Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Glossary
- About the authors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- one European policing in context
- two Getting to the top: the selection and appointment of strategic police leaders in Europe
- three Accountability
- four Relationships and influences
- five The preference for cooperative bilateralism among European strategic police leaders
- six The challenges facing European policing today
- seven The future of policing
- General conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
two - Getting to the top: the selection and appointment of strategic police leaders in Europe
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Glossary
- About the authors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- one European policing in context
- two Getting to the top: the selection and appointment of strategic police leaders in Europe
- three Accountability
- four Relationships and influences
- five The preference for cooperative bilateralism among European strategic police leaders
- six The challenges facing European policing today
- seven The future of policing
- General conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Quel vicaire de village ne voudrait pas être Pape? (Which parish priest would not like to be Pope?) (Voltaire, Lettres Philosophiques, 1733)
The conundrum of selecting suitable candidates to take over from the existing elite has preoccupied leaders for centuries. Katie Jacobs, quoting Stephen Dando, operating partner at Bain Capital, noted:
Succession matters hugely […] whether you like it or not, senior roles matter disproportionately, and senior external appointments are notoriously risky: the absence of a succession plan means you raise the risk for your organisation significantly. (Jacobs, 2012, p. 1)
This refers to the perennial problem that it is difficult to attract suitable candidates for strategic leadership roles (whether in business generally or in policing). The risk of getting it wrong is large, and many organisations attest to wrong appointments at the top, with the result that business goes astray and the organisation founders.
Abysmal leadership of the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Co-operative Bank are recent UK examples, while Silvio Berlusconi's embarrassing indecision in Italy, the collapse of SeaFrance, the bankruptcy of Swissair, the Icelandic Bank (Kaup.ing) collapse 2008-11, the 2010 sovereign debt crisis in Greece, or the failure of Malev (Hungarian) Airlines, are parallel examples from the rest of Europe. Peter Neyroud argues that, in the British police:
[t]oo often in the discussions that we have had with leaders across the service from a range of different roles and ranks, it has been quite apparent that the requirements of each leadership role are unclear and that in itself appears to contribute to the sense that through-career talent management of the service is not succeeding. (Neyroud, 2011a, p. 115)
Yet adequate succession planning, finding the right kind of leader to take the organisation forward, remains a key objective in strategic planning. Jay Conger and Robert Fuller noted that:
Succession management systems should focus intensively on linchpin positions—jobs that are essential to the long-term health of the organization. They’re typically difficult to fill, they are rarely individual-contributor positions, and they usually reside in established areas of the business and those critical for the future. (Conger and Fuller, 2003, p. 80 (p. 4 of online version))
Succession planning in police forces matters just as much as in commercial business, but it is an area beset with organisational difficulties across Europe.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Leading Policing in EuropeAn Empirical Study of Strategic Police Leadership, pp. 57 - 90Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2015