Introduction
Nowadays, issues of subordination are becoming increasingly relevant and gain media attention. Recently, The Arizona Republic reported that, according to scientists, humble bosses are the most productive leaders (Ou et al., 2014). In an interview, scientist Angelo Kinicki explained that “humble people are more in the background, but they lead differently, by empowering their employees, which trickles down” (Merrill, 2014, para. 10). This paper aims to discuss personal qualities that are most beneficial for leaders of criminal justice agencies.
Effective boss traits
Knowing which leader’s traits are most effective can be crucial in daily work. According to Kinicki, qualities of a humble and effective boss include “self-awareness, openness to feedback, appreciation of others, appreciation of the greater good” (Merrill, 2014, para. 11). Kinicki also assumes that bosses with a lower level of humility, which are focused on themselves, do not accept feedback, and make unilateral decisions tend to be less effective (Merrill, 2014). As for me, I agree with the scientist, but I also suppose there are other appealing personal traits beneficial for leaders and their employees.
Moreover, I believe that not only leaders’ personal qualities influence job performance; managerial approaches are also decisive. Remarkably, O’Hare (2019) stated that employees of correctional agencies often face stress and burnout associated with poorly established organizational processes. The scientist emphasizes that personal input into decision-making and a clear understanding of job tasks can reduce stress levels significantly (O’Hare, 2019).
She suggests improving the relationship between managers and employees of the correctional agencies by introducing participatory management, that provides 360-degree feedback and applying “five practices of exemplary leadership” (O’Hare, 2019, p. vi). The scientist also draws attention to critical elements of the organizational structure, which are centralization, integration, organizational justice, effective communication, leadership and change, feedback, and participation.
Police stations organization
I assume that the organizational structure of police stations in the US needs improvement since high levels of stress and professional burnout are typical for police officers. Here, burnout is associated with issues related to organizational processes rather than with the dangers of work in the police. Thus, applying the principle of participative management will help simplify work processes in police stations as well.
In my opinion, the results of the first study are widely applicable. However, there are some differences between the workflows in the factories and the police stations. Therefore, some attention should be paid to another study, which involved 100 police officers from various police stations in Lahore, Pakistan (Masood, 2017). According to its results, openness to new experiences was the sole and principal quality associated with the higher levels of the job performance of police officers.
Participants answered questions from the Big Five Personality Traits Questionnaire to determine their personal qualities and find out how they affect job performance. According to results, openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, and agreeableness, had a positive association with job performance. At the same time, neuroticism had a negative impact (Masood, 2017, p. 31). Thus, there is an apparent demand for openness to new experiences among police officers and their leaders, which can have a decisive influence on the job performance and job satisfaction of the entire police station.
Conclusion
Thus, the optimal personal qualities of leaders in criminal justice agencies were discussed. To summarize, openness to new experiences, as well as modesty, and agreeableness are the most beneficial qualities both for police officers and their managers. At the same time, efficient workflows require rather sensible managerial approaches than particular individual traits of CEOs, top management team members, middle managers, and other leaders.
References
Masood, A. (2017). Personality traits as a predictor of job performance in police officers. Bahria Journal of Professional Psychology, 16(2), 31-53.
Merrill, L. (2014). ASU study: Humble bosses are the best bosses. The Arizona Republic. Web.
O’Hare, K. (2019). Impact of organizational structure in corrections: Recommendations for correctional leaders. Web.
Ou, A. Y., Tsui, A. S., Kinicki, A. J., Waldman, D. A., Xiao, Z., & Song, L. J. (2014). Humble chief executive officers’ connections to top management team integration and middle managers’ responses. Administrative Science Quarterly, 59(1), 34-72.