Leadership Philosophy Assignment

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Leadership Philosophy 1 Leadership Philosophy Assignment Austin Crabtree Helms School of Government, Liberty University

Leadership Philosophy 2 Abstract Leadership styles in public safety vary from leader to leader. Depending on what type of organization a leader is in and what kind of followers they have will determine the style of leadership that is best suited to use. Theodore Roosevelt had a leadership style that was strong and was able to transform a nation. Roosevelt’s style of leadership is one of many and is very well suited for a public safety setting. This paper aims to show how Roosevelt’s style of leadership is good for public safety leaders. This paper will also look at a leadership style I prefer in a leadership role. That leadership style will be compared to other leadership styles. A biblical principle will also be applied to the use of these leadership styles. Keywords :

Leadership Philosophy 3 Leadership Philosophy Assignment Introduction Having the proper leadership and leadership style within an organization can make all the difference in how well that organization or entity performs. While there are many ways to lead an organization, several of the styles of leadership are better suited for public safety than the rest. Each organization is made up of different personalities and types of followers. Choosing what style of leadership to lead will potentially make an organization successful or fail. Leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt had leadership styles that could transform an organization and nation. Using different leadership styles helped him become the leader he was. As a leader in public safety, the job requires adaptability, not only from the leader, but from their followers as well. Having adaptive abilities in leadership has its strengths and weaknesses, especially compared to other styles of leadership such as transformational leadership, servant leadership, or inclusive leadership. Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt had a tremendous leadership style that I consider very important to public safety leadership. Roosevelt’s style of leadership is considered as being transformational. Roosevelt held many different leadership positions in his life. Even before becoming the President of the United States, he was leading with a transformational style in different areas and organizations. Roosevelt worked in the Civil Service Commission for seven years before being appointed as the Police Commissioner of the New York City Police Department. Before becoming the Police Commissioner, the New York City Police Department was known for its corruption. Part of the corruption of the police department was saloons paying off police officials. When Roosevelt left after serving two years, the department had drastically changed.

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Leadership Philosophy 4 Roosevelt would reprimand officers for not doing their job properly while he was commissioner. “The action of Mr. Roosevelt, when it became known, made a sensation throughout the department and as a consequence, more faithful patrol duty may be performed by the force for some time to come” (McNamara, 2019). Wherever Roosevelt went as a leader, change followed. He was considered a reformer and a progressive president. Roosevelt was able to inspire his followers to change the way they worked and to make their organization and nation better. One quote from Theodore Roosevelt that can sum up his leadership is this, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”. Leadership Style of Theodore Roosevelt Transformational leadership is the style of leadership that could best describe Theodore Roosevelt’s leadership style. His transformational leadership style was also mixed with an authentic and servant style of leadership. “Transformational leadership is described as the process in which leaders play an idealized role model, stimulate and encourage innovative work behavior, provide inspirational motivation and engage in supporting and mentoring followers to achieve the organization’s shared vision and goals” (Afsar & Umrani, 2019). Roosevelt was about establishing trust with his followers and leading the charge of how he wanted things done. He believed that if a leader expected their followers to do what they were told, the leaders should also be willing to do the same things. “No man has a right to ask or accept any service unless under changed conditions he would feel that he could keep his entire self-respect while rendering” (Theodore Roosevelt). Roosevelt’s mix of style allowed him to be able to connect with his followers and show them that he cared about them. The advantages of his leadership style were many. Transformational leadership places high value on followers needs, values and morals (Northouse, 2021). Studies have shown that transformational leadership is also a highly

Leadership Philosophy 5 effective leadership style. Servant leadership, like authentic and transformational leadership, puts ethics at the forefront. “Servant leadership argues unabashedly that leaders should put followers first, share control with followers, and embrace their growth” (Northouse, 2021, p. 267). Roosevelt also exhibited an authentic leadership style that found its strength in the fact that authentic leaders are viewed as trustworthy. When Roosevelt took over a corrupt police force, the public did not trust that department. While he was commissioner, he made the police force be viewed in a more trustworthy and transparent light. This leadership style is still needed in public safety today. The public does not trust a lot of public safety entities because of a rash of corruption in different departments. Although Roosevelt’s leadership styles have strengths, there are also weaknesses. One weakness of transformational leadership is that some researchers view it as a “personality trait or personal predisposition rather than a behavior that people can learn. If it is a trait, training people in this approach becomes more problematic because it is difficult to teach people how to change their traits” (Northouse, 2021, p. 206). Another weakness to transformational leadership is that has been used in the past to coerce followers away from their values and toward evil deeds. “For this reason, transformational leadership puts a burden on individuals and organizations to be aware of how they are being influenced and in what directions they are being asked to go” (Northouse, 2021, p. 206). Authentic leadership has its weakness in morality and personal experience. Research has also suggested that there is no clarity as to whether authentic leadership helps an organization achieve its goals (Northouse, 2021). Servant leadership finds its weakness in the follower’s dependency on their leader and some view servant leadership as a time of following instead of leadership. One study showed that followers of a servant leader lacked the

