The Role of the leader
Scenario
You are working within the Human Resources Department of a Public Service of your choice. You have just recruited a number of Officers who need to develop their leadership skills. As part of the training course you must create a website that outlines all of the different leadership styles.
After your initial training, as a new leader, you have been asked to find out a little bit more about different leadership styles. You have been asked by your line Manager to focus your website on 2 contrasting leadership styles. You have been asked to provide examples of when these styles are used in the Public Services and you have been asked to comment on their effectiveness.
You are working within the Human Resources Department of a Public Service of your choice. You have just recruited a number of Officers who need to develop their leadership skills. As part of the training course you must create a website that outlines all of the different leadership styles.
After your initial training, as a new leader, you have been asked to find out a little bit more about different leadership styles. You have been asked by your line Manager to focus your website on 2 contrasting leadership styles. You have been asked to provide examples of when these styles are used in the Public Services and you have been asked to comment on their effectiveness.
LEadership styles
Democratic Leadership - This style of leadership is when the leader takes in the views of team members but still keeps control over the team. The leader also keeps the team noted of upcoming issues rather than keeping this confidential. What this leadership does is it encourages each member of the team to play a part in the decision making process. The leader still is in charge of the final decision, but the team members will feel like their views matter to the task. This gives each member a sense of responsibility and will make them want to put full effort into the operation. What this style allows is to have the expertise and special areas of each member to be collated in a final group effort. An example of this is in the police when the police chief gathers all the senior officers to work out strategies to catch a certain suspect.
The advantage of this is a style that gains high respect from the employees as they feel like their ideas are being noticed, qualities and skills of each member is brought forward in a mixed group effort and staff feel as if the more they contribute, the higher their chance of promotion, giving them motivation. The disadvantage of this style of leadership is that decisions and discussions take time to make and in a public service decisions need to be made promptly. Also sometimes bringing in a team of officers to discuss a matter can be costly to the force as they could be more needed elsewhere. Image source: outlookafghanistan.net. Transactional Leadership - This form of leadership shares many characteristics as autocratic, but it doesn't quite reach the extremes of it. Similar to autocratic leaders, transactional leaders have a very direct delegation of work and dominate. They spend much of their time informing team members of their potential if they work for it. In a business, people may get rewards such as bonuses, time off or skill development. This is given if they show the organisation's management that they give good performance to the team. A public services example would be in the military when soldiers perform badly they are punished to physical punishments or given less time off. If they do well they are rewarded with honours as well as some physical rewards like extra time off.
The benefits of this form of leadership is the leader oversees all the performance of the entire team. Also, rewards are given as incentives to motivate team members into putting more effort into tasks as well as working harder. Other benefits include; solid chain of command is in place, disciplinary systems are implemented and it guarantees consistent work. Disadvantages also apply to this type of leadership. The team members might not get the job satisfaction they would in other forms of leadership as they work towards getting rewards rather than being satisfied with their outcomes in the place of work. Also, team members have no authority and must do what their told, giving them no room for using their initiative. It becomes like a form of bribery to do a job rather than being emotionally happy about their job and task in hand. Image source: www.sfgate.com. |
Autocratic/Authoritarian Leadership - This is a direct form of leadership when the leader of the team passes direct orders to the team. They tell them exactly what they must do without taking in their consideration. There is no form of negotiation from the team members. This can be used when you as the leader have all the required information in order to solve the problem. This also helps when you have a deadline to meet. It will only work if the team is motivated to listen and take orders from the leader. A public service scenario would be in the fire services if they are on emergency response to a burning building, decisions need to be made quickly and promptly therefore this leadership style works perfectly as only one individual comes up with the strategy.
