The function of organizational leadership is well defined but practiced with extreme

diversity. What is meant by this is that volumes of books have been written on the most

successful characteristics of effective leaders. Good leaders across public and private sectors

generally possess these characteristics, but they are applied in different manners depending on

the industry. Part the reason this is so is because different industries and organizations in

different sectors of employment require leaders that exemplify leadership characteristics in

different measures.

Take the following examples. General George S. Patton is regarded as one of the most

effective generals of World War II. Eccentric personality, but effective, Patton orchestrated a

strategic and logistical miracle at the Battle of the Bulge when he was able to dislodge his army

from fighting at the front to relieve surrounded infantry units near the city of Bastogne, France.

His style of discipline created order and motivation that led his troops to believe that they could

not be defeated while being led by Patton.

Steve Jobs, on the other hand, is considered a creative genius with a vision that can see

what his products should be able to deliver for future consumers. He has successfully led Apple

from mediocrity to a major competitor in the electronic device entertainment industry. During

his tenure as CEO of Pixar Animation, he was described as a mature and mellow individual who

was totally hands off of the creative process of Pixar’s creative process

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Imagine first the leadership style of Steve Jobs commanding soldiers at war as a mellow

individual who was totally “hands off” the strategic planning and execution of battle plans. Or,
imagine General Patton tirading across the Apple campus, slapping employees across the face

who did not perform up to his heroic standards of performance.

The point is, of course, that both are effective leaders and possess characteristics of

successful leadership at an organizational level. The difference is what works for the industry of

warfare does not necessarily work for the industry of the creative envisioning of the making of

electronic entertainment devices that start with the letter “i” and vice versa.

This paper will explore those leadership characteristics that are necessary for public

sector law enforcement department heads. The specific characteristics to be discussed are vision,

adaptability, and organizational structure, and being a motivational role model.

My total career experience is in law enforcement at a variety of positions within the

organization. The structure of law enforcement agencies is para-military in nature. Successful

organizational leadership relies on emphasizing those characteristics that encourage and motivate

men and women to risk life, limb, and litigation in enforcing the law and providing safe

communities.

The success of a law enforcement organizational leader rests on achieving two goals

within each individual employee. The first is providing a sense of purpose. The second is the

belief that the employee is a part of something that is bigger than himself, and that his

participation as part of a team partially helps to fulfill the first goal. This is important because

officers need to know that the job he/she is performing is important and that by collaborating

together goals can be achieved that could not be individually.

One of the methods of achieving the above two goals are based in organizational

structure. This includes both the hierarchical rank structure and and the organization of

specialized sub-groups. By utilizing a tree style organizational structure, typically called an

hierarchy and separation of a divisions, the chain of command is clearly depicted for all

employees to follow. A simplified organizational chart for the San Fernando Police Department

is shown below as an example.

The rank structure in most police departments resembles that of the military with the

entry level position of police officer. The first level of supervision is the rank of sergeant,

managers begin at lieutenant. Larger organizations may have captains, commanders, and deputy

chiefs as upper level managers. The organization is lead by a chief or an elected county sheriff.

An advantage that law enforcement agencies have in selecting leaders is that in nearly

every case a police chief or sheriff began his/her career as an officer working a beat. Law

enforcement leaders share similar field experiences with every other employee that serves under

them, from routine traffic stops to life and death situations. Even though it is a poor measure on

if a leader will be effective or not, this sort of shared experiences provide credibility with line

personnel knowing that their chief began his/her career just as they had.

As stated, the methods used by the chief to organize employees into groups to execute

specific job functions is critically important. Law enforcement agencies are typically organized

into divisions, with different functions performed by each one. The basic unit of performance is

performed in a patrol division. Depending on the size of the agency, there are typically other

ancillary divisions, such as traffic, special investigations, narcotics, and vice to name a few.

In order to have the most effective personnel assigned to each division, it is the

organizational leader’s responsibility to set the criteria that enables the most qualified to promote

or be reassigned to different divisions. The leader therefore provides the purpose to the
employee by making him/her a part of a team that can only accomplish its goals and objectives

by working together.

In 2009, The San Fernando Police Department set a goal to reduce the incidents of traffic

collisions caused by drunk drivers. The primary method to accomplish this was to reduce the

number of drunk drivers on the roadways by making arrests for driving under the influence of

alcohol and drugs. The department applied for and received a grant from the state to pay for

overtime for officers to work solely towards arresting drunk drivers. One of the problems, is that

studies have shown that financial gain is not itself sufficient motivation for employees to be

productive.

The chief of police capitalized an a tragedy that befell one of the officers. While working

on a grant funded drunk driving task force, an officer’s mother was killed by a drunk driver. For

this officer, the issue of drunk driving became emotional and deeply personal. The chief, with

the permission of the employee, publicized the ironic tragedy. The chief also made public that he

was transferring the officer to the traffic division where the officer himself became a leader and

inspiration for other officers to make drunk driving enforcement a priority. Because of the

chief’s action, the department made a record number of drunk driving arrests in 2009, and the

officer who’s mother was slain was the most productive police officer in the department, not just

in drunk driving enforcement, but in many other areas as well.

Literature Review

Sun Tzu is credited as one of the most brilliant military leaders of all time. The Art of

War defines strategies and concepts used by generals in the execution of war. Tzu’s philosophies

of military strategies have endured and been applied to industries other than warfare. Business
executives across Asia have studied leadership principles presented by Sun Tzu interpreted for

the success of business over the competition.

One of the main principles to Sun Tzu’s achieving success is organization of the groups

that collaborate to achieve common goals. Tzu statement sounds oversimplified, “The control of

a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing

up their numbers.”

Chief Robert Ordelheide of the San Fernando Police Department proved during his five

years as police chief that he is a transformational leader. In 2008, crime in San Fernando was

flat, while in the surrounding areas is was in a downward trend. Chief Ordelheide did something

that transformed the way department viewed the services that the police provided the City. Two

interested officers were taken out of patrol and he created a traffic division. Traffic enforcement

divisions are common in police departments everywhere, but for reasons unknown, the traffic

division in San Fernando was disbanded in 1957.