Leadership Philosophy 6 ability to think and do for themselves. “Rather than being empowered, the team members struggled to make decisions and take action in the absence of their leader” (Liu, 2019, p. 1100). My Preferred Leadership Style My preferred leadership style would be an adaptive style of leadership. In public safety, a leader must be able to adapt to any situation that may arise throughout the day or throughout a career. “Leaders are likely to face multiple challenges to adapt and overcome throughout their careers. Their ability to respond rapidly to unexpected events affects the direction and accomplishments of their teams and organizations as well as their career trajectory” (London, 2023). With an adaptive leadership style, a leader can be able to help their followers adapt to any given circumstance as well. Adaptive leadership is about having your followers ready for anything and everything they face and enabling them to feel empowered in doing so. Northouse (2021) tells us that the theory of adaptive leadership was develop through many years by a man named Heifetz and many of his associates. Adaptive leadership can be accomplished through the skills approach to leadership. The skills approach to leadership is when a leader uses their competence and knowledge to lead a group of people to reach their goal. The skills approach looks at three skills a leader has: technical skills, human skills, and conceptual skills. “A multitude of studies have been published that contend that a leader’s effectiveness depends on the leader’s ability to solve complex organizational problems” (Northouse, 2021, p. 56). There are four biases that adaptive leadership encompasses, which are systems, biological, service orientation, and psychotherapeutic. These biases can help characterize and explain adaptive leadership (Northouse, 2021). In systems bias, adaptive leadership looks at the problems that people may face that may be dynamic, complex, multifaceted, and can evolve and change. Biological bias in adaptive leadership “recognizes that people develop and evolve as a result of

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Leadership Philosophy 7 having to adapt to both their internal cues/state and external environments” (Northouse, 2021, p. 286). This is what makes your followers grow and learn how to deal with circumstances that are new to them and be able to thrive in. Service orientation bias in adaptive leadership is when leaders use their skill, authority, and knowledge to be able to help their followers adapt to situations. Psychotherapeutic bias is where leaders realize “people need a supportive environment and adapt more successfully when they face difficult problems directly, learn to distinguish between fantasy and reality, resolve internal conflicts, and learn new attitudes and behavior” (Northouse, 2021, p. 286). Along with these biases, there are six behaviors that go with adaptive leadership. These behaviors are: Get on the balcony, identify the adaptive challenge, regulate distress, maintain disciplined attention, give the work back to the people, and protect leadership voices from below (Northouse, 2021). I chose this style of leadership and believe it best suits me in the role of a leader in public safety because I think adaptability is an important asset to have in this line of work. As a leader of men and women, and people from different cultures and backgrounds, not only should a leader be able to adapt to the changing environment around them, but they should be able to adapt to the type of people they are leading. “The goal of adaptive leadership is to encourage people to change and to learn new behaviors so that they may effectively meet their challenges and grow in the process” (Northouse, 2021, p. 285). Using an adaptive leadership approach to leadership, I could ensure that my followers and I were ready for anything that the public safety climate could throw at us. “In the face of such challenges, adaptive leadership and embracing a growth mindset are imperative” (Bello, 2023). Public safety, especially law enforcement or other first responders, deal with high amounts of stress daily. People react differently to stress and will usually revert to their training when faced with a critical situation. “In times of stress, the process

Leadership Philosophy 8 of sound decision making can suffer. A preoccupation with events may lead to a short-term focus and a reactive posture” (Baker et al., 2020, Decision Making section). A leader who can have their followers ready for stressful, ever-changing situations is invaluable to a department or organization. As an adaptive leader in public safety, I would promote innovation, encourage my followers to be continuously learning, and build up collaborative relationships. Promoting innovation in a department or organization allows me to get new ideas and methods from my followers. In doing so, I can be able to learn and adapt to what my followers’ needs are and what they believe our community or department needs. Encouraging my followers to continuously learn will help them adapt to the changing world of public safety. Bello (2023) says that adaptive leaders “understand that every encounter or situation, whether it's a community interaction, a criminal investigation, or a crisis situation, is an opportunity to learn and improve”. Law enforcement encounter changing crime patterns, new technologies, varying political climates, and encounter humans from all backgrounds. This makes learning and adapting all the time even more important. Building collaborative relationships with the community and other members of the organization will help me be an adaptive leader as well. Doing so will allow the community and leaders to have a stronger relationship which can in turn help leaders adapt to the needs of the people they serve. Philippians 4:11-12 says “Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” ( New American Standard Bible, 1971/1995). The Bible shows us that in whatever circumstance or situation we are in, if we are contended, then God is pleased. When we can adapt to our circumstances and give glory