The advantages of this style of leadership includes the fact that the style keeps order and discipline in the team members, it allows teams in the public to move quickly and make prompt decisions, it allows the experienced leaders to make the decisions and it lets inexperienced team members to know exactly what they need to do. The disadvantage of this leadership style is team members gain less responsibility for their actions, staff may find the orders too much and cause an increased staff turnover, the individuals of the team will not have the opportunity to develop their initiative and staff may feel that they should be resentful. Image source: www.northplainfield.org. Laissez-Faire Leadership - This style of leadership is very different to the above two. It can also be called the "hands-off" approach to leadership as the leader does not take quite as much control over the team as the others. What the leader does is he/she allows the group to make decisions themselves and let them use their initiative to forming their own roles and responsibilities. The individuals under the reign of this form of leadership have very little guidance but they have great quantities of freedom and power to do what they like. To make themselves successful, they must be able to solve issues instantaneously or at least as quickly as possible, as well as to deal with difficulties. For a leader, this is a very difficult type of leadership to transition into as they are giving up much of their authority and power of the team. In addition, people who don't have a great deal of self-initiative will find it very difficult to work under these conditions as they have no one over their shoulder to point them in the right direction, they are on their own. This form of leadership is very useful when each member of the team are motivated and have some incentive to complete the tasks at hand. These members should usually be well trained in order to let the management let them do what they want. It is key that the leader in a group under the "laissez-faire" style has great trust in his group as at the end of the day they are producing the results and if they perform poorly, people will look at them. A bad way of using this leadership style is when the leader has very little skill or knowledge for the job and just delegates responsibility and let them do what they want. Also, it will not work effectively with staff with little knowledge or experience. An example of this form of leadership in the public services is when there is a minor fire possibly at a small shop where the fire services know exactly what to do without being told. The form of leadership does not apply to the fire services all the time, but in this case the leader leaves the members of the team to use their initiative. Image source: sunlanshou.en.ec21.com
Transformational Leadership - this type of leadership is when a leader encourages team members by identifying their potential if they put in their full effort. They have a clear vision of what they would like to have achieved. He/she will ensure that the team is fully aware of all the goals. They would strategise how to reach this vision and look at them in the long term rather than short. This type of leader takes all responsibility and does not put blame on their team. They are there for the team for guidance and show the team how they should act to develop their skills and get closer towards their potential. Often, the leader will delegate responsibility to the team members. An example of this in the public services is in government in politics during an election process when the politician explains their visions and what they could bring to the future. They would explain to the public what would change and be implemented once and if they become elected. The members of the team in this scenario are the members of the public as they have the responsibility of making the vote.
There are several benefits associated with this leadership style, these include; that individuals are likely to follow this leader due to their great deal of passion to reach their vision, they seem to have care for the team and each individual, they spend much of their time mentoring their team and the leaders tend to have much trust and faith in the team. In this form of leadership there are also several disadvantages which include; if the team do not believe in the same vision they would not be motivated by it, members may not agree with the leader, it is not always the reality and leaders may not be happy when their vision isn't shaping and it becomes very stressful for them as well as the team. Image source: www.stephenhicks.org. |
People-orientated Leadership - This type of leader focuses strongly on organisation and developing the team. They give roles depending on a persons strong points and their personal skills. The purpose of this leader is to encourage the team to produce good teamwork and loyalty to the team. The leader will do whatever they can to avoid problems in work. These leaders believe that a good relationship in a team is what will lead to success. This style of leadership aims to develop team member's individual skills and get them to gain new skills. An example of this is in the police when they are put through training to improve their fitness level and skill to respond to emergencies.
The advantages of this form of leadership is the team feels they must work hard as they are getting much support from the leader to develop their skills. The disadvantage of this type of leadership is that they spend much of their care of how they are treated in the team that they may forget about their actual job role. |
Task Orientated Leadership - This is when the leader has a large focus on achieving the task at hand effectively. They would put structures for work in place to maximise efficiency of the team. It is the leaders key goal to provide the best quality work on time. It is the opposite of people-orientated because the leader will not take as much care of the well-being of the team members. An example of this in the public services is when the police is in a tight situation like when they are given the role of crowd control at a football match.
the advantages of this leadership type is the task is stressed and is expected to be done well, pressure is put on them to make the best quality work. The disadvantages are that there is not much care of the team members' well being as well as their potential for the future. |
Similarities and differences between autocratic and laissez-faire leadership
Similarities
Between autocratic and laissez-faire styles of leadership styles there are very few similarities as they are more or less the opposite of each-other. A similarity that applies is that the leaders of both of these leadership styles do not provide a form of consultation and guidance to the members of the group. In the autocratic leadership style, they do not get consultation as they are given a task and are expected to finish it when they say to. In laissez-faire, no consultation is given because all the responsibility is left to the individuals and since they create their tasks they won't need to ask for consultation on it. Also they are experienced enough if they are under the laissez-faire leadership style therefore they don't need much guidance.
