The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) gained much notoriety in the department's handling of the Rodney King case, both the arrest and the riots which followed the verdict, brought the department national attention and scrutiny, and led to the departure of its chief. The LAPD is facing a leadership challenge and is confronting a community as diverse and divided as any in the country. This research examines the type of leadership that is likely to help the department repair its internal damage and emerge as a strong and effective community service organization in the next century.
Management and leadership are not the same issue. Most researchers hold that a leader need not be a manager, nor does a manager have to be a leader (Kuhnert & Russell, 1990, p. 599). Some managers, financial managers for example, may not have subordinates to manage. While researchers recognize that there is some overlap between leadership and management, the degree to which the two overlap is disputed. One popular view is that leaders influence commitment, where managers carry out position responsibilities and exercise authority (Price, 1991, p. 351). Others in the field hold that the overlap between managers and leaders is so great that they cannot truly be considered separate disciplines; under this view, effective managers are viewed as strong leaders, and effective leaders are considered strong managers (Schul, 1987, p. 46).
Two types of leadership are considered to have the greatest effect on organizations: transactional and transformational leadership. Transactional leadership suggests that leaders respond to lower level subordinate basic and security needs (Deluga & Souza, 1991, p. 50). Leaders and subordinates are viewed as bargaining agents where relative power regulates an exchange process as benefits are issued and received. There are two types of behavioral patterns used in transactional leadership: passive and active. The pass...