We want to move forward from a heroic leadership style to one where the leader is responsible for their team’s success. There is a long-term challenge for the police force here – initial selection tends to test for heroic skills, whereas engagement and consensus-building become more important. The development of officers capable of such a shift is therefore even more vital given the prevailing promote-from-within culture. The paradigm of leading as a host offers an accessible yet rich and flexible notion to help leaders to quickly expand their skills and mindsets in this direction.
References Joiner, W. B. and Josephs, S. A. (2006). Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change. Hoboken NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
About the Authors
Mark McKergow is an international leadership speaker and consultant. He is co-author of Host: Six new rules roles of engagement for teams, organisations, communities and movements (Solutions Books, 2014).
Chris Miller is a crime and social justice consultant, and mentors recently released former prisoners in the community in north London. He served as a police officer for 32 years, reaching the rank of Assistant Chief Constable for Hertfordshire before retiring in 2011.
The ideas on Host Leadership presented in this whitepaper are discussed further in the award-winning book Host: Six new roles of engagement for teams, organisations, communities and movements is out now.
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