Page 41 - the SyI Quarterly 14 Booklet Format

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is a sense of empowerment allowing growth and development so that they themselves
Developing Leadership at may learn to become leaders at the various levels, cascading back down the positive
experiences and lessons they have endured during their development.

Foundation Level within the Leadership is the fundamental aspect of any organisational culture, and we must challenge
ourselves and others within our organisations to review our behaviours, our attitudes

Security Industry and fundamentally ask ourselves if we are contributing to our environment as a leader?
If enough of the industry conduct this internal and external climate assessment, then
the industry may just continue to professionalise and contribute better to reinforcing the
layers of security the UK requires in these challenging times.
- By Al Prescott MSyI
As stated earlier leadership is an emotive and intangible subject. My own experience
of leadership styles and leadership behaviours comes from early on in my working life
where a lot of emphasis was placed on developing us both as individuals and as a group

Leadership within the security industry in the United Kingdom (UK) can thus enabling both parties to complete the task in hand. This method was also designed
be critically analysed by looking at the operational effectiveness and to identify what leadership qualities we had, and how these could be cultivated, and to
the reputation of the organisation, both of which can be found rooted observe our process of decision making and problem solving.
within the behaviours of individuals from foundation level to strategic
level. The ultimate ambition of the private sector within the security This has given me the confidence and self-awareness to identify my strengths and
industry is to effectively contribute to the UK’s CONTEST Counter weaknesses, as well as the leadership styles that I gravitate towards and the leadership
Terrorism Strategy by utilising operatives from the full spectrum of the behaviours I exhibit.
private security industry to contribute to the efforts of the statutory
services. By covering gaps in manning and ensuring actors within the Move on several years and now being involved in the security industry across several levels
private security sector can operate with a level of professionalism and it is easy to identify the leadership and management qualities at the strategic level but
quality ensures that they can recognise threats and react accordingly. not so easy at the operator level. How is a security officer, a door supervisor or an event
One must therefore pose the question centred around leadership as to steward developed and how do they develop themselves? Why is an individual promoted
is enough effort being spent on developing individuals within this sector to team leader, team supervisor, team manager? It would be interesting to know from
to meet the moral and operational requirements? those who appoint the leaders and managers how they decide who is given the role and
the rationale for their decision.
Leadership is a subjective term, resonating differently with those from
individually diverse backgrounds. Though an agreed academic definition Listed below are the leadership styles that I have always worked to, again I would be
is potentially unachievable, the characteristics and desired output from interested to know if these have been identified in newly appointed leaders and managers?
effective leadership however is not. Leadership is far more than a mere
collection of personal skills and attributes. Leadership is a magnetic Transitional Leadership Approach:
culture, empowering teams to pull together in a shared direction, led Style
by the illumination of a shared vision and culture. Developing a culture • Directive: “Do as I tell you”, this may work when an instant response is required but not
is a multi-layered eco-system where all individuals must contribute effective in most instances.
positively and effectively from one’s peer group at shop floor level, to • Pace Setting: “Do what I do”, leading by example and is best suited to experienced and
the collective team at an operational level and finally, to the greater proficient teams.
good organisationally at the sharp strategic end of the spectrum. • Participative: “What do you think?”, uses the experience of the team to identify a
solution and therefore get buy-in from those contributing.
Developing that culture is the collective displaying of qualities, allowing
subordinates to tactically fail in a robust but educational environment. Transformation Leadership Approach:
Furthermore this culture is allowing junior leaders the time, and a Style
framework, to grow into roles of influence. This environment is a • Coaching: Helping the team identify what they can achieve and support development.
principle more than a metaphor, any part of an organisation must have • Affiliative: “People first “, identifying the needs of the individual and the team.
a clear mission as to how they will contribute to the wider industry. This • Visionary: Communicating a clear vision explains the aim but not the how.
environment must also place the development and education of its staff
at the heart of its operation. Individuals within the industry thrive when If the transitional approach is at one end of a continuum and transformational at the
they feel valued, where decision making is transparent and where there other, it could be argued that an effective leader on developing their styles should be
able to engage the appropriate style depending on the event. The question is how we
develop leaders at foundation level and how do we communicate the very basic leadership
behaviours, the most important being leading by example.
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