Leadership Behind Bars: Transformational Leadership Practices Can Change the Culture of Corrections
Mike Pittaro
I have had the distinct honor and privilege of proudly serving the US criminal justice system for the past 35 years as a practitioner, educator, and leader, and although I am within a mere two years of being eligible for retirement, I honestly do not have any plans of retiring anytime soon. To most jail administrators, staff, and officers, this may seem surprising since most of us who work in this profession will take full advantage of the opportunity to retire as soon as we are eligible, and rightfully so. I will never begrudge anyone who wants to retire as soon as they are eligible so that they can spend more quality time with their friends and family, especially since corrections can be mentally and physically consuming as a career.
After all, we cannot ignore the reality that corrections, as a profession, has higher than average rates of divorce, alcohol abuse, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression, stress, PTSD, and most importantly, suicide, and I am no exception. I can recall many times throughout my 35-year career when the day-to-day strains of the profession have led to intense emotions associated with feeling burnt-out, empty inside, and unsatisfied/unfulfilled, which I often attribute to working in a profession that can, if you let it, consume you and lead to a cynical, jaded, pessimistic version of yourself that is bitter and filled with negativity and resentment where you start to see society and everyone in it from vantage point of a dark lens.
In Pennsylvania, our county correctional facilities are quite unique in comparison to the rest of the nation. Our county correctional facilities are often described as somewhat of a hybrid between a jail and a prison. We house both pretrial and convicted offenders, however, what makes us truly unique is that we can, and do, house convicted offenders for up to 5 years, therefore, the terms “jail” and “prison” are often used interchangeably when referencing Pennsylvania’s county correctional facilities.
As I have gotten older and subsequently, gained more experience and knowledge that typically comes with age and experience, I have a deeper appreciation and understanding of the inner workings of the corrections profession’s influence on the human mind and body. To combat the negative mindset that we witness far too often in corrections, I have learned through trial and error how to effectively manage and control my emotions so that I do not succumb to the above mental and physical ailments that tend to plague our profession. However, I am also a realist. Is my transformational leadership approach and positive mindset 100% foolproof and effective in warding off stress and burnout? Absolutely not, but I do believe that the approach that I have willingly adopted and fully embraced will lead to a positive, healthier version of ourselves as correctional leaders and as individuals. As leaders, our employees look to us for guidance, advice, and support. Lead by example. Our words, behaviors, and actions can boost or discourage change, so choose wisely.
I began my professional career in 1989 after graduating from Kutztown University with a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice. I accepted my first professional position in corrections as a juvenile counselor for a now-defunct detention center in the New Jersey county in which I was raised. After approximately one year, I accepted a position with Northampton County’s (Pennsylvania) Department of Corrections as a field officer within our community corrections facility. After approximately 5 years of working in corrections, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in public administration so I could advance within the ranks. The MPA degree exposed me to a host of contemporary leadership styles and practices, namely transformational leadership, a leadership style/practice that was already being utilized with much success within the private for-profit sector, but virtually unheard of within criminal justice, at least at that time.
was immediately drawn to everything about transformational leadership, an approach/style that was, up until relatively recently, rarely embraced among leaders in US corrections. This particular style of leadership, unlike the authoritative leadership practices that I, and many others, were accustomed to, aligned perfectly with my personal and professional views as to how leaders should think, behave, and act. Authoritative leadership practices and principles—often consisting of criticism, fear, and discipline—were more the norm than the exception in corrections. In my professional opinion, this particular leadership style is antiquated, ineffective, and should therefore be obsolete.
