Understanding leadership concepts for the professional court manager: An examination of leadership roles, leadership styles, and effective time management by judicial branch leaders

The purpose of this research study is to examine court manager attitudes about leadership style, leadership roles, and time management concepts. Court managers were surveyed in 1987 and in 1991 to produce a national composite of viewpoints concerning these issues.; A review of the relevant literature includes examining both leadership bibliography and court management bibliography. Several court manager studies have been conducted primarily during the past ten years. Findings from these earlier surveys provide a valid reference point for comparing the findings obtained from the 1991 and 1987 national court manager surveys. Keith Stott and other court management writers have identified not only the executive component concept as a shared leadership approach but also they have recognized the differentiation of leadership roles for court managers and presiding judges.; This research project seeks to test whether a role paradigm utilized by Henry Mintzberg is valid for court managers to accept as being representative of the key roles which they perform on a daily basis. This entire research effort will complement the previous court manager studies. It will also verify some national court management trends identified earlier by court researchers. Further, it offers other researchers new variables, (such as the time management factor), to investigate and to test for applicability for future court manager studies.; The findings are analyzed by using the mode as the proper statistical test for understanding and interpreting nominal data. Research objectives were formulated and then tested. In a number of key areas court managers agree with each other about what roles are important for their profession, how much time they spend with their staffs and their judges, and the need for further court management training for court personnel.; Situational leadership represents the most useful leadership model for court managers who must respond to an active, yet turbulent, court environment. The data indicate court managers are cognizant of their personal leadership styles. The majority of survey respondents acknowledge that the court's executive component should develop a working partnership based on the principles of team leadership.; There are implications from this research which may be considered for future study. Judges and court managers need leadership training to learn how to work together in teams. Judicial branch leaders are interested in pursuing leadership trends. The 1987 and 1991 surveys represent an initial effort to inform the court management community about key court leadership issues.