Leadership Theories and Charismatic Leaders in Criminal Justice

This report delves into leadership theories and their application within criminal justice organizations. It begins by defining leadership and highlighting key leadership theories, including trait, behavioral, functional, transactional, transformational, environmental, and situational contingency theories. The report emphasizes the importance of leadership in law enforcement, particularly the role of a police chief. It then examines charismatic and transformational leadership styles, comparing their effectiveness, strengths, and weaknesses. The report also provides examples of how these leadership styles manifest within the criminal justice system, such as a judge as a charismatic leader and law enforcement officers as transformational leaders. Overall, the report underscores the significance of effective leadership in achieving organizational goals and influencing the behavior of subordinates within the context of criminal justice.

Running Head: OB 0
Organizational Behavior
Student Name:
Student University:

OB 1
1. Leadership: In the company, working for achieving the goals by an executive
through direct process, guide and behaviour impact depending on the present situation
is leadership. It is an ability of inducing subordinates by a manager for working with
zeal and confidence.
Leadership Theories: The focus of leadership theories is based on consistent
discovery of relationship between the group performance and leadership behaviours. This
emphasizes on the situational factors significantly such as leader’s intelligence, stress level,
traits of followers, and job structure. The leadership theories are trait theory, behavioural
theory, functional theory, transactional and transformational theory, environmental theory,
and situational contingency theories.
According to me, the most effective theory in a criminal justice organisation is trait
and behavioural theory of leadership. The trait theory is comprised of charisma, intelligence,
aggressiveness, and confidence, being well-spoken, fairness, persuasiveness and honesty. In
relation to criminal justice, this theory is based on leadership positions within the system
specifically in policing. As, there is the presence of great leadership under law enforcement
agencies in an efficient way, for instance, the need of respectable personality of police chief
has an ability to provide selfless service and real change to the employees. Moreover,
behaviour theory consists of contingency, path-goal, situational, transactional, and
transformational in terms of criminal justice organisation.
2. Charismatic Leader: Charismatic leader is an individual motivating its followers for
getting things done or improving the way of certain things that are needed to be done.
The quality of such a leader is their confidence, creativity, vision, communication and
determination.
Transformational Leader: Transformational leader is the one working together with
teams for identifying the need to change, vision creation for guiding inspirational change with
change execution while making commitment. The qualities include inspirational motivation,
individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation and idealized influence.
According to me, charisma is a feature of transformational leader and so charismatic
leader is more effective but both leaders have their own effectiveness. Charismatic leader is
effective in motivating followers and lesser from the side of transformational leader.
Charismatic leader is effective while assessing the status quo to examine the needs of

OB 2
followers, resources evaluation with the availability of community. Thus, they are for
articulating the vision and to be committed with gaining agreement. However,
transformational leader give results in open that have an influence of the followers while
promoting power sharing and to the vision.
The weaknesses of both the leaders are explanatory processes insufficient description,
ambiguous constructs, some relevant behaviours omission, a narrow focus on bilateral
processes, biasness towards heroic conceptions, and limiting conditions insufficient
specification in leadership. For instance, law enforcement officers as transformational
leaders, and judge as a charismatic leader in criminal justice organisation.