Team members under both the autocratic and laissez-faire leaderships are expected to find the information themselves as the leader in autocratic leadership just gives a task and expects them to complete whilst in laissez-faire the group members create the task themselves therefore they are responsible for seeking the information that they need to complete their task.
Another point that is similar between these two leadership styles is that they both will be able to make decisions quickly as in the Autocratic leadership, the leader makes the decision without any group discussion and the same can be done in laissez-faire as the team make the call themselves without needing consent from the leader.
Team members under both the autocratic and laissez-faire leaderships are expected to find the information themselves as the leader in autocratic leadership just gives a task and expects them to complete whilst in laissez-faire the group members create the task themselves therefore they are responsible for seeking the information that they need to complete their task.
Another point that is similar between these two leadership styles is that they both will be able to make decisions quickly as in the Autocratic leadership, the leader makes the decision without any group discussion and the same can be done in laissez-faire as the team make the call themselves without needing consent from the leader.
Differences
The major difference between these two types of leadership is autocratic is when members of the group are given direct tasks and do the tasks that are set and organised by the leader whilst laissez-faire is when the group members are left with the responsibility to find and organise their tasks on their own. Autocratic leaders wish to retain their power and authority as the "superior' in the group, when in laissez-faire the responsibility is delegated to the members of the group. The group members get to control what they do and are trusted to completing work. The members of the team are to obey all the demands of the leader which is the complete opposite of the laissez-faire where the leader has no demands and entrusts his team members in the everyday operations.
In the autocratic leadership style, members are expected to meet deadlines that the leader sets no matter how unreasonable it is. In laissez-faire, members are working to their own schedule and their own deadlines. They will be under less pressure, which may be a bad thing as they may not work as efficiently and productively but they may have the chance to produce a higher quality piece of work.
Another big difference between autocratic and laissez-faire is that an autocratic leader is often the best person to make the decisions and make the calls as they usually have the most knowledge and experience. In laissez-faire, each team member has equal rights to make decisions and do what they want to.
What laissez-faire allows the team members to do is to let them develop some initiative in order to take responsibility and actions for their work. In the autocratic style, this isn't possible as all of the tasks are passed down from the leader of the team. An advantage that laissez-faire has apposed to autocratic is that the team members wont feel pressurised to the point where they will feel like they have to resent the leader and begin to produce poor quality work.
If you were to change the leadership style of a team from autocratic to laissez-faire, it could be extremely difficult and will completely change the effectiveness and operations of the team. In a public services example, if there is a paramedic team that has to treat a patient that may have suffered from a spinal injury, they need to work as a team to make sure that the task is carried out correctly. In an autocratic situation, one paramedic may take the lead to tell what each member of the team needs to do to ensure the safety of the patient and not risk any more injury to the patient. If this team changes their leadership style to laissez-faire, it could be both difficult and dangerous. If each member is left to do what they think is right without any guidance or authority from the leader, each of them would not know who is doing what, and in that situation, time is crucial and they do not have much of it. If they are not aware of what each member is doing they may make a wrong decision and end up hurting the patient even more, which is the opposite of what a paramedic aims to do. Also it means that a task may take longer than it should while even minutes can make a difference.
If you were to put a team under a laissez-faire leadership into an autocratic leadership situation, this may also cause problems. A public service example could be a Police Forensic Unit where normally forensic scientists employed by the police force are to assess a crime scene to look for clues to help solve a case. Normally, these highly-qualified individuals are left to do their task as if they are left to do what they feel is right then they are more likely to find clues as they are going with their findings in apposed to what their team leader wants. If a leader does interfere with there investigation, they may decrease the chance of them using their full concentration to look for clues. In addition, the leader can go and complete other tasks instead of wasting time telling qualified people what to do when they are already aware of the task at hand.
