive outcome. However, the realization that there is a problem in the relationship between the leaders and the employees has opened up new realms of thinking. There are more problems than one could initially see. The police officers performance and attitude is a result of the influence of the leadership in place. The police department has defined operations and systems that have matched transactional leadership well. However, adoption of transformational leadership will transform every individual in the agency. The first step is building an inner inspiration and motivation (Bosher and Hazlewood, 2008:40). Consultation with the chief of police will yield reliable information of sources of funds to support this program. It is importance if the chief realizes the importance of a change in leadership style. He realizes the current shortcomings of the existing leadership. All the details and aspects of the desired change highlighted above will open his mind up to the new type of leadership. Having initiated the probe into the current problem, he will be willing to listen. This will make it possible for the change to start at the top (Villiers, 2009:23). In the past, there has been little connection between the leaders of the agency and the police officers. It is time to build a connection with the sergeants and police officers. It is essential to understand their circumstances. Another form of connection will come through building charisma. Charisma will only come if there is a clear set of professional, ethical, and social values and principles that determine decision-making in each venture. In addition, the sergeants will receive a communication concerning the agency’s vision. The communication will request them to come up with ideas of how the agency can achieve. Above all, there is a personal goal aimed at becoming an authentic individual. It is assuring to realize that with authenticity, it possible portray honesty and act genuinely. This will definitely have an effect on the emotions of the sergeants and officers. Working on effective communication that will convey a sense of purpose to the employees will be fundamental in bringing out any transformation in them. Development of passion for the profession will be of great help in execution of the agency’s objective. The sergeants and officers need freedom that will foster intellectual creativity. The agency has numerous challenges to address and each of the employees has capacity to contribute towards achieving the goals of the agency (Prenzler, 2012:80). Inspiring them will make them realize that they are an independent creative centre that can produce unique ideas. Soliciting ideas from them will help define the way towards achieving the agency’s vision. It will be important to highlight to them the importance of seeking new challenges that will help them grow. In any case, with the right attitude, they will hold the post of deputy commander in the future. Mentoring will help nurture the competencies in them. Mentoring the sergeants and officers to develop transformational leadership skills will be a process. With consultation from authorities on the importance of developing a motivated and committed workforce, it will be possible to solicit funds to support the mentoring and career opportunities. Facilitators of leadership courses will conduct the trainings to the entire agency. It is important if the entire agency realizes the essence of the new form of leadership. From now onwards, there will be individualization of the officers and sergeants. Each individual will receive a session to express his or her views and concerns. In addition, there will be a look out for individual potentials, appreciation, and recommendation (Villiers, 2009:37). In the next six months, the agency should have visible steps towards the adoption of transformational leadership. From the experience of other organizations, the process requires commitment. The commitment of the sergeants and police officers will be important. However, it is worth noting that having realized the need to adopt change, personal commitment to the course of change will make the course easier. An assessment of the changes experienced by the sergeants and officers in six months will help rate the progress of the agency. The assessment will involve questionnaires that the officers will fill in. The ability to tackle upcoming challenges from a proactive approach will also determine the progress (Villiers, 2009:42). In addition, the resilience to live up to a vision with a strong motivation will put the commitment to transformation to test. There is optimism that the agency’s situation will change for the better. With the clear understanding of the roles played by a transformational leader, there is readiness to take the challenge. Transformational leadership will transform each individual in the agency to a higher sense of actualization and moral values. It will bring out more self-aware individuals who can collaborate effectively for the efficiency of the agency. Transformational leadership is definitely the solution to the current situation. References Baker, A. (2012). Police Leader’s Evolving Efforts to Defend Surveillance. New York Times. Retrieved on 29th Sep. 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/nyregion/kelly-appears-on-defensive-over-wide-muslim-monitoring.html?_r=0 Baker, T. E. (2011). Effective police leadership: Moving beyond management. Flushing, NY: Looseleaf Law Publications, Inc. 1-300. Batts, A.W., Smoot, M.S. and Ellen, S. (2012). Police Leadership Challenges in a Changing World. 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