Chapter III: Leadership Traits
“You can be efficient with things, but must be effective with people” (Robert McCarthy, S.A., FBI Academy, Quantico, VA, 1991)
Leadership in Perspective Competence, Character, and Courage
The purpose of this chapter is to provide readers with what made tough situations encountered in personal real life experiences workable, allowed new and risky process to permeate tradition, and provided avenues for members to buy into procedures that they wanted but were afraid to ask for them. The leader in this next phase of the discussion is defined through three main components with derivative embellishments as may be required and they are Competence, Character, and Courage.
I have taken over the leadership role in three situations, all police departments, and none of which have been at the top of their game upon entering into the front office. I can say with moderate humility that they all were better when I left. This is not based on my assessment but rather editorials, government officials, and community leaders. The transformation was not due to my presence but rather an attitude. Not my attitude, but the attitude of members, the governments, and the community. Once in a while the leader gets credit but let us put that in perspective at this juncture. The success encountered in each situation was primarily due to the environment created. The environment that permitted flexibility in otherwise stagnant traditional philosophies.
Just about all things within an organization seem to work against the leader. For example, in the police situations I speak of required cautious navigation through intricate work rules, contractual obligations in place for years, and countless exploitations from internal and external variables to the organization that are constantly pushing personal agendas. I say with reasonable certainty that this fact reflects your discipline, agency or organization to some degree. Policing is a very traditional organization and as Peter Drucker maintains in many cases stalled organizations worship at the altar of yesterday, sacrificing what is important. Since I have entered the field of academia in higher learning environments, these traits remain constant and I submit that if you look at your group it is probably true as well.
Competence
This encompasses many tasks/skills/traits such as the ability to understand and analyze written and spoken materials. Critical is having a good grasp of the language of the chosen profession as well as the language of the community. Articulating the plans, vision, and objectives of the assemblage being lead was discussed at length in preceding chapters. That which is worth reciting again is that communications is essential to building relationships and relationships is what builds the trust in a leader.
Planning is essential in any organization. As an example used in forthcoming chapters is General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s planning and implementation of those plans on June 6, 194