In the autocratic leadership style, members are expected to meet deadlines that the leader sets no matter how unreasonable it is. In laissez-faire, members are working to their own schedule and their own deadlines. They will be under less pressure, which may be a bad thing as they may not work as efficiently and productively but they may have the chance to produce a higher quality piece of work.
Another big difference between autocratic and laissez-faire is that an autocratic leader is often the best person to make the decisions and make the calls as they usually have the most knowledge and experience. In laissez-faire, each team member has equal rights to make decisions and do what they want to.
What laissez-faire allows the team members to do is to let them develop some initiative in order to take responsibility and actions for their work. In the autocratic style, this isn't possible as all of the tasks are passed down from the leader of the team. An advantage that laissez-faire has apposed to autocratic is that the team members wont feel pressurised to the point where they will feel like they have to resent the leader and begin to produce poor quality work.
If you were to change the leadership style of a team from autocratic to laissez-faire, it could be extremely difficult and will completely change the effectiveness and operations of the team. In a public services example, if there is a paramedic team that has to treat a patient that may have suffered from a spinal injury, they need to work as a team to make sure that the task is carried out correctly. In an autocratic situation, one paramedic may take the lead to tell what each member of the team needs to do to ensure the safety of the patient and not risk any more injury to the patient. If this team changes their leadership style to laissez-faire, it could be both difficult and dangerous. If each member is left to do what they think is right without any guidance or authority from the leader, each of them would not know who is doing what, and in that situation, time is crucial and they do not have much of it. If they are not aware of what each member is doing they may make a wrong decision and end up hurting the patient even more, which is the opposite of what a paramedic aims to do. Also it means that a task may take longer than it should while even minutes can make a difference.
If you were to put a team under a laissez-faire leadership into an autocratic leadership situation, this may also cause problems. A public service example could be a Police Forensic Unit where normally forensic scientists employed by the police force are to assess a crime scene to look for clues to help solve a case. Normally, these highly-qualified individuals are left to do their task as if they are left to do what they feel is right then they are more likely to find clues as they are going with their findings in apposed to what their team leader wants. If a leader does interfere with there investigation, they may decrease the chance of them using their full concentration to look for clues. In addition, the leader can go and complete other tasks instead of wasting time telling qualified people what to do when they are already aware of the task at hand.
MY LEADERship style
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In this task I first predicted what my leadership styles is and I believed it to be democratic and task orientated. After completing this Leadership Styles Questionnaire on the left-hand side, I found that I managed to score 19 points for each autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire showing that I am very flexible to the different leadership styles and I can transition between them. Above is a chart showing my findings in the questionnaire.
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Role of a team leader in the public services
A successful leader of a team will hold different qualities and skills that they use for their jobs and tasks. There are a number of key qualities and skills that you should know to improve your skills of being a leader. Below, I have created a job description document for a commanding officer in the Hong Kong Police Force. This states four skills and qualities of a leader, which is needed in the public services.
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For this task I have included the following skills and qualities needed by a leader:
QUALITIES Decisiveness Adaptability Courage Compassion SKILLS Communication Organisation and Multi-tasking Planning Motivating |
Effectiveness of different leadership roles (D1)
For this section I will look at each of the leadership roles and see how effective each of the roles are for the public services sector. I will find out why each of the styles are effective whilst looking at the pros and cons of each. I will look at one public service to easily compare them and see which works best. For my public service I have chosen the police force. At the end of this section, I will reach a conclusion of which leadership style works best, and why that is.
Autocratic
Autocratic leadership can be effective as it maintains a very disciplined environment that works really well for the police force as discipline is crucial and is part of their day to day operations. Autocratic leadership allows the entire team to move quickly as the leader makes all the decisions and tells his team members exactly what he/she wants done. In the police force there are often times where they have to work quickly to avoid affecting the public, for instance, chasing an armed murderer running through the city centre. It is important that the leader makes a quick decision and puts his/her team to work. This can be effective as the team leader, a most-likely qualified individual, to make the decision. This would definitely be a good leadership role to implement when time is tight and the leader has exactly what they need to make prompt decisions.
