It is understood that the rising velocity of human interaction through growth and technology set the conditions for second and third order effects on how community policing is carried out.  The lack of manning, space and time, innovative training and education, appropriate compensations, inefficient models and the rise of competing tasks all erodes the ability for humans to have authentic relatedness.  Leaders at all levels must internalize these factors and strive to seek a strategic approach at the same rising velocity as noted  in the Human Dimension Concept.  Law enforcement leaders must strive to seek out a paradigm shift with new art and science concept models in order to carry out public safety operations.

THE LEADERS CREED

LEADERSHIP

• Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.

• The Leadership Requirements Model is the form of measurement to capture ones standing in the execution of their duties within the Sheriff Operations Concept Model.

TOXIC LEADERSHIP

• Counterproductive leadership is toxic leadership, which is defined as a combination of self-centered attitudes based on ones human needs, motivations, and behaviors that neglect or have adverse effects on subordinates, the organization, and mission performance.  Below are a few common terms and examples:

1. Negligent Supervision:  Inadequate monitoring of employee(s) performance, failure to reprimand, hearing rumors and not acting on them, being a new supervisor with little or no training to be a supervisor.

2. Negligent Retention:  Keeping employee(s) on the job or promoting them on the basis of favoritism or friendship when they should have been disciplined, demoted, or dismissed.

3. Negligent Entrustment:  Inadequately preparing employee(s) prior to entrusting them with responsibilities; a synergistic combination of failure to train and negligent supervision.

4. Negligent Assignment:  Assigning under-trained employee(s) to critical or inappropriate duties.

5. Smoke and Mirror:  To not be candid; to obscure or mask ones scheme of maneuver through an understanding of social engineering coupled with interpersonal skills in order to deviate the visibility of one’s inability in having the appropriate knowledge, skills and ability of such responsibility they have been entrusted with in order to sustain self-preservation.

LEADERSHIP LEVELS

Direct Level Leadership

• Direct leadership is face-to-face or first-line leadership. It generally occurs in organizations where subordinates see their leaders all the time: teams, squads, sections, platoons, divisions and staff offices. The direct leader’s span of influence may range from a few to dozens of people.

• Direct leaders develop their subordinates one-on-one and influence the organization indirectly through their subordinates. For instance, a Sergeant is close enough to his or her personnel to exert direct influence when observing training or interacting with subordinates during other scheduled functions.

• Direct leaders generally experience more certainty and less complexity than organizational and strategic leaders. Mainly, they are close enough to the action to determine or address problems.  Examples of direct leadership tasks are monitoring and coordinating team efforts, providing clear and concise mission intent, and setting expectations for performance.

Organizational Level Leadership

• Organizational leaders must be able to translate complex concepts into understandable operational and tactical plans and decisive action. Organizational leaders develop the programs and plans and synchronize the appropriate systems allowing personnel in the Sheriff's Office to turn operational models into action.

• Through leadership by example, a wide range of knowledge, and the application of leader competencies, organizational leaders build teams of teams with discipline, cohesion, trust, and proficiency.  They focus their organizations down to the lowest level on the mission by disseminating a clear intent, sound operational concepts, and a systematic approach to execution.

• Successful organizational leaders build on direct leader experiences, reflect the Core Values, and instill pride within organizations. Since they lead complex matters throughout Sheriff Operations, organizational leaders often apply elements of direct, organizational, and strategic leadership simultaneously. Modern organizational level leaders must carefully extend their influence Strategic Level.

Strategic Level Leadership

• Strategic leadership is the process used to affect the achievement of a desirable and clearly understood vision by influencing the organizational culture, allocating resources, directing through policy and directive, and building consensus.

• Strategic leaders serve inside or outside the Sheriff's Office and must thoroughly understand political relationships.  Strategic leaders have responsibilities that extend beyond the Sheriff's Office to the national government, its leaders, and ultimately, to the American people.

• Those serving in strategic leadership positions may lead complex organizations comprised of members of the Sheriff's Office, other county services and those of state, federal and non-governmental entities. Strategic leaders, regardless of their position, apply professional expertise and remain true to the Core Values. This is the basis for their legitimacy and contributes to leader effectiveness.

