The Leadership Style Of J. Edgar Hoover

1481 Words3 Pages

Running head: J. EDGAR HOOVER 2

For someone to say, “ It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in,” means it is better to get a powerful person on your side rather than having them lined up against you. Is this really necessary? President Lyndon Johnson said this in a New York times interview in 1971 when describing J. Edgar Hoover. J. Edgar Hoover was not a well liked man. His leadership style is still being scrutinized and discussed long after his death. His leadership of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is legendary. The movie J.Edgar (2011) outlined his life and his rise to power within the FBI. J. Edgar Hoover
EDGAR HOOVER 4

within an organization allows each member to receive the necessary tools to run their immediate work functions. It also allows the leader to see how that function connects to the rest of the organization. Hoover was always aware of what everyone in his organization was doing as all times. Raelin (2003) also described four aspects of leaderful practice. He called them the Four Tenets of Conventional Leadership; concurrent, collective, collaborative, and compassionate. The definition alone of these four words is opposite of the kind of leader that Hoover was. He did not allow anyone to be in power with him, did not have multiple leaders, did not consider anyones views except his own, and he was the opposite of compassionate. He was not concerned about anyones dignity other than his own, and he did everything in his power to preserve it. Heifetz (2001) stated that followers want stability and comfort from their leaders. Heifetz considered that “babysitting.” Heifetz argues that real leaders ask hard questions and knock people out of their comfort zones. This leadership style clearly describes J.Edgar Hoover. When Hoover took control of the FBI he forced the agents to change to the way he wanted them to look. He required a certain dress code and personal appearance from all his
EDGAR HOOVER 5

speaking. Task oriented leaders maintain a “closed door” policy (Hackman, 2009). Hoover made demands in a loud, boisterous way to his agents. His agents were never allowed to discuss any grievances with him. If his agents did not like the way something was done, they either did it anyway or were fired. Only complete loyalty appeased Hoover; the smallest slight was likely to be interpreted as betrayal. Hoover’s followers could be described in two ways; conformists and passive. Conformist followers are committed to the organization 's goals but express very few of their own thoughts to the leader. Such followers are often referred to as “yes men/women” and tend to hold back their ideas out of fear of the leader. Passive followers show very little originality. They rely profoundly on the leaders direction (Hackman, 2009). Although passive followers can also be described as having a lack of skills or no commitment, Hoover’s followers did not meet this description. Could this be due to the fear factor first? It was clearly portrayed in the movie that his followers (agents) were afraid of him. They conformed to his expectations for fear of losing their job or being publicly harassed into

Open Document