Week 5 Project: Final Report

 

Week 5 Project: Final Report

Based on your readings, discussions with your peers, and research, consolidate the concepts from this course into a report that addresses the following points. This high-stakes assignment represents 25% of the final overall grade, so provide adequate depth.

One of the themes of this course has been the comparison between business leadership and leadership in the criminal justice field. In some ways, the techniques and challenges are similar between the two worlds, but in other ways there are vast differences.

For this assignment, you will compare the position of police chief with that of a business executive.

• What are the similarities and differences in the leadership styles of a business executive and a police chief? Refer to the traits discussed earlier in the course.
• In what specific ways do a police chief’s management tasks resemble those of an executive in private business? A police chief does not need to meet with stockholders, and a business executive doesn’t have to interrogate suspects, but they do have numerous tasks in common.
• Strategic planning is an important part of leadership. Of course, a police chief will have the goal of reducing crime rates. Explain at least five other legitimate, measurable goals that a police chief will want to attain. How will the chief determine whether the goals have been met?
• Discuss the specific leadership requirements that subordinates in a police department will have, and show how they resemble or differ from those in a private company. In other words, show how the supervision needs of a patrol officer or dispatcher would differ from those of an employee in a typical business.
• A difficult challenge confronting many police departments is that of recruitment and hiring. Many departments find it difficult or impossible to recruit new officers to match the diversity of the community. How can a police chief address this challenge?

Support your analysis and suggestions with proper reasoning, examples, and research data. Use structured text like bolding, headings, bulleted lists, and charts/tables where appropriate to increase the clarity of your communication. Cite the resources you use in APA style.

Name your file MCJ6405_W5_A2_LastName_FirstInitial and submit it to the Submissions Area by the due date assigned.

The Big Five Model

The Big Five model is an attempt to organize some of the myriad of personality traits existing in individuals. Some of these traits may be more effective for a leader in one field than in another.

The Big Five model was proposed to analyze five common personality traits in people and assess their strengths and weaknesses for leadership positions. These traits are:

· Surgency

· Agreeableness

· Conscientiousness

· Adjustment

· Intellectance

Surgency includes characteristics such as extroversion, high energy, excitability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and a high degree of emotional expressiveness. Those falling into this category are outgoing and take matters into their own hands.

Leaders, and particularly those who strive toward leadership positions, often have outgoing personalities. In the case study covered this week, George J. Beto can certainly be classified as having this personality trait. This trait was a powerful factor and a critical requirement for his professional success.

Whether surgency translates well into criminal justice leadership positions may depend on the scenario. For instance, if a police department is stagnant and lacks energy, vision, and innovation, an extroverted and expressive chief may be a perfect fit.

However, if the police department is doing well and subordinates have a strong rapport with an easy-going police chief, then a new high-energy chief may not work.

Agreeableness includes attributes such as altruism, kindness, affection, and other behaviors that are social in nature. People with these traits are cheerful and optimistic and have a need for affiliation. They are well bonded to the ideas of conventional society.

However, agreeable personalities are often seen as a fair target for those who try to take advantage and shirk responsibilities. Therefore, it is important for leaders to know their groups before becoming overly receptive to their ideas and tolerant to their working styles. For instance, a judge who is too agreeable could be treated as a pushover.