When I decided to return to school to pursue my doctorate in criminal justice, I made it a point to learn everything I could possibly learn about transformational leadership and how it could be applied to US corrections so that I could create positive changes in a profession that is often resistant and at a snail’s pace slow to change. My PhD degree is in criminal justice within the School of Public Safety Leadership, so leadership is one of my primary research interests. Over the past decade, I have presented and published nationally on the topic of transformational leadership in corrections, which eventually transpired into a 4-hour training program that I created. The training that I created incorporates emotional intelligence, a key component, into transformational leadership practices. Now, in my current role as Director of Corrections, I have an opportunity to discuss and hopefully, instill, these employee-centered values in my staff (custodial and treatment), especially when coupled with the important teachings of emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence is loosely defined as the ability to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. My research has determined that when you combine the teachings and practices of transformational leadership with that of emotional intelligence, you will create a leadership approach that is truly empowering and highly effective.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leaders are motivating, inspiring, self-aware, and self-confident. They actively strive to establish a work culture/environment based on trust, respect, and admiration. Transformational leaders are sensitive to both the professional and personal needs of their employees so, by embracing empathy, they can foster positive thinking, transparent communication, and a clear vision of the intent and direction of the organization’s mission.
There are direct benefits to those who practice transformational leadership. They tend to attain greater levels of personal and professional success, are promoted more often, and are rated more favorably by their employees and peers. Why? Transformational leaders want to create future leaders, not just followers and subordinates! They empower employees by coaching and mentoring them to think, behave, and act like leaders. They also work to resolve organizational issues that often adversely contribute to employee stress, job satisfaction, and morale.
Transformational leadership is built upon four foundational attributes:
1. Idealized Influence –The transformational leader serves as a role model for others to emulate. In corrections lingo, they “walk the walk, and talk the talk.” Their social presence is known, and they have an “open-door” policy.
2. Inspiration / Motivation – The transformational leader inspires employees by encouraging and empowering them to think critically, share, and contribute to solving complex organizational issues. Transformational leaders want their employees to have a voice and a vested stake in the future of the organization and its overall mission.
3. Intellectual Stimulation – The transformational leader stimulates creativity, innovation, and critical thinking. This type of leader is not interested in, nor do they want, a “yes” man or woman who simply placates them by agreeing with everything said. Instead, they want to have employees who can bring something to the table without fear or repercussions. The transformational leader is an “out-of-the-box thinker” and encourages his/her employees to do the same.
4. Individualized Consideration – The transformational leader coaches, mentors, and supports his/her employees and takes a sincere interest in their personal/professional growth and wellbeing. If employees genuinely feel valued, they are more likely to be productive and have higher levels of job satisfaction. After all, we spend a great deal of time, effort, and money recruiting, training, and preparing new employees for this profession; therefore, employee recruitment and retention should be important concerns in our field.
How to Adopt a Transformational Leadership Style
1. Focus on Positive Motivation
Correctional leaders need to make a concerted effort to acknowledge all the exceptional work happening in the organization and acknowledge correctional employees who go above and beyond in the course of their duties.
2. Discipline in Private, Praise in Public
Creating a more positive work environment means that leaders need to be more cognizant of where, when, and how they communicate with their employees. In my firsthand experience, many correctional leaders will publicly discipline employees in front of others, which creates a demotivating and negative environment. These same leaders tend to praise employees in private. Correctional leaders must do the exact opposite: Discipline employees in private and praise them in public.
3. Actively Engage with Employees
Correctional leaders need to adopt an open-door policy while still respecting the chain of command of course. They must get out from behind their desks and interact with officers and other correctional employees within the facility. Engaging with your employees and making them genuinely feel like their thoughts are valued and their concerns are being considered can go a long way in creating positive change. After all, negativity breeds negativity and positivity breeds positivity. I choose the latter.
4. Focus on Transparency
Correctional leaders need to more openly communicate with officers and tell them what is happening at the facility and why it is happening. Correctional officers, in particular, need to understand the vision and mission of the correctional facility and know why changes are occurring and why certain policies are being put in place. Being open and transparent gives officers more information about why they are being asked to do certain things. Having this understanding can help them do a better job and better understand how their role fits into the bigger mission of the agency.
5. Be an Active Listener
Part of adopting a transformational leadership style is learning more about employees and wanting to know about the challenges and issues our employees routinely face on the job. To learn this information, correctional leaders must remain open-minded and learn how to be an active, empathetic listener.
6. Emphasize Team Building
Those of us who work in corrections acknowledge that our safety and security depend largely on our ability to work cohesively and collectively as a team. The reality of working in corrections is that violent incidents can occur at a moment’s notice with little to no advanced warning.
