Leading Improvement

Table of ContentsS. NOContentsPage

1.0Introduction3

2.0Organisational Profile4

3.0Leadership Requirements5

4.0Implementation5

5.0Leadership Challenges and Solutions7

6.0Conclusion9

7.0References10

1.0 IntroductionLeadership can be defined in many ways. It is the ability to influence other people so they would do what they are told and expected to do, so a certain goal can be reached. As Conger & Kanungo, (1998), Hunt, Boal, & Dodge, (1999) have stated, leadership can be defined as an act where the preferred organisational objectives are being accomplished by influencing people, in order for them to behave in a way that is preferred by the leader, and as a state that give an accent on the leaders position in an organisation. There are various theories that focus on the traits and qualities that a person should have, so he/she can be distinguished as a leader. According to Bastianini and Sedley (1995) the question about these qualities that make an individual a leader, are found even in the philosophical literature of Plato. Leadership theories have changed over the years, and there were different theories that were dominant in specific periods of time. One example of it is the 1970s, where normative decision theory that was defended by Vroom and Yetton (1973), then, the path-goal theory set by House and Mitchel (1974), and Graen and Cashman (1975) who have argued for the LMX theory. These three theories can be classified as behavioural, and after this period of times, in the 1980, the leadership theories shifted, and the age of transformational and charismatic leadership has come. Many scholars made contributions to these theories. Burns (1978), Benis and Sashkin (1988), Bass (1985, 1996) and others have created different versions of the transformational and charismatic leadership theories. Weber (1947), as it is argued, is the one that gave Conger (1989), Conger and Kanugo (1987, 1998), House (1977) and others, the foundation to build on the later charismatic leadership theories. These theories provide the leaders of organisations with many strategies that can help them rally as many employees as they need, and give a clear picture of possible application of a fitting theory that might provide a certain organisation with the competitive edge that it needs. This should be founded on the organisations strategic plan that must be previously determined. Every industry has its own complexity its own rules. The organisations have their own culture, leadership, size, and knowing all that, the fitting model to an organisation as our own, that is part of the leisure industry a certain strategic plan should be made. 2.0 Organisational ProfileThe United Kingdom Police Force has several branches offering total security in London and the entire United Kingdom. One such branches is The Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism Command, fondly referred to by insiders as the SO15, it lead objective is to protect London and the UK from the threat of terrorism.This branch was founded in the autumn of 2006 which brought together two units that prior to this were independent. These werethe Anti-Terrorist Branch known withinthe Met as the SO13 and Special Branch which was then known as SO12. This newly formed merger has carried along the legacy of the independent teams. Today it effectively combinesintelligence, operations and investigations functions offering leading and reliable protection in the developed economy (Thiel 2009).

3.0 Leadership Requirements

So, in order to survive in these hard conditions, there is one Japanese strategy (Hoshin kanri) that I can use, and has been set by Akao (1976) and the goals of the Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism Command can be determined and certain changes that will take the Command back on the right track will be formulated and deployed. The results should be achieved by participation of all the employees and their understanding and support should be ensured. The Japanese method (hoshin kanri) can be used in order for the long term requirements to be predicted and the strategy can be accumulated. A good communication flow is crucial for the needed consensus of the team of managers. 4.0 ImplementationWith regards to the type of changes that a leader at counter terrorism unit should adopt in leading a group of armed persons; is more social interaction with the public the unit is suppose to protect as this will be essential to effective counter terror operations. Therefore; in implementing those changes; I would rely on Mastrofski (1999) and in particular the six guidelines that the counter terror units staff need to follow in order to improve their performance. The guidelines are as follows:a) Reliability: - The counter terrorism unit should be consistent in their work. This will involve setting set performance targets so officers performance can be measured and assessed using specific level of standard. As a leader his will involve motivating the officers and producing a culture of self-assessment in order to maintain a high level of professionalism. b) Responsiveness: - The counter terrorism unit should be more open to the public. This means allowing the public an in depth look into direct (non-sensitive) operations, in other words the counter terrorism unit should lead a more friendly service in order to keep the public at ease. This will be applied by holding public forums and inviting key persons in community for interaction.c) Competence: - The counter terrorism units work should be of a high standard at all times. Due to the nature of the work; the changes that will be made is to ensure that performance standards should never be lowered and be consistently high.d) Manners: - The counter terrorism unit should be always courteous towards the public (even potential suspects). This means that the changes need to be done is to ensure the counter terrorism unit improve their interpersonal skills and go on courses in order to interact better with the public using soft mannered language. This can also be done through interpersonal skill training provided in house.e) Fairness: - The counter terrorism unit should treat all people (regardless whether they are suspects or victims or familys of both) fairly. This change can happen through periodic evaluation of the operational activities undertaken by the counter terrorism unit. In these periodical reviews issues of unfairness between either colleagues or civilians can be identified and an action plan can be taken in order to assist the said officers in question in improving their conduct, whether towards each other or the public at large.After the strategic plans have been completed, I would apply the transformational leadership style that has been advanced by Burns (1978) and Bass (1990). Because of the severe market conditions, our company has stopped making profits as it used to, and the goal that I want to achieve is to overcome these hard times and conditions with the help of the officers and to focus on the vision that we all have in common. As Bass (1985, 1996) and Avolio (et al. 1995) have stated, the social changes and the incorporation of the same is the crucial thing when implementing this type of leadership style. Lowe et al. (1996) sustains such a stand point and asserts that the results will be satisfaction of employees and the public in case of a Police Force, and better performance of the employees because of the previous motivation. The staff members should be stimulated and inspired in some way, so they would feel valued and important, and will cast away the feeling of discouragement because of the severe economic meltdown conditions and government cuts.