LEADERSHIP STYLES

Transactional

• Transactional leadership, known as the "telling" style of leadership, focuses on structure, results, rewards, and penalties. Leaders provide subordinates with goals, establish project checks, provide performance reports and motivate them with rewards based on a recognized system.  Transactional leadership works because it focuses on leadership, organization, and performance. Additionally, it is suitable for situations where the immediate reaction to orders is required and instructional scenarios where information flows from leaders to followers. It does not work with free thinkers who regularly exercise personal initiative because it limits their creativity.

Transformational

• Transformational leadership is leadership by example. This leadership style works well in a changing environment, where ideas flow freely, and subordinates are encouraged to provide solutions. It does not work in an ad hoc or initial development decision-making period where there is little to no structure to support the team.  Thus, transformational leaders are usually technical experts in their fields, want to improve their environment and understand their subordinate’s roles.  These leaders inspire their subordinates through rapport, inspiration, and empathy and work well in an environment where they can create change by working with their subordinates.

Note:  Leadership must understand this and have a blended style to fit an ever changing environment.

HOW LEADERS DEVELOP

Fundamentally, leadership develops when the individual desires to improve and invests effort, when his or her superior supports development, and when the organizational climate values learning. Learning to be a leader requires knowledge of leadership, experience using this knowledge and feedback. Formal systems such as FTO Assessment Reports, Developmental Counselings and Evaluation Reports offer opportunities to learn, but the individual must embrace the opportunity and internalize the information. The fastest learning occurs when there are challenging and interesting opportunities to practice leadership with meaningful and honest feedback and multiple practice opportunities.

These elements contribute to self-learning, developing others and setting a climate conducive to learning.  Leader development involves recruiting, accessing, developing, assigning, promoting, broadening, and retaining the best leaders, while challenging them over time with greater responsibility, authority and accountability. Leaders assume progressively broader responsibilities across direct, organizational and strategic levels of leadership. The Howell County Sheriff's Office vision is to grow and retain their own leaders from the lowest to highest levels.  Commissioned and Non-Commissioned personnel less senior within the Sheriff's Office may not perceive themselves as a leader (Supervisor), however in the eyes of the public, they are and must be developed as such.  This development is essential in assuming the role of their predecessor and maintaining that forged trust of the community. 

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Performance indicators are grouped according to the leadership requirements model in categories of leader attributes (character, presence, and intellect) and leader competencies (lead, develop, and achieve). The performance indicators provide three levels of proficiency: a developmental need, the standard, and a strength. For developmental purposes, these three categories are sufficient and apply across the organization. A developmental need is identified as a specific need for development when the observed individual does not demonstrate the leader competency. Strength indicators are associated with successful performance of a leader attribute or competency. Strengths include a consistent pattern of natural talents, knowledge gained through learning, and skills acquired through practice and experience.  While comparing observations against the leader performance indicators, determine the level of proficiency of the observed leader:

• First review the behavior that appears in the center column of the following tables, this represents the standard for leader performance. A leader demonstrating quality leadership to standard will exhibit decisions and actions described in the center column.

• The column on the left describes performance indicating a developmental need (individual falls short of the standard).

• The column to the right describes performance indicating a strength (individual exceeds the standard).

Understanding the attributes and competencies in the leadership requirements model is essential to make careful and accurate observations of a subordinate’s performance and evaluation of potential. The core leader competencies include how leaders lead people; develop themselves, their subordinates, and organizations; and achieve the mission. The competencies are the most outwardly visible signs of a leader’s performance. Leader attributes are inward characteristics of the individual that shape the motivations for actions and bearing, and how thinking affects decisions and interactions with others.

LEADER DEVELOPMENT MODEL

ATTRIBUTE CATEGORIES

The leader attributes are presented in three categories: character, presence, and intellect.

COMPETENCY CATEGORIES

The core leader competencies are presented in three categories: lead, develop, and achieve.