Responses

You will post a 250-word reply to 2 classmate’s threads. The reply requires a minimum of 1 properly formatted citation. Each reply must be completed by you, the individual student. Additionally, each thread and reply must reflect a solid Christian worldview through the use of at least 1 Holy Bible reference.

EUGENE

In reviewing this week’s reading material, Kouzes and Posner’s (2017) argument for the importance of enabling others to act, fostering collaboration, and strengthening others reminded me of Deci and Ryan’s (1985) self-determination theory. I have routinely come back to this theory throughout my coursework as the principles within it seem to fit many different molds, specifically leadership and motivation. The topic of motivation and police officers has become an area of interest due in part to research showing the unique nature of being a police officer, to include internal and external stressors that are seldom experienced by any other profession (Accquadro Maran, Zedda, Varetto & Ieraci, 2015). Deci and Ryan’s (1985) self-determination theory simply says that in order for humans to feel motivated to perform they must have a sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. I find that Kouzes and Posner’s (2017) concept of enabling others to act and fostering collaborations meld perfectly with providing people with a sense of autonomy. Leaders, especially front-line supervisors within law enforcement organizations, have a dramatic impact on the autonomy of officers. I have seen first-hand how front-line leadership can restrict the decision-making process so much that they drain the officer’s motivation which leads to them not wanting to act and foster any sort of collaboration with the organization. Having the confidence as a leader to step back and allow others to make decisions is a worthy investment. While not every situation will allow for this, leaders must learn to create environments in which their people can be successful and allow them to make decisions. This level of confidence is not learned overnight, and I have struggled with this myself. However, once I observed the benefits of allowing officers to make their own decisions, obviously within the guidelines of our policies, they feel more connected and confident in their ability to solve problems. If we look at Deci and Ryan’s (1985) argument for competence, this aligns with Kouzes and Posner’s (2017) argument for strengthening others. Competence, or having the ability to complete the task at hand, comes down to proper training which strengthens others and allows them to complete their job more effectively and with confidence. Failure to strengthen others can, and will, result in stagnation due to a lack of motivation to perform. Leadership is a challenging process that takes time to learn and understand. This process can certainly be daunting, however just as Proverbs 3:5 (English Standard Version, 2020) reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding”. There are going to be times of uncertainty, confusion, and doubt within the realm of leadership, just as there is in life. Stepping back and remembering that the Lord has a plan for everyone is often a sense of reprieve from this anxiety and can brings things back to base level.  It’s okay to struggle when trying to be an impactful leader, there will be good times and bad times. Learning from mistakes and not making them repeatedly will lead to a road of success over time.

ALFREDO

Successful and effective leaders share some of the same traits. Traits of effective leaders include acting strategically, self-managing, being accountable and responsible, effective communicator, having a vision for the future, setting specific goals and be resilient in achieving them, managing complexity, and learning agility (Powerful Traits of Successful Leaders, 2017). Apart from needing some or most of these traits to be an effective leader, effective leaders must also foster a working environment that promotes team building and encouraging and inspiring others to act. The following brief discussion board post will examine Kouzes and Posner’s leadership challenge practice of enabling others to act, fostering collaboration, strengthening others, and how these leadership practices can be implemented in law enforcement organizations. 

Enabling Others to Act

            Enabling others to act is part of Kouzes and Posner’s (2017) five practices of leadership excellence. Leaders who exemplify the leadership practice of enabling others to act build a spirit of collaboration and trust. Leaders encourage people to share information with one another. Kouzes and Posner believe that leaders in encourages others to act must state what they care about, what they believe, and to show vulnerability when needed. This leadership practice also requires leaders to believe in their followers, invest in their followers’ education and training, and delegate power. 

Fostering Collaboration and Strengthening Others

            Fostering collaboration and strengthening others are essential factors needed in work environments within organizations. Fostering a collaborative environment allows organizations to optimize and maximize their abilities to meet goals. Few to organizations take the time to train leaders and subordinate alike in learning how to effectively build trusting relationships to able fosters collaborative environments (How Leaders Can Foster Better Collaboration, 2019). Leaders can strengthen their teams and or organizations in several ways that include embracing diversity of thought, clarifying issues, creating a competitive advantage, and encouraging critical and strategic thinking. Thinking as a team while at the same time encouraging other teams to think as teams allows organizations sustainable success (Ways Leaders Strengthening and Prepare Their Teams for Change, 2014). 

Enabling Action, Fostering Collaboration, and Strengthening Others in Law Enforcement

Enabling others to act, fostering collaboration, and strengthening others within a law enforcement organization can be done in a variety of ways by the organization’s leaders. One way is for leaders (i.e. sergeants, lieutenants, captains, all levels of chiefs, act.) is to revise or revamp yearly subordinate evaluations into one on one meetings throughout the year. For example, sergeants can be assigned a certain number of subordinates (front line officers) of which they would be responsible to meet with on a consistent basis. Such meetings can be on anything from discussing career goals to goals related to job effectiveness and the assignment of specialty tasks based on the officer’s interest, abilities, and area of expertise. Such meetings can help officers work on any skill deficits and inspire the officer by guiding him/her on getting to the next stage in their career. Another way to foster collaboration and enabling action is to create department committees such as safety, training, professional development, community policing, etc. Each committee would be tasked with training/educating the rest of the department’s officers on their area. Lastly, police leaders and managers can delegate more responsibilities on a progressive basis to front line officers. The Bible states, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:13, English Standard Version).