Select survey questions from the Police Leadership Study.
- How would you define “effective leadership” in policing?
- Based on your definition of effective leadership, what evidence might we use to decide whether someone is an “effective” police leader?
- Are effective leaders made (through training, experiences, education, etc.) or born (bringing natural traits and abilities to the job)? Why?
- Consider the police officers you believe to be especially effective leaders. What traits, habits, and characteristics contribute to their effectiveness? What makes them effective leaders?
- Consider the police officers you believe to be especially ineffective leaders. What traits, habits, and characteristics contribute to their ineffectiveness? What do they fail to do that prevents them from being effective leaders?
- Some contend that being an effective police leader means always doing what is best for the officers within an organization (versus doing what is best for an agency or the community). Do you agree? Why?
- How often do you see effective leadership in your agency?
- Does “effective leadership” generally mean the same thing in police agencies of different sizes and contexts (rural versus urban, state versus county, etc.)? Why?
- Does “effective leadership” generally mean the same thing in other occupational contexts or is it somewhat unique in police agencies? Why?
- What could be done to promote the expansion of effective leadership in policing?
- What prevents you from being a more effective leader in your agency?
- Is a leader still effective if their efforts fail? Why?
- Do officers from different generations (i.e., “baby boomers” versus “generation Xers”) require different leadership styles? Why? In what way?
- Do leaders from different generations (baby boomers, generation Xers, etc.) exhibit different leadership habits and qualities? Why?
