NCJ Number
145996
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 62 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1993) Pages: 1-4
Date Published
1993
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The author, a police deputy, offers advice on leadership.
Abstract
Commonly, police administrators lack creativity or become so preoccupied with current problems that they consider strategic planning a mere abstraction or an annoyance. Good managers will attach purpose and meaning to their own and their employees' jobs. Therefore, it is important to articulate an organizational vision through mission and values statements. Leaders should steer the organization, and entrust the delivery of services to those who are assigned to particular tasks and perform them well. Police managers should empower subordinates in order to bring out their individual talents, despite fears--to some degree legitimate--that noncontrolled subordinates will take over the organization. Establishing a positive leadership framework will ensure that employees are motivated and unified toward achieving organizational objectives. Without doing so, police managers are mere custodians of a bureaucracy that preoccupies itself with the present at the expense of the future. 6 endnotes