William Bratton’s Areas of Focused Leadership
William Bratton exhibited excellence in two areas of focused leadership: other focus and outer focus. Still, who needs to be madder, not that he was good at inner focus, is not evident. Focused leadership involves being in touch with one’s emotions, controlling impulses, understanding how others perceive them, discerning what others need, filtering out distractions, and allowing the mind to explore without constraints (Goleman, 2013).
Strength in Outer Focus and Need for Inner Focus
In the case of focusing on others, Bratton displayed high levels of awareness of how others perceived him and understood what they needed from him. For instance, Bratton mitigated potential opposition by identifying and neutralizing influential detractors early, ensuring he had a respected senior insider on his top team, such as John Timoney at the NYPD (Kim and Mauborgne, 2003). Bratton excelled at outer focus because he employed strategies such as isolating opponents by forming a broad coalition with other independent powers in his domain (Kim and Mauborgne, 2003).
For the inner focus, the case does not fully report his inner emotional states, so it is not evident that Bratton was in tune with his feelings and impulses.
William Bratton’s Areas for Improvement
There is room for improvement in the area of inner focus. The case provides limited information on how Bratton managed his internal feelings. For example, he effectively overcame cognitive, resource, and motivation hurdles for his colleagues, demonstrating a strong focus on others (Kim and Mauborgne, 2003). In addition, Bratton overcame political hurdles by quickly neutralizing opponents, showcasing good outer focus since he anticipated public reaction (Kim and Mauborgne, 2003).
However, more emphasis on inner focus and resilience can be beneficial, as Bratton sometimes appears harsh in reaction, which may be attributed to emotional outbursts and impulses. Thus, while Bratton has shown considerable strengths in focused leadership, aspects could still be enhanced for even greater success.
Reference List
Goleman, D. (2013) ‘The focused leader’, Harvard Business Review. Web.
Kim, W. C., and Mauborgne, R. (2003) ‘Tipping point leadership’, Harvard Business Review. Web.