The ineffective police leader: Acts of commission and omission

Abstract

The consequences of ineffective leaders and leadership practices, both in policing and in other occupational contexts, are well-established. Though ineffective leadership is often lamented, it has been subjected to limited scholarly inquiry. This study seeks to understand the traits and habits a group of police supervisors perceived in leaders they characterized as ineffective. Mid-career police supervisors attending the FBI National Academy completed open-ended surveys assessing their experiences with and perceptions of a variety of leadership matters. Based upon a consensus approach, the findings provide a framework to link negative leadership traits with individual and organizational outcomes. Respondents identified a number of traits and habits that were common among the ineffective police leaders participants had observed. In particular, five acts of commission (focus on self over others, ego/arrogance, closed mindedness, micromanagement, and capriciousness) and five acts of omission (poor work ethic, failure to act, ineffective communication, lack of interpersonal skills, and lack of integrity) emerged as recurrent themes in the survey responses.