Features

Be an Effective Leader
By Donald Patterson, Ph.D.

As in any organization, leaders of law enforcement agencies want to see results. At the core of their success is the ability to motivate employees to act. While some people may think of such influence in terms of strength, force, dominance, and control, it also can be subtle. Of course, any leader can use their official position within a department or group to get action from personnel. However, the most successful ones use their personal qualities to motivate their staff.

POSITIONAL AUTHORITY

Positional influence comes from a leader’s assignment within an agency. It does not extend upward or horizontally, only downward, and includes formal authority and the ability to reward and discipline.

Formal authority, or legitimate power, grows in scope and magnitude as someone’s rank increases. It is based on the organization’s rules and policies, which usually describe responsibilities or authorization to make decisions in terms of an individual’s position. For example, lieutenants may approve crime prevention programs, deployment strategies, and schedule rotations, as well as give orders to lower-ranking officers.

Examples of rewarding others for performance and behavior can include granting merit raises, promotions, assignments, vacations, awards, and flexible schedules. The rank of leaders and, often, the specific assignment, help determine the type of reward power they possess. For instance, the sergeant of a patrol shift may approve vacations or choice assignments, and the captain in charge of the motor pool may determine who gets new units first.

Disciplining employees for ineffectiveness or rule violations includes, perhaps, transfers, demotions, or suspensions. The amount and type of disciplinary authority also depends on a leader’s assignment and rank. For example, a sergeant may have authorization to counsel an employee but not to issue a letter of discipline. A lieutenant may be able to approve a letter of discipline but not to order days off as punishment.

Leaders who rely on their formal power as a control mechanism can lessen the chance of their employees’ success.¹ Some such individuals use demands and threats to achieve outcomes, striving not to understand the process of how their staff members achieve final results but only to issue commands and have them carried out without question or comment. Often, they view the organization as a machine and leadership as a science.² Police agency leaders who use such tactics may do so out of the belief that it is necessary to maintain control of officers during emergencies.

PERSONAL QUALITIES

Most law enforcement executives do not address crises every day. Instead, they primarily focus on their interactions with others. With their schedules revolving around meetings, projects, and committees, successful leaders recognize the importance of quality interpersonal skills. They realize that they operate in an environment in which they must influence even those beyond the scope of their authority, such as peers, superiors, and people outside the agency.³ To help create, forge, and maintain necessary relationships, they use their personal qualities, which include charisma, expertise, and knowledge.

	“…successful leaders…realize that…they must influence even those beyond the scope of their authority….”
	Dr. Patterson is the commander of the Santa Barbara County, California, Sheriff’s Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

Employees identify with and admire charismatic leaders who use their personality, excitement, and motivation to influence staff members. Many people lacking other leadership qualities can lead successfully because they have strong charisma.

Expertise refers to leaders’ mastery of a specific topic or skill. It includes their ability not only to perform the task themselves but also to facilitate others’ work in that area.⁴ People respect such leaders and find them credible.

Leaders obtain some knowledge because of their position, but they also gain a lot of it by seeking it out. And, they can influence the organization effectively by sharing that knowledge with others. Staff members prefer to be led that way.⁵ One of employees’ main complaints is the lack of communication between ranks and divisions. People must communicate and share information for successful interactions.⁶

Leadership as an Art

Effective leaders who use their personal strengths to influence others and achieve outcomes remain consistent, even when they move from one assignment to another. Personnel follow and respond to them. While many employees attempt excellence at work by nature, most excel because the organization’s leaders create a favorable environment, which includes quality interactions with peers, subordinates, and superiors.

Getting things done depends on relationships, which leaders enhance by exercising their personal influence factors.⁷ Today, many officers do not perform particular duties merely because someone tells them to—they want reasons for tasks or why certain policies and procedures exist. In short, they want communication and interaction with their superiors.

Leaders who use their own personal qualities to influence employees tend to view the organization as a living organism and an open, fluid system that, unlike a machine, changes, grows, and adapts. They see leadership as an art that they must practice, hone, and modify to maintain their effectiveness.⁸ When viewed this way, leadership is based not on a place in the organization but on an interactive process of honest, clear communication. Such a leadership style results in increased employee motivation, productivity, and job satisfaction.⁹

Practicing an art is a process. Effective leaders take the time and effort necessary to build relationships with their subordinates, peers, and superiors. Each interaction promotes, maintains, or inhibits a leader’s effectiveness. While the end goal may be known, the actual path is subject to influence. Successful leaders modify their leadership style based on these relationships. This is one of the characteristics of leaders who constantly practice the art of leadership—making decisions, adjusting, improving, listening, learning, and going forward.