This may not be an effective role as it is difficult for team members to develop their initiative and skills as they do not make any decision, nor do they take any responsibility as they were delegated to do a specific task. In addition, if this is implemented too often, staff may begin to feel resentful to take orders as they may find some orders too much to handle, possibly leading to staff turnover. This is definitely not effective for the team's performance.
Democratic
Democratic leadership can definitely be useful as there is a group effort in each of the decisions made and each point is evaluated to find the perfect decision for the team, ultimately made by the leader. Each of the members are aware of exactly what is to come as the leader informs his team in advance to allow them to discuss matters, possibly making the team come to better conclusions and strategies. In addition, this allows members to take some responsibilities as they are bringing ideas forward and although the leader makes the final decision, they do play a major part in the process. Overall, this will allow the team to make better, more thought out decisions, which is crucial in the police as everything needs to be perfect as one small detail can raise problems. Team members may believe that the more successful contributions they make, the more they may be able to get promoted, posing an incentive.
The problem with this leadership style is that some decision-making can take time as points need to discussed and a final decision may take a while to reach. In addition, if all members of the team are meeting to discuss strategy, they may not be utilising their personnel as they may be more useful elsewhere. It is important in the police force that they do not waste staff as they may be risking public safety.
Laissez-Faire
This style of leadership may be effective as officers may feel that they can make their own decisions and do what they believe is right to protect the public which may allow them to investigate tasks more thoroughly, with minimal distraction. It allows members to take their own initiative and develop it themselves. Also, they take responsibility for themselves, getting them ready for possible management/leadership positions in the future, where they are responsible for much of the decisions. This leadership style may allow for more innovative ideas of maybe how to catch suspects. It also allows quick decisions, but not necessarily well thought through.
Unfortunately, for this leadership style in the public services there are numerous disadvantages. Staff members may find it difficult to come up with tasks as they have very little guidance and they have to decide what to do themselves. They are on their own and they do not always have someone their to point them in the right direction. If new staff are brought into the team they may find it very difficult to be successful without guidance and will get minimal training. This wouldn't be useful for the police force.
Transactional
This form of leadership is effective because the leader ensures his/her team members of their potential if they work for it and they work hard. They will provide incentives for their team to work harder and more efficiently, which may be promotions or bonuses. In the police this may be reaching the next rank. Also they provide punishments for example providing a less interesting job for a week, for instance patrolling the park, making them know to work hard to avoid receiving the punishments. This is effective for the leader as they can ensure that their team members work hard. It guarantees that quality of work will be consistent and on time which is crucial in the police force.
It is ineffective for the reason that team members have no authority and must do what they are told, meaning that staff may become stressed in the workplace. Also, they will have no room to develop their initiative making it hard if and when they make their promotion where they would be open to more authority up the ranks.
Transformational
This form of leadership may be effective as the leader will identify each of their team members potentials meaning they will work hard to reach their individual goals with the sustained support of the leader. This will ensure a high standard of work as they will look to impress. Team members would look at their career in the long term so they may perform more extensive investigation in a case to close it and come to a solution, this way it shows how effective they are, which may impress and lead to career development in the force. The leader may also delegate responsibility making them prepared for their higher ranks. This leadership style will work well with those that are motivated as they would wish to achieve higher ranking in the police force.
This would not be effective if team members believe otherwise and they do not agree with the leaders views. They may think the opposite and become resentful. This will lead to poor work ethic and possible staff turnover, which just cannot happen in the police as agreeing with each other is important.
People Orientated
This form of leadership can be effective as the leader would focus on how each team member feels, making them feel like they are being cared for, decreasing chances of staff turnover. Training in the police force is an extensive program and having staff turnover would be a huge waste of funding for the course, therefore if leaders are compassionate towards their team, it will be beneficial for all. This leadership style focuses much on developing personal skills and as everyone is different, this can be incredibly helpful. This type of leader would be encouraging and to let the team appreciate their work and how it is done, possibly creating a good quality of work. This will allow a consistent training and development program in the team, allowing staff to always learn and apply their knowledge and skills to the tasks at hand.
