Eight Core Leadership Traits for Law Enforcement Officers

Introduction: Leadership as a Process

Leadership is a long-term path of personal and professional development, not a short-term goal. It involves reaching beyond one's comfort zone toward a higher purpose and necessarily hinges on helping others. To be an effective leader requires ongoing self-assessment, self-discovery, and honest self-reflection. Although confidence and self-esteem are integral to the leadership path, one must also understand the importance of learning from others, being selfless, and being willing and able to mentor others. Leadership is a process, not a destination. It requires hard work and an evolving sense of purpose. Leadership in law enforcement goes beyond the competencies required to serve and protect the entire community.

Management vs. Leadership in Law Enforcement

Leaders are more than managers. Although being a manager is a unique position that entails official power, it is nevertheless a position that requires excellent communication and motivational skills. As Willis (2010) points out, leadership in law enforcement is not about rank. Likewise, Baker (2010) claims that police officers need to move beyond management to cultivate leadership. The leader's job is to sell his or her mission to their personnel. To communicate a broader vision, the manager or leader must ensure proper training among personnel and promote the tools for success. Through constant self-reflection and self-assessment, a manager can develop the skills needed to be an effective and influential leader. Managers need to "step up and speak up," always keeping in mind the importance of patience in dealing with others (Willis, 2010, p. 1).

Law enforcement leaders often outline the core traits they believe are essential to effective leadership in their communities. According to Willis (2011), the eight essential skills of law enforcement leaders include service, honesty, integrity, humility, purpose, mentoring, a positive attitude, and trust. For McLean (n.d.), the essential skills also include active listening, education, attention to detail, direction, evolution, resourcefulness, service, humor, integrity, and people. When all these skills are "consistently developed and improved upon," they "can enable any manager to become more influential" (Willis, 2011, p. 1).

The Eight Essential Leadership Skills

Service

Law enforcement is a profession that focuses on service. The leader's primary objective is to motivate and educate their personnel. Research shows that the principles of servant leadership are especially relevant to law enforcement (Vito, Suresh & Richards, 2011). An officer who believes in the mission they serve and has a true love and understanding of their position and role will work to their greatest potential.

Honesty

Honesty is essential for effective leadership. A leader in law enforcement must be able to hold the trust of citizens to be effective in their role in the community. Honesty is an ethical objective that is integral to effective crime prevention. As Olson & Wasilewski (2016) point out, "effective leaders have a strong moral compass and have defined their values." When police officers are suspected of being dishonest and untrustworthy, the battle is already lost. Part of being an effective leader is to get all personnel and the people in the community to believe in the department's agenda and to trust that law enforcement is working to create safer, healthier communities.

Integrity

Integrity can be defined as consistently doing what is right even when it may be viewed as unpopular among others. "Without integrity, there is little hope for trust and legitimacy to be perceived by the officers or the community" (McLean, n.d.). An effective leader must always look at the big picture and make decisions that are in the best interest of the organization and the citizens it serves. With integrity, leaders serve everyone, not themselves.

Humility

Humility is a most crucial quality in viable leadership. In fact, humility is what prompts ethical leaders to continually conduct honest self-assessments. Humility means constantly searching for knowledge and learning from others. A humble leader is an effective leader who can "approach their mistakes with humility instead of justification and defensiveness" (Olson & Wasilewski, 2016). Law enforcement leaders must understand their responsibility to instruct and train others who will be there long after they are gone. Law enforcement is forever changing, which is why leaders should constantly educate themselves and their organizations as they prepare and plan for the future.

Purpose

Purpose is defined as the reason for which something is done or created. There can be no leadership journey without a driving factor — a sense of purpose. Purpose can be informed by a body of evidence or research, or by a sense of moral duty. A leader must help their personnel understand the mission at hand and buy into it. A strong leader can help their troops understand how to also be driven by a sense of purpose by motivating them to achieve their goals (Baker, 2010).

Positive Attitude

Managers who rule by fear and criticism will not be effective in the long term. A new vision of leadership must begin to permeate law enforcement. An effective manager or leader stays positive and is constructive when working with others. Their desire is not to belittle but to lift up. A positive attitude promotes loyalty and cohesion among all members of the department and engenders trust in the community (Baker, 2010).

Trust

Finally, trust is essential for leadership in law enforcement. Effective leaders must learn to trust their subordinates by delegating tasks and responsibilities. An effective leader should promote equality and opportunity. Effective leadership should help all officers learn and develop their skills in areas that may be lacking. Similarly, law enforcement leaders build bridges with members of the community to create mutual bonds of trust.

Conclusion: Self-Reflection and the Leadership Journey

Self-reflection is a proactive way to develop the eight main principles of leadership. By remaining self-aware, we are more accountable to others. A law enforcement leader remains humble, always learning and seeking out new training opportunities to become more effective. A leader should always mentor younger officers and help them become future leaders of the organization. Through an attitude of servant leadership, the law enforcement managers of the future can build trust among the ranks and within the communities they serve.

References

Baker, T. (2010). Effective Police Leadership (3rd ed.). New York: Looseleaf.

Cain, N. (2017). What makes an effective law enforcement leader? Retrieved from http://inpublicsafety.com/2017/08/what-makes-an-effective-law-enforcement-leader/

McLean, K. (n.d.). 10 essential attributes of effective leaders. Police Chief. Retrieved from http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/10-essential-attributes-of-effective-leaders/

Olson, A. & Wasilewski, M. (2016). 12 traits of effective police leaders. PoliceOne.com. Retrieved from

Vito, G. F., Suresh, G., & Richards, G. E. (2011). Emphasizing the servant in public service. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 34(4), 674–686.

Willis, B. (2010). Why leadership in law enforcement is not about rank. PoliceOne.com. Retrieved from https://leb.fbi.gov/2011/march/perspective-principles-of-effective-law-enforcement-leadership

Willis, D. (2011). Perspective: Principles of effective law enforcement leadership. Retrieved from https://leb.fbi.gov/2011/march/perspective-principles-of-effective-law-enforcement-leadership