NCJ Number
223551
Journal
International Journal of Police Science and Management Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2008 Pages: 165-178
Date Published
2008
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article explores the potential of leaders with vision and their ability to capture the hearts and minds of followers in a large police organization.
Abstract
Police officers were found to connect emotionally with transformational leaders. These leaders were found to be able to challenge dominant paradigms until they evoked the emotions of fear and insecurity in upper management. The paper is based on an autoethnographic account, and is infused with the authors’ own emotional reactions to being immersed in the business of metropolitan policing, with all of its associated challenges and opportunities. It explores the potential of leaders whose vision can capture the hearts and minds of followers on the culture of a large metropolitan police organization. The author notes that autoethnography proves to be a valuable approach to examining the complex nature of the relationship between emotions, transformational leadership, and culture. The article suggests that police officers have a multifarious relationship with emotional expression, and that emotions played a large part in both the content and manner in which police officers describe their leadership experiences and the leadership they desire. The autoethnographic study was conducted over a 4-day period spent with a large municipal police force’s general duty officers. The method consisted of a semistructured interview with 28 officers at all ranks. References