7. Be a Coach and Mentor
Part of this shift away from an authoritative leadership style is adopting the approach of serving as a coach and mentor to employees. You must prove to employees that you are accessible, available, and approachable. Not only do leaders themselves have to take a mentorship approach to others, they more importantly need to set up a system of mentorship within the ranks. For example, new hires should be set up with more experienced employees as mentors. Employees acting as mentors need to receive additional training about how to be an effective mentor. This can have a positive influence on recruitment and retention initiatives.
8. Why Make the Shift?
Transformational leadership practices are not new—this leadership style has been well-established in the corporate and private sector world since the 1970s. With some work and open-mindedness, these same principles and practices—along with the benefits—can work to improve leadership within the corrections profession and this approach is supported by the National Institute of Corrections and other reputable organizations within our profession.
Emotional Intelligence
The concept of emotional intelligence emerged when the two professors combined their knowledge of how emotions, thoughts, and behavior were interlinked. Emotional intelligence emphasizes the importance of harnessing our emotions and applying those emotions to everyday tasks like thinking, speaking, and problem-solving. The ability to manage emotions, which includes regulating your own emotions and the emotions of others empathetically, is a key component. Collectively, an individual’s intelligence quotient (IQ), personality, and emotional intelligence determine how they think and act. While IQ and personality are essentially fixed from an early age, emotional intelligence is adaptable and flexible throughout an individual’s lifetime. It can be continually refined and enriched like any skill set with the proper amount of time, patience, and practice.
In the best-selling book, Emotional Intelligence Habits, the follow-up book to Emotional Intelligence 2.0, author Travis Bradberry (2023) explains that emotional intelligence is the single biggest predictor of job performance in the workplace and the strongest foundation for workplace leadership. In a dated yet widely cited article by Sanjay Kumar (2014), Kumar echoed these findings and concluded that emotionally competent leaders at various levels of management are more successful in their organization and can transform the people and work culture through their personality traits and inspirational motivating power.
Some of the inferences from the Kumar study are listed below:
• Emotional intelligence is a stronger predictor of job performance and organizational citizenship behavior.
• Leaders having higher emotional intelligence show better quality of work performance.
• Transformational leadership enhances organizational performance and very few studies contradict this.
• Transformational leaders are frequently motivated to go beyond the call of duty for the benefit of their organization and their employees.
• Transformational behaviors of leaders promote empowering cultural norms, high levels of subordinate motivation, commitment to quality, and enhanced productivity.
• Transformational leaders feel excited, enthusiastic, and energetic; thus excite, energize, and motivate their employees.
• Transformational leaders use strong emotions to arouse similar feelings in their employees through emotional intelligence competency.
Transformational leaders in correctional settings will benefit greatly from the embracement and implementation of emotional intelligence. A transformational leader with strong emotional intelligence is more likely to have a positive influence on the organization and its employees by reducing employee stress, improving employee performance and morale, and motivating employees to not just meet organizational goals ethically, judiciously, and empathetically, but in exceeding those goals.
In corrections, we predominantly focus on our physical well-being, but not nearly as much attention is dedicated to our emotional well-being. A healthy mind is equally important as a healthy body, if not more so. Emotional intelligence, when coupled with transformational leadership practices can most certainly help those of us in corrections in maintaining a clearer, more optimistic view of the world, especially since we often see the world through a very dark lens filled with negativity. Embracing emotional intelligence can minimize the cynicism and jadedness that often comes with longevity on the job.
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Dr. Mike Pittaro is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice with American Military University and also serves as the Director of Corrections for Northampton County’s Department of Corrections in Pennsylvania. He continues to serve internationally as an author, speaker, and subject matter expert. He is also a QPR-certified suicide prevention facilitator and has a master’s certification in emotional intelligence. He can be reached at crimeNjustice@ptd.net
References
Bradberry, T. (2023). Emotional intelligence habits. San Diego, CA: TalentSmart.
Emotional Intelligence Habits: Bradberry, Travis: 9780974719375: Amazon.com: Books
Kumar S. (2014). Establishing linkages between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership. Industrial psychiatry journal, 23(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-6748.144934