Leadership Philosophy 9 and praise to God, God is pleased with us. Being a leader who can instill that sort of adaptability into their followers will be able to give God glory and honor in their circumstances. Adaptive Leadership Compared to Transformational Leadership There are many leadership styles in public safety. Each one offers a certain amount of benefit to the public safety leadership realm. Each person in a leadership role will develop or embrace their own leadership style. One of those styles is transformational leadership. “Transformational leaders motivate followers to commit themselves to organizational objectives and to realize performance outcomes, which exceed beyond expectations” (Steinmann, 2018). Transformational leadership pushes followers beyond their limits to change their perspective and view on certain things. Adaptive leadership has followers learn how to adapt their view and perspectives to fit the given situation. “Transformational leadership emphasizes radical changes instead of adaptation through incremental and iterative changes while maintaining the team’s ability to adapt to the long-term strategic plan and ongoing change” (Huang et al., 2023). Like adaptive leadership, transformative leadership values the opinions of their followers. “They listen to followers and are tolerant of opposing viewpoints. A spirit of cooperation often develops between these leaders and their followers” (Northouse, 2021, p. 201). While adaptive leadership is follower centered, transformational leadership is leader centered. Transformational leadership looks to change the department or organization and the way things are done. Adaptive leadership looks to help the members of the department or organization adapt to the given circumstances of the department or organization. “Another criticism of the transformational leadership approach is that it may not be viewed as effective in all national cultures. Despite prior claims that transformational leadership is universal” (Northouse, 2021, p. 207). While

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Leadership Philosophy 10 transformational leadership tends to not do well with being effective in all cultures, adaptive leadership does since it is based on adapting to the people around the leader. Adaptive Leadership Compared to Servant Leadership Servant leadership is another style of leadership that many people use during their role as public safety leaders. Servant leadership is another follower centered leadership style, much like adaptive leadership. This leadership style focuses on the followers’ needs and values and how the leaders can serve their followers more than anything else. Servant leadership has a “holistic approach and broad focus adopted compared to the other philosophies, as well as to its important role in affecting individual and team-level outcomes, such as organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, job performance and job satisfaction” (Canavesi & Minelli, 2022). Servant leadership helps followers grow and succeed by helping followers in their career development, supporting them, and prioritizing mentorship. Adaptive leadership also helps followers grow and succeed by giving the followers the ability to adapt and succeed in a variety of environments. Servant leadership empowers followers as well. This leadership enables followers to think for themselves, make decisions, and be self-sufficient (Northouse, 2021). Adaptive leadership also empowers followers in the same way by giving them the ability to think thought stressful situations to be able to overcome them. One study done by Hu and Liden in 2011 found that servant leadership “enhanced team effectiveness by increasing the shared confidence among team members that they could be effective as a work group” (Northouse, 2021, p. 265). Adaptive leadership enhances team effectiveness by challenging their followers to “face difficult situations, providing them with the space or opportunity they need to learn new ways of dealing with the inevitable changes in beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors that they are likely to encounter in addressing real problems” (Northouse, 2021, p. 285).

Leadership Philosophy 11 Adaptive Leadership Compared to Inclusive Leadership Inclusive leadership is a style of leadership that focuses on the diversity and inclusion of a department and organization. Inclusive leadership realized that there are great benefits in including the diverse backgrounds of the followers within their organization. Drawing from different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, inclusive leadership thrives on being follower centered just like adaptive leadership. Inclusive leadership is considered a two-way leadership style in that leaders influence their followers and followers influence their leader. “Rather than leaders directing followers, inclusive approaches establish norms of active consultation and participation, which drive shared decision making within a team or organization” (Northouse, 2021, p. 324). Inclusive leadership works to include all followers of an organization and make them feel valued and heard. “Leader behaviors that invite and appreciate others’ contributions help all members feel like they are part of the in-group, thereby facilitating a common identity within the group” (Northouse, 2021, p. 333). Like adaptive leadership, follower inclusion in decision making is important to the success of the organization. Inclusive leadership and adaptive leadership both focus on empowering their followers to share ideas and solutions to different problems and using their diverse backgrounds as a strength. One leadership characteristic of adaptive leadership is being able to protect leadership voices from below. Marginalized people may not get the chance in other leadership styles to voice their opinions. “Protecting voices from below puts low-status individuals on equal footing with other members of the group. It means the leader and the other people of the group give credence to the out-group members’ ideas and actions” (Northouse, 2021, p. 297). Doing this helps the followers feel important and have a voice within the organization they are working for. Some inclusive leaders can find it challenging to be able to include diverse followers in everything they do. Inclusive