The only problem with this in the force is that the leader may spend much of their time looking at how to make the team better and more happy, but that means they spend less time making decisions and putting strategies in place.
Task Orientated
This leadership is effective in terms of productivity and getting tasks done as the leadership is based primarily on getting tasks done. Structures would be put into place for solid work result and quality. Tasks in this case will often be completed on time and will be up to standard as it is the team's focus. In many aspects being on time is extremely useful in the police force as there are many tight decisions.
This may also be ineffective as major stress is put onto the staff which may result them in overworking and beginning to feel like they cannot bare, possibly leading to staff turnover or resentful behavior.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that the three leadership roles that should be used in the police force in normal situations are; democratic, people orientated and transformational. These should apply in most everyday cases but not all the time, especially in times of tight time or deadlines.
I have chosen democratic because I think that it is right that each team member should have the right to bring forward a point that they believe in and that the team can then evaluate to see if it is eligible to be used. Despite this, the leader makes the ultimate decision based on the information gathered from the team, resulting in a qualified, but group decision. Team members will try their best to contribute as the more contributions they make that are used, makes them look more impressive to the leader, so it really benefits all.
I have chosen people orientated because I believe that it is important for a leader to care about the emotions of their team members and that they make it their job to develop team skills and knowledge. What you want in any work condition is guidance and help whenever you need it, this leadership style makes that possible. This allows staff to be happy, and keep providing their upmost effort.
I chose transformational because I think that it is fair that everyone who works for it deserves to develop and this leadership style identifies what team members can achieve if they work hard. Having a team of individuals who each want to develop in there own way can provide the team with an exceptional quality of work and work ethic.
Autocratic
Autocratic leadership can be effective as it maintains a very disciplined environment that works really well for the police force as discipline is crucial and is part of their day to day operations. Autocratic leadership allows the entire team to move quickly as the leader makes all the decisions and tells his team members exactly what he/she wants done. In the police force there are often times where they have to work quickly to avoid affecting the public, for instance, chasing an armed murderer running through the city centre. It is important that the leader makes a quick decision and puts his/her team to work. This can be effective as the team leader, a most-likely qualified individual, to make the decision. This would definitely be a good leadership role to implement when time is tight and the leader has exactly what they need to make prompt decisions.
This may not be an effective role as it is difficult for team members to develop their initiative and skills as they do not make any decision, nor do they take any responsibility as they were delegated to do a specific task. In addition, if this is implemented too often, staff may begin to feel resentful to take orders as they may find some orders too much to handle, possibly leading to staff turnover. This is definitely not effective for the team's performance.
Democratic
Democratic leadership can definitely be useful as there is a group effort in each of the decisions made and each point is evaluated to find the perfect decision for the team, ultimately made by the leader. Each of the members are aware of exactly what is to come as the leader informs his team in advance to allow them to discuss matters, possibly making the team come to better conclusions and strategies. In addition, this allows members to take some responsibilities as they are bringing ideas forward and although the leader makes the final decision, they do play a major part in the process. Overall, this will allow the team to make better, more thought out decisions, which is crucial in the police as everything needs to be perfect as one small detail can raise problems. Team members may believe that the more successful contributions they make, the more they may be able to get promoted, posing an incentive.
The problem with this leadership style is that some decision-making can take time as points need to discussed and a final decision may take a while to reach. In addition, if all members of the team are meeting to discuss strategy, they may not be utilising their personnel as they may be more useful elsewhere. It is important in the police force that they do not waste staff as they may be risking public safety.
Laissez-Faire
This style of leadership may be effective as officers may feel that they can make their own decisions and do what they believe is right to protect the public which may allow them to investigate tasks more thoroughly, with minimal distraction. It allows members to take their own initiative and develop it themselves. Also, they take responsibility for themselves, getting them ready for possible management/leadership positions in the future, where they are responsible for much of the decisions. This leadership style may allow for more innovative ideas of maybe how to catch suspects. It also allows quick decisions, but not necessarily well thought through.
