Transcript An Investigation of Transformational Leadership in the

RGU LEADERSHIP EVENT - 20 APRIL 2007
COLIN MENZIES
Introduction
• What do we know about leadership and
policing?
• Context of contemporary policing in
Scotland
• Recent research findings
• Conclusions
Home Office (2001)
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What do we know about Leadership
& Policing?
• Trait Theories, ‘Great Man’ Approach
• First Academic Police Study (Banton, 1964)
• 1970’s Contingency Theories – Fiedler, Hersey &
Blanchard
• Action-Centred Leadership (Adair, 1979)
• Blake & Mouton, Briggs-Myers
• 1980’s – ‘new leadership’ – Visionary, Charismatic,
Transformational
• 1990’s – Emotional intelligence, situational leadership
& principle based approaches
• Recent Research (Dobby et al 2003, Menzies, 2004)
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Criticism
• Scarman (1981)
• New Social Movements (1980’s – present)
• ACPO – ‘police culture must shift from conservative,
cautious militaristic hierarchy to a people-centred
culture’ (1993)
• Macpherson - ‘failure of leadership by senior officers’
(1999)
• Home Office – challenge facing public sector leaders
is ‘unprecedented’ and ‘modernisation of leadership,
training and professionalism will be required at all
levels within the police service’ (2001)
• PLDB/NPLC/NPIA
• Adlam, R. & Villiers, P. (2003)
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Contingency still counts
Research and experience
suggests that effectiveness
of leadership is determined
by being able to recognise
the situation before applying
the most appropriate style
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TEAM TASK
Can a group member explain what
the Police Leadership Model is, why
we have one and what we use it
for?
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The Context of Policing in
Scotland
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Scottish Executive relationship
Rapid change
Role of police
Complexity of demand, omni-competence
National Intelligence Model & Problem Solving
Policing
Public Sector Reform & Community Planning
Partnership and collaboration
Criminal Justice Reform
Profile of Crime
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Perceived Success Factors of
Effective Police Leaders
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Vision
Two-Way Communication
Visibility & Accessibility
Transparency of Decision Making
Delivery & Performance Management
Empathy
Home Office (2001)
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‘….significant change in our approach to
leading others’ the hallmarks of which
will be ‘a more collaborative and interdependant approach to resolving
challenges’
ACPOS (Fit for the 21st Century, 2003)
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‘Professional, managerial and
organisational leadership must become
the norm and not the
exception…..leadership must be strong,
visible and dynamic’
Ton McCabe, Transforming Public Services (2006)
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What Does Police
Leadership in Scotland
Look Like?
Research Objectives
• To evaluate which aspects of transformational leadership are
being provided by ‘close’ police leaders in Scotland
• To identify the nature and extent of the relationship between
identified aspects of transformational leadership and selfreported psychological outcomes
• To identify variation in the extent of transformational leadership
behaviour between ranks
• To identify variation in the extent of transformational leadership
behaviour as a result of gender and locality
• To make recommendations regarding the future training of
police leaders in Scotland based on the findings
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What some Scottish Officers said about
their leaders
• Supervisor is very nice but cannot cope under
pressure. Does not have global view of way forward,
lives for today and delegates on that basis
• My manager has a PHD in hindsight and a masters in
bullying. He has created an atmosphere of fear in
which people are afraid to go to his meetings
• My manager is almost invisible within the
organisation and community, he appears to avoid
conflict at all cost
• Listens with empathy but does nothing to actively
support
• We all experience a lack of motivational leadership
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Key Findings
• Police leaders in Scotland, at all ranks, are rated by
immediate subordinates as behaving least effectively
in Encouraging & Facilitating Change, Networking &
Achieving and Building Shared Vision. In these area
they are also reported as being significantly less
effective than leaders in other public sector areas
• Such behaviours are highly relevant in the context of
contemporary policing in Scotland
• 20% of all police leaders score very poorly on a
transformational scale
• Police leaders in Scotland are rated as behaving most
effectively in Being Accessible and Being Decisive
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Key Findings
• A statistically significant variation in transformational
behaviour is found between ranks with Sergeants in
particular rated lower in a number of key areas
• Senior managers most ineffective at ‘Inspiring Others’
or ‘Showing Genuine Concern’
• No significant variation is found as a result of gender
or urban/rural locality
• Some variation between Forces - scale
• Almost 40% of respondents across all ranks report
that leaders behave in a way that fails to raise
motivation, reduce stress, increase commitment or
enable achievement beyond expectations
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Key Findings
It can reliably be assumed from the data that leaders
who ‘build a shared vision’ and ‘show genuine
concern’ will be seen as behaving in a way that;
•Has a positive effect on job commitment
•Has a positive effect on self-confidence
•Raises sense of fulfilment
•Reduces job related stress
•Increases job satisfaction
•Increases self esteem
Key Findings
The strength and nature of the
correlations enables the assumption to be
confidently made that police leaders who
do not ‘show genuine concern’ or ‘build
shared vision’ are highly unlikely to
achieve any positive psychological impact
on their direct reports
‘effective leadership takes many
guises…….a major factor in the success
of operational policing was the ability of
unit commanders to know when ‘to
direct and delegate and when to play a
coach/mentoring role’
(HMIC BCU Thematic Inspection, 2002)
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Conclusions
• The guiding principle of policing in Scotland is one
of intelligence-led, highly collaborative problem
solving
• Delivery of policing services increasingly requires
greater adaptability to change and collaboration
• The absence of any definitive doctrine or approach
to leadership has exposed the service to widespread
criticism
• A range of leadership styles are employed by the
most successful leaders
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• Research has shown that Transformational
Leadership behaviours are valued by police officers
• Structured adoption of Transformational Leadership
as part of a leadership framework has improved
motivation, morale and performance in public and
private sector areas
• Transformational leadership is complementary to a
transactional command and control style
• Research suggests that police leaders at all ranks,
most significantly near the front line, may be ill
equipped to cope with the demands of leadership in
contemporary policing
• There is little evidence of ongoing research into
police leadership in Scotland
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Thank You!
[email protected]
RGU LEADERSHIP EVENT - 20 APRIL 2007