Charismatic Leadership in Law Enforcement and the Military
One may suppose that charismatic leadership is more effective then
other forms of leadership. Indeed, the word charisma is
connotative that someone who has it
has the respect and admiration of those around him. Yukl defines
charismatic leadership in terms of “follower perceptions that the
leader is endowed with exceptional qualities” (2012, p. 310).
However, those that study leadership, particularly
those that understand that effective leadership depends on adapting
to the situation, can tell you that charismatic leadership can be,
but is not always, more effective then other forms of leadership.
There are several drawbacks to charismatic leadership that can hinder
effective operations of an organization. One common theme amongst
these hindrances is that good suggestions
and effective criticism of operations is curtailed by “awe” of
the leader. Another theme is that overconfidence in the leader can
lead to delusions of infallibility and denial of failure. A third
theme developed through these hindrances is the failure to create
successive leadership (Yukl, 2012, p. 319). Charismatic leaders are
also susceptible to narcissism and it's flaws such as “arrogance,
self-absorption, entitlement, fragile self-esteem, and
hostility”(Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006, abstract). Finally,
charismatic leaders often gain leadership status by promising to
deliver a “vision” to followers, but often deliver empty dreams
while misusing their power (Yukl, 2012, p. 321).
Due to these flaws, charismatic leaders are very
often detrimental to the organizations they lead; history has seen
Hitler take Germany to a bombed out wreck, Castro lead Cuba to a
state in which major portions of the workforce
are comprised of being “neighborhood snitches” for men and
prostitution for women, and finally, Obama drag the Democrat party to
historical losses in Congress. A major cause for this ineffective
leadership ties in with a failure to develop successive leadership.
There are just not quality followers amongst those whose leadership
is based on charisma alone; “Followers
who lack a clear self-identity and are confused and anxious about
their lives are more attracted to a strong leader with a personalized
power orientation who can provide a clear social identity for them as
disciples or loyal supporters” (Yukl, 2012, p. 318). Can
charismatic leaders improve their overall leadership skills? The
good news is that leadership skills are trainable; “some
people are born with propensities towards charisma (i.e .
extraversion, emotional expressiveness) there is also a strong
social skill component that can be developed with training”
(Nodarse, 2009, p. 105).
How does this tie in with military and law enforcement leadership?
We will examine three leaders in these fields and see whether or not
charismatic leadership can wholly be used to describe their
leadership patterns. There are other leadership styles which can
also be used to describe these leaders' patterns; “conceptual
ambiguity and inconsistent definitions make it difficult to compare
transformational and charismatic leadership”(Yukl,
2012, p. 329).
J. Edgar Hoover led the FBI from a understaffed,
backbench agency stuffed with “hacks and “misfits”( Gentry,
1991, p.29) to one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in
the world. Although Hoover possessed some traits that Yukl
associates with charismatic leadership, such as “novel vision”
and “self-sacrifice”(2012, p.311), Hoover's leadership style
should be looked at more in terms of transformational leadership.
Yukl contends that “transforming leadership appeals to the moral
values of followers in an attempt to raise their consciousness about
ethical issues and to mobilize their energy and resources to reform
institutions (2012, p.321). Even so, transformational leadership can
not be used to fully describe Hoover's style, either. Hoover lacked
what Yukl lists as a characteristic of transformational leadership;
“Express confidence in followers” (2012, p. 332). Although
Hoover selected agents for education and appearance, his trust in
them to do the job did not extend fully to decision-making
responsibilities.
A law enforcement leader who can be described in both
terms of charismatic or transformational leadership is August
Vollmer. Vollmer got his start in law enforcement with a local act
of heroism that resulted in his election as a City Marshal. Such
acts of heroism are readily accepted as characteristics of
“exceptional quality”. Even so, Vollmer demonstrated other
leadership qualities
and skills that led to the reform of American law enforcement, in
particular the education of policemen.
In Vollmer's words, "The policeman's
job is the highest calling in the world. The men who do that job
should be the finest men. They should be the best educated”(Bennett,
2010, para. 5). In contrast to Hoover, Vollmer did show “express
confidence in followers” by hosting “Friday crab club” meetings
(Kelling & Wycoff, 2001, p.2) for the purposes of consulting with
his officers.
George Patton demonstrates an example of charismatic
leadership within the military, but charismatic leadership that was
based on other factors such as competence. Like Vollmer, Patton
displayed the “exceptional quality” of heroism early in his
career by conducting “daring raids on the enemy” (South
University Online, 2014, para. 1) during the Mexican incursion in
pursuit of Pancho Villa.
Patton displayed several traits associated
with charismatic leadership such as, especially with the trait of
unconventional
behavior (Yukl, 2012, p. 312). Yet Patton was not ultimately a
failure as many charismatic leaders are; he held “expertise” in
his profession, and had the trait of integrity. However, Patton may
not be a suitable role model for law enforcement
purposes. Patton, as a strict disciplinarian,
would run into conflict with police union organizations. Policemen
are not soldiers (even if they serve the common goal of protecting
the country and it's people). In addition, there are multiple
stakeholders in police operations, while military commanders
typically have less such interference, and usually have the Executive
branch as a partial buffer between political acts and duty.
One could make the
argument that any type of charismatic leadership is not suitable for
law enforcement organizations, considering the risk of overconfident
failure and narcissistic
denial of such failure. However, contingency theory, in particular,
the LPC Contingency Model, stresses that effective leadership is
based upon dealing with a situation on the merits of that specific
situation and the variables that make it different from other
situations; there is no one-size-fits-all perfect model of
leadership. If a confident, competent, ethical leader inspires awe
in his men, and uses that awe for more effective use of inspirational
appeal, personal appeal, or Ingratiation approaches to get the job
done, then that is correct for that situation. It must be stressed
that other qualities of leadership such as competence and integrity
are present in the leader. In law enforcement, operations must be
carried out within the parameters
of law, regulation, and policy that are subject to public
accountability. Dur to this consideration of the LPC model, it
should not be contended that any one style of leadership is “best”
for law enforcement...or for any other endeavor.
References
Bennett,
C. (2010, May 27). Legendary lawman August Vollmer. Officer.com.
Retrieved
November 15, 2014 from
http://www.officer.com/article/10232661/legendary-lawman-august-vollmer
Gentry,
C. (1991). J.
Edgar Hoover: The man and his secrets.
New York. W W Norton & Company
Kelling,
G. And Wycoff, M. (2001). Evolving strategy of policing: Case
studies of
strategic
change. Department
of Justice. Retrieved
November 15, 2014 from
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/198029.pdf
Rosenthal,
S. A., & Pittinsky, T. L. (2006). Narcissistic leadership. The
Leadership Quarterly,
17(6),
617–633. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.005
South
University Online. (2014). MCJ6405 :Organizational Leadership: Case
Study—General George S. Patton (2 of 5). Retrieved November 30,
2014 from myeclassonline.com
Yukl,
G. A. (2012). Leadership in Organizations, 8th Edition. [VitalSource
Bookshelf version]. Retrieved November 27, 2014 from
http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/books/9781256650225
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