It has been three weeks since my police agency got a newly appointed Police Chief. The atmosphere has changed in that short amount of time. The agency went without a Chief for nearly a year. Moreover, the anticipation of who would be selected was spilling over, such as coffee spilling out of a cup. The morale was at an all-time low with the cry for defunding the police, police reform, Department of Justice investigation, and an increase in officers leaving the profession. Who would want to come to this agency? After several months there were whispers of a possible selection for the position, and then the County Executive provided a date and time to announce whom she chose for the job. I recall having lengthy conversations on who it could be, and the excitement overwhelmed me, which caused me to get minimal sleep the night before the announcement. Effective leadership depends on leader-follower relationships and the proper leader’s leadership style.
The morning of the announcement had finally arrived, and the name of the selected Chief was released. Most of us were excited to have a leader appointed for the position. Now it has been three weeks, and the morale has increased, as the Chief has made it clear he is interested in working with us to make whatever changes are needed to improve the agency. As I read the lesson about Path-Goal Theory, I thought of the new Chief and the breath of fresh air he has brought to the agency. The Path-Goal Theory concentrates on serving the followers to motivate them to accomplish the necessary goals (Northouse, 2019). It is the leader’s responsibility to foster the relationship with the followers and ascertain what is needed to motivate them to reach the current goal, encouraging them to strive for higher ones. The new Chief has had meetings with various officers in the department and listens to their concerns. Early on, he identified that officers want to be heard and part of the decision-making processes that affect them. Moving forward under his leadership, the Chief has put in place that he will not finalize any policies until officers have the opportunity to review them and provide necessary feedback.
The major components of the Path-Goal Theory are the leader’s behavior, follower’s behavior, and task characteristics (Northouse, 2019 p. 118). Under leadership behaviors, four leadership behaviors are paramount to the theory, directive, supportive, participative, and achievement. Since the new Chief is not from the area, he analyzes how we do things and slowly gets buy-ins from officers regarding changes he would like to make. This is an example of participative leadership, as leaders get feedback from their followers before any decisions are made (Northouse, 2019 p.119). I was recently given an assignment by the Chief to provide him with a strategic plan on recruiting, and he was specific that he wants it in two forms PowerPoint and a word document. The rationale behind him wanting the information is to ascertain future recruiting plans and what is needed to succeed. After reading the material, I identified that that is an example of Directive Leadership. The Chief gave me specific instructions on what he wanted and how he wanted it done (Northouse, 2019). During the first meeting with the Chief, he displayed a Supportive Leadership Style, as he clearly stated there would be an open-door policy and that he wants to hear from us.
Additionally, he joked with us about the Dallas Cowboys and said he trusts the officers chosen to protect and serve the community. Lastly, Achievement-Oriented Leadership is another style the Chief displayed during the conversation. He stated he is pushing us to perform higher than we are accustomed to (Northouse, 2019). Now follower characteristics focus on how followers receive the leader’s behaviors in the issuance of work assignments (Northouse, 2019). Moreover, the leader determines what type of guidance followers need to succeed, such as affiliation, structure, and control; depending on what the follower needs, the leader will display that particular leadership style (Northouse, 2019 p. 121). On the other hand, task characteristics focus on the “followers’ task and formal authority system, and primary workgroup of followers” (Northouse, 2019 p. 121). These characteristics may not entail leaders always to be called upon if the followers can figure out a path to success; however, if not, the leader will be utilized for assistance, clarity, and motivation to achieve the goal.
I was amazed as I read the chapter about Path-Goal theory because the Chief touched on all of the critical aspects of the approach. Such as Northouse (2019) stated in the chapter that he provided me guidance as to how he wanted the information about recruiting and made it very clear that he would give nurturance when needed. Additionally, he allowed a buy-in to be received from officers, which would provide challenging work to create growth in all of us (Northouse, 2019). Such as the lesson states that the Chief will give each person the style of leadership needed to accomplish the goal. Additionally, in this short amount of time, he has already recognized individuals’ strengths which is why I was given the assignment of doing a PowerPoint.
It is always good to read about the various leadership styles and how they are supposed to work; however, it is simply amazing when you see it right before your eyes. Having this new Police Chief has given this agency a breath of fresh air, and we are excited about what the future holds. An organization cannot function without leadership and needs some form of structure. The Path-Goal Theory is designed for leaders to aid their followers through challenging situations, and the new Police Chief has already started moving in that direction (Northouse, 2019). I am enjoying the new leadership and believe the agency will flourish from this point on. Officers that were thinking about retiring at the end of the year have already started to have second thoughts to see what the future holds.
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 8th Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.