Leadership theories are all over the place and there are pros and cons, supports and detractors, in massive numbers for all of the majors ones that are widely known. There is much utility with a lot of the theories but there is also the idea of over-analyzing and making things more difficult than they need to be. There is also a question of whether experience or intelligence is a better asset to have if only one is available.
¶ … Leadership
The author of this report is asked to answer to a number of questions relating to leadership. First is a compare and contrast of Fiedler's Model of Leadership followed by a description of the Cognitive Resource Theory. Next, it is asked whether high experience or high intelligence is a better trait to have in a high-stress situation. Lastly, the author is to give examples of transactional leadership, transformation leadership and visionary leadership in a police setting.
Fiedler's Model of Leadership & Cognitive Resource Theory
Fiedler said that a "pretzel-shaped" theory is needed to describe and quantify the characteristics of a "pretzel-shaped" world. He said the three main factors in play were leader/member relations, task structure and position power. However, he emphasized that leader/member relations took on twice the importance of the other two dimensions because the impact of management (or mismanagement) of this dimension was much more profound (Salisbury, 2013).
By contrast, the focus of Fiedler's Cognitive Resource Theory focuses on measuring task and relationship-oriented leadership. Two main variables in the theory are intelligence and experience. Intelligence, of course, is measured by any number of standardized intelligence quotient (IQ) tests and experience is time served in certain task and leadership-oriented situations (CSS, 2013).
Other Questions
As for whether experience or intelligence is best in a high-stress situation, someone who has been there before will know better what to do and will not stress out when action is required. A person with intelligence may be light on their feet from a thinking standpoint but that does not mean that they will be able to pull off a good performance in a timely manner and certainly not with the accuracy and poise of someone who can say that they've "been there, done that." A person of high intelligence would be better in a conceptual and process-changing role rather than being plugged into a high-stress situation that they have not been in before. That being said, an experienced person that is also intelligent at the same time would be the best of both worlds as they have the foresight to know how to deal with certain situations but they also have the ability to think better on the fly when things are stressful because they know all of the context and background of the situation. In short, intelligence is nice to have in a stressful ordeal but having been there before and knowing precisely how to react is even better if only one can be chosen because people that are intelligent don't always have "street smarts" and they don't always make the best decisions even though they have the faculties that they do.
As for the examples of transactional, transformational and visionary leadership in a police setting, those examples are not hard to find. A transactional leader is one who focuses on procedures and steps and is a sucker for going by the book and closing out issues and events that come up. A transformation leader would be a leader who can take a department or other entity and transform it based on how it needs to evolve and change to meet modern challenges and goals. A police department that is paper-based and otherwise stuck in old procedures and methods would really need a transformation leader.
A visionary leader would be one that can revolutionize the way the police department thinks and acts. An example of a visionary leader would be the late Steve Jobs (Biography, 2013). Computers used to be an afterthought (if thought about at all) to many people but people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs turned the world on its ear as far as that goes and now people would never dream of being without their computers, tablets, iPods and phones, which are all basically computers in some manner or form.
In short, the different leadership styles a lot of the things that are needed in an organization at any given time. Sometimes, a leader that is able to support and effect change is needed while other times procedures and adherence to the same are lacking and this is where a transactional leader would be better. A good leader has to wear many hats and sometimes more than one at once to be what is needed for a firm.
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