Unfortunately, for this leadership style in the public services there are numerous disadvantages. Staff members may find it difficult to come up with tasks as they have very little guidance and they have to decide what to do themselves. They are on their own and they do not always have someone their to point them in the right direction. If new staff are brought into the team they may find it very difficult to be successful without guidance and will get minimal training. This wouldn't be useful for the police force.
Transactional
This form of leadership is effective because the leader ensures his/her team members of their potential if they work for it and they work hard. They will provide incentives for their team to work harder and more efficiently, which may be promotions or bonuses. In the police this may be reaching the next rank. Also they provide punishments for example providing a less interesting job for a week, for instance patrolling the park, making them know to work hard to avoid receiving the punishments. This is effective for the leader as they can ensure that their team members work hard. It guarantees that quality of work will be consistent and on time which is crucial in the police force.
It is ineffective for the reason that team members have no authority and must do what they are told, meaning that staff may become stressed in the workplace. Also, they will have no room to develop their initiative making it hard if and when they make their promotion where they would be open to more authority up the ranks.
Transformational
This form of leadership may be effective as the leader will identify each of their team members potentials meaning they will work hard to reach their individual goals with the sustained support of the leader. This will ensure a high standard of work as they will look to impress. Team members would look at their career in the long term so they may perform more extensive investigation in a case to close it and come to a solution, this way it shows how effective they are, which may impress and lead to career development in the force. The leader may also delegate responsibility making them prepared for their higher ranks. This leadership style will work well with those that are motivated as they would wish to achieve higher ranking in the police force.
This would not be effective if team members believe otherwise and they do not agree with the leaders views. They may think the opposite and become resentful. This will lead to poor work ethic and possible staff turnover, which just cannot happen in the police as agreeing with each other is important.
People Orientated
This form of leadership can be effective as the leader would focus on how each team member feels, making them feel like they are being cared for, decreasing chances of staff turnover. Training in the police force is an extensive program and having staff turnover would be a huge waste of funding for the course, therefore if leaders are compassionate towards their team, it will be beneficial for all. This leadership style focuses much on developing personal skills and as everyone is different, this can be incredibly helpful. This type of leader would be encouraging and to let the team appreciate their work and how it is done, possibly creating a good quality of work. This will allow a consistent training and development program in the team, allowing staff to always learn and apply their knowledge and skills to the tasks at hand.
The only problem with this in the force is that the leader may spend much of their time looking at how to make the team better and more happy, but that means they spend less time making decisions and putting strategies in place.
Task Orientated
This leadership is effective in terms of productivity and getting tasks done as the leadership is based primarily on getting tasks done. Structures would be put into place for solid work result and quality. Tasks in this case will often be completed on time and will be up to standard as it is the team's focus. In many aspects being on time is extremely useful in the police force as there are many tight decisions.
This may also be ineffective as major stress is put onto the staff which may result them in overworking and beginning to feel like they cannot bare, possibly leading to staff turnover or resentful behavior.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that the three leadership roles that should be used in the police force in normal situations are; democratic, people orientated and transformational. These should apply in most everyday cases but not all the time, especially in times of tight time or deadlines.
I have chosen democratic because I think that it is right that each team member should have the right to bring forward a point that they believe in and that the team can then evaluate to see if it is eligible to be used. Despite this, the leader makes the ultimate decision based on the information gathered from the team, resulting in a qualified, but group decision. Team members will try their best to contribute as the more contributions they make that are used, makes them look more impressive to the leader, so it really benefits all.
I have chosen people orientated because I believe that it is important for a leader to care about the emotions of their team members and that they make it their job to develop team skills and knowledge. What you want in any work condition is guidance and help whenever you need it, this leadership style makes that possible. This allows staff to be happy, and keep providing their upmost effort.
I chose transformational because I think that it is fair that everyone who works for it deserves to develop and this leadership style identifies what team members can achieve if they work hard. Having a team of individuals who each want to develop in there own way can provide the team with an exceptional quality of work and work ethic.