Leadership Philosophy 12 leaders “need support to successfully deal with such challenges. For inclusive leaders, this means having an infrastructure and relationships that help to reinforce behaviors learned” (Northouse, 2021, p. 338). In this sense, inclusive leaders should also have some adaptive leadership skills at the ready. Thinking Biblically About Leadership Styles Throughout the Bible there are many different leaders with different leadership styles. Each person can choose to use their leadership for good or bad within an organization they are leading. God uses each person in a leadership role, whether good or bad, to advance His will. In Romans, the Bible says “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory” (NASB). Here the Bible is talking about the evil ruler Pharoah. God uses this evil ruler to make known the riches of His glory. While He uses evil leaders, He finds pleasure in using good leaders as well. “Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; and let them say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant” ( New American Standard Bible, 1971/1995, Psalm 35:27). Christian leaders must glorify God in all they do and lead as though they are leading their organization for God. Conclusion Throughout history there have been many leaders, good and bad, who have used different leadership styles to accomplish their goals. Each person believes their selected leadership style is the best style to use. However, every leadership style has its strengths and weaknesses. Theodore Roosevelt exhibited several leadership styles that included transformation, authentic, and servant

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Leadership Philosophy 13 styles of leadership. His use of these leadership styles allowed him and his followers to be successful in their endeavors and made him one of the greatest leaders in history. While I believe he was a great leader and was able to use his leadership styles effectively, I believe the best leadership style for me in a public safety setting is adaptive leadership. Adaptive leadership, like the others, has its strengths and weaknesses, especially when compared to other leadership styles such as transformational, inclusive, and servant leadership. No matter what style of leadership someone chooses, they should lead their people and do their job to the glory of God.

Leadership Philosophy 14 References Afsar, B., & Umrani, W. A. (2019). Transformational leadership and Innovative Work Behavior. European Journal of Innovation Management , 23 (3), 402–428. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejim-12-2018-0257 Baker, E. L., Irwin, R., & Matthews, G. (2020). Thoughts on adaptive leadership in a challenging time. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice , 26 (4), 378–379. https://doi.org/10.1097/phh.0000000000001179 Bello, A. (2023, June 6). Leadership development series: Why adaptive leadership is imperative for law enforcement . Police1. https://www.police1.com/police-leader-playbook/articles/leadership-development-series- why-adaptive-leadership-is-imperative-for-law-enforcement-LTWv39O1YqVWiW3e/ #:~:text=Adaptive%20leadership%20is%20a%20strategic%20imperative%20for %20law,effective%20and%20responsive%20to%20the%20communities%20they %20serve. Canavesi, A., & Minelli, E. (2021). Servant leadership: A systematic literature review and network analysis. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal , 34 (3), 267–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-021-09381-3 Huang, J. Y., Jiang, R., & Chang, J. Y. (2023). The effects of transformational and adaptive leadership on dynamic capabilities: Digital Transformation Projects. Project Management Journal , 54 (4), 428–446. https://doi.org/10.1177/87569728231165896 Liu, H. (2019, July 6). Just the servant: An intersectional critique of servant leadership - JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45093293 London, M. (2023). Causes and consequences of adaptive leadership: A model of leaders’ rapid responses to unexpected events. Psychology of Leaders and Leadership , 26 (1), 22–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/mgr0000136 McNamara, R. (2019, June 19). In 1890s Theodore Roosevelt struggled to clean up the New York Police . ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/theodore-roosevelt-ny-police-department- 1773515 New American Standard Bible. (1995). Thomas Nelson. (Original work published 1971) Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice . SAGE.

Leadership Philosophy 15 Steinmann, B., Klug, H. J., & Maier, G. W. (2018). The path is the goal: How transformational leaders enhance followers’ job attitudes and proactive behavior. Frontiers in Psychology , 9 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02338

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