Practical Approach

The author offers a practical model for leaders striving to successfully motivate their employees. It can be summarized by the acronym RACURP, which stands for rationality, acceptance, communication, understanding, reliability, and persuasion.¹⁰

• Rationality: Leaders should try to balance emotions and objectivity. While too little emotion impairs motivation and creativity, too much clouds judgment. Officers have physically survived based on concrete information. After spending most of their careers insulating themselves from their feelings, they do not want to hear emotional arguments or rationale. Leaders should concentrate on presenting facts.
• Acceptance: Law enforcement personnel tend to view disagreements as win-lose situations. And, barriers in relationships can occur in these instances. However, disagreements can be healthy; a diversity of opinions creates synergism. Successful leaders welcome differing viewpoints and input from others. Doing so allows conversation about and exploration of the topic. Otherwise, people do not know what they do not know. Honest disagreement usually results in better products and decisions.
• Communication: Leaders have a vested interest in maintaining working relationships with everyone they encounter. Communication makes this possible. To this end, successful leaders understand the importance of actively listening to others. While most people listen only briefly before they start formulating a response, leaders should put the effort and energy into truly understanding what their staff members say. And, they must take the time to craft their own message and make it clear.
• Understanding: Effective leaders seek to understand situations, as well as the opinions and positions of others. This allows them to resolve problems better. When interacting, they assume a need to learn more and delay making decisions until they grasp available and relevant information. Leaders realize that without concrete data about a situation, their minds will fill in the missing information based on, perhaps, inaccurate or limited perceptions, leading to faulty conclusions. By striving to understand, leaders can grasp and explain behavior or positions that may not make sense at first. Conversely, jumping to conclusions can hinder the opportunity to explore solutions successfully. Proper communication alleviates misunderstanding.
• Reliability: Successful leaders are reliable and consistent. They do not base their decisions and responses to situations on their feelings but on who they are and what they believe in. They only do things that better their interpersonal relationships and the organization, whether or not others reciprocate. Consistency breeds trust. For example, leaders who truly have an open-door policy will stop and listen to someone who walks into their office; if they simply do not have time, they should explain why and meet with that person as soon as possible. One instance of not having time for an employee could ruin a leader’s reputation for reliability. A single inconsistency can negatively impact communication and impair a leader’s flow of accurate and timely information. To maintain trust, leaders must provide support and encouragement and show true interest at all times.
• Persuasion: As a true act of leadership, persuasive leaders will use their personal influence, not coercive means, to help motivate employees. While honestly persuading others, truly effective leaders will try to minimize their use of positional power. High-performing leaders stand their ground on principle and let their personal strengths influence personnel.

CONCLUSION

Successful leaders help others around them succeed and see forward progress and completed projects. They empower others and get them committed to the goals and mission of the organization. Effective leaders help develop their employees, encouraging and enabling them to grow both professionally and personally. The success of these leaders stems from their personal qualities and support of others’ endeavors toward the accomplishment of the organization’s mission and goals. Truly successful leaders get things done through the artful application of personal influence.

Endnotes

¹ James Kouzes and Barry Posner, Leadership Challenge (San Franciso, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2003).

² Terry Mangan, personal conversation with author, FBI Academy, Executive Leadership Course, November 2004.

³ Daniel Katz and Robert Kahn, The Social Psychology of Organizations (New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1966).

⁴ John French and Bertram Raven, “The Bases of Social Power,” in Studies in Social Power, ed. Dorwin Cartwright (Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, 1959).

⁵ Donald Patterson, “Power in Law Enforcement: Subordinate Preference and Actual Use of Power in Special Weapons Teams (SWT)” (PhD diss., The Fielding Institute, Santa Barbara, CA, 1990).

⁶ Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, Crucial Conversations (Highstown, NJ: McGraw-Hill, 2002).

⁷ Robin Sharma, The Greatest Guide (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2006).

⁸ Terry Mangan, personal conversation with author, FBI Academy, Executive Leadership Course, November 2004.

⁹ Philip Podsakoff and Chester Schriesheim, “Field Studies of French and Raven’s Bases of Power: Critique, Reanalysis, and Suggestions for Future Research,” Psychological Bulletin 97, no. 3 (1985).

¹⁰ The author developed the acronym RACURP as a summary of the main interaction and conflict resolution strategies presented in a series of books that include Roger Fisher, Bruce Patton, and William Ury, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1991); Roger Fisher and Scott Brown, Getting Together: Building Relationships As We Negotiate (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1989); and Roger Fisher, Elizabeth Kopelman, and Andrea Schneider, Beyond Machiavelli: Tools for Coping with Conflict (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1996).

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June 2009 | FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin