Leadership Style Assessment

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The leadership style of the director of the previous correctional institution that I worked for was a democratic leadership style, and had a very positive impact upon me. This individual utilized a leadership style in which he allowed all staff within the organization to contribute their ideas to more effectively running the organization. This aspect of his democratic leadership style that to the development of a highly efficient and effective methodology by which to manage his facility, and an important aspect of this democratic leadership style was the fact that the director would hold meetings with his staff on a regular basis in order to obtain their ideas on what is presently working within the institution, and what aspects of the organization need to be improved. In this way his administrative staff felt that they were part of the leadership process and readily volunteered their ideas and services to this individual. This director also utilize a methodology which idea boxes were located within the administrative office, and within every department within the correctional institution, so that staff members at all levels can anonymously drop suggestions into these boxes as to what they think could be improved within this institution. This methodology allowed for all of the staff members to feel that they were part of the leadership process as well, which invariably led to them being much more loyal and dedicated to helping the director to achieve his organizational objectives. The director of this institution also made it mandatory that all of the leaders within the organization had an open door policy in which staff members could approach them with issues and suggestions in order to improve the safety and efficiency of the organization as a whole. Another very effective Democratic leadership methodology that this director utilizes within the correctional Institute was a methodology in which duties were delegated to subordinates within the chain of command at every level. In utilizing this methodology this director would delegate duties to his assistant director, who would then delegate duties to departmental directors within the institution, who would then delegate duties to their staff members. The departmental directors would also delegate duties to the custody side of the institution as well, which meant that they delegated duties to the correctional captains, who delegated duties to correctional lieutenants, who delegated duties to the correctional sergeants, who delegated duties to the correctional officers throughout the institution. This delegation methodology allowed those individuals within the chain of command to carry out the duties that were delegated to them in the matter that they thought was best for the overall situation, which gave them a great deal of discretion and decision-making power in carrying out directives. By providing the individuals within the chain of command with a high degree of discretion in how they carried out their duties, these individuals felt empowered by this director, and were therefore more willing to give 100% in the achievement of organizational objectives. When individuals within the organization are more willing to contribute to the overall operational process to the utmost of their abilities, the by-product is a much more highly efficient and effective organization. The leadership style of this director affected me very positively, due to the fact that I was one of ...