5.0 Leadership Challenges and SolutionsAs most of the work carried out by the Counter Terrorism Command relies on the collation of intelligence which in most instances are what is deemed as grey or always provisional which means that more often than not SO15 will carry pre-emptive attacks that lead to mistakes (Wilkinson, 2001). An example is the raid by SO15 in Forrest Gate (Forrest Gate raids) was an innocent British Muslim was not only shot but had his family mistreated during the raid (NMP, 2006). This action has undermined policy/community relations not only in the Forrest Gate locality, but in the country as a whole (Blick et. al., 2006). The sort of changes that needs to be affected into the Counter Terrorism Command with regards to police-community cohesion (which is essential for information gathering which is paramount to SO 15s operations) will involve SO15 Communicating sincerely; consistently; honestly and reliably to the local public affected by their operations during and after the terrorist raids. Media leaks; information through various mediums to give up to date information about any on-going raids (Shibutani, 1966). Communicate with all the community and not only the Muslim groups. An officer should be designated to deal with the communication with the public and the media to avoid adverse inference by media during the raids.

6.0 ConclusionAs I mentioned previously, there are many fundamental leadership theories that have emerged in the past decades. There are certain aspects that define every theory and according to those, they have been grouped into four classifications. The first one are the trait theories that are based on the traits and qualities that a leader should be associated with, the power influence theories- looks at the influence of the leader and the power source of it, the behavioural theories- the important thing is what the leader actually does and not the qualities of the leader and contingency theories-depending on the given conditions and circumstances, predicts the most appropriate leadership style. Considering the economic times the United Kingdom police Force is going through, the most appropriate approach to apply so as to lead on varied aspects that could be improved for the public and the staff is to apply a transformational leadership style. After implementation, it could be developed on, it is hoped that the staff will be motivated enough to provide good service and overall good outlook.

6.0 References

1. Avolio, B., Waldman, D., Yammarino, F., 1991. Leading in the 1990s: the four Is of transformational leadership, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol.15 No.4, pp.9-16. 2. Avolio, B. and Bass, B., 1988. Transformational leadership, charisma and beyond, in Hunt, J., Baliga, B., Dachler, H., Schriesheim, C. (Eds), Emerging Leadership Vistas, pp.29-49, Lexington, MA: Lexington Books. 3. Bass, B., 1985a. Leadership and performance beyond expectations, The Free Press, New York, NY. 4. Bass, B., 1990a. Bass and Stogdills handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications, 3rd ed., The Free Press, New York, NY. 5. Bass, B., Avolio, B., 1990. Developing transformational leadership: 1992 and beyond, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol.14(5), pp.21-27. 6. Blick, A., Chaudhury, T. and Weir, S. (2006) The Rules of the Game: Terrorism, Community and Human Rights. Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust: London.

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19. Thiel, D. (2009), Policing Terrorism: A review of the evidence available at: http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/uploads/catalogerfiles/policing-terrorism-a-review-of-the-evidence/terrorism_review.pdf

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