The effectiveness of police organizations in Indonesia is increasingly challenged by demands for clean governance and public accountability, yet empirical evidence on how leader behavior specifically drives member performance remains limited. Drawing on leadership and organizational behavior theories, this study investigates the direct and indirect effects of task-oriented and relationship-oriented leader behaviors on police members’ intrinsic motivation and job performance. The research aims to examine whether task and relationship behaviors influence motivation and whether motivation mediates the impact of these leadership behaviors on performance. A survey was conducted with 119 police officers from the Jember Resort Police using stratified random sampling, and data were analyzed through path analysis after confirming classical assumptions. The findings reveal that relationship-oriented leader behavior significantly affects motivation, which in turn strongly predicts performance. By contrast, task-oriented behavior shows no direct effect on performance but influences it only through motivation. The study concludes that motivation serves as a critical mediator between leader behaviors and performance and recommends that police leadership development prioritize relationship-building and intrinsic reward systems rather than solely task directives. Efektivitas organisasi kepolisian di Indonesia semakin ditantang oleh tuntutan tata kelola yang bersih dan akuntabilitas publik, namun bukti empiris tentang bagaimana perilaku pemimpin secara spesifik mendorong kinerja anggota masih terbatas. Berlandaskan teori kepemimpinan dan perilaku organisasi, penelitian ini menyelidiki pengaruh langsung dan tidak langsung dari perilaku tugas dan perilaku hubungan pemimpin terhadap motivasi intrinsik serta kinerja anggota kepolisian. Tujuan penelitian adalah menguji apakah perilaku tugas dan hubungan memengaruhi motivasi, dan apakah motivasi memediasi dampak kedua perilaku tersebut terhadap kinerja. Survei dilakukan terhadap 119 anggota POLRES Jember menggunakan stratified random sampling, dan data dianalisis dengan analisis jalur setelah uji asumsi klasik terpenuhi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa perilaku hubungan pemimpin berpengaruh signifikan terhadap motivasi, dan motivasi selanjutnya secara kuat memprediksi kinerja, sementara perilaku tugas tidak berpengaruh langsung terhadap kinerja tetapi hanya melalui motivasi. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa motivasi berperan sebagai mediator kritis antara perilaku pemimpin dan kinerja, dengan rekomendasi bahwa pengembangan kepemimpinan kepolisian sebaiknya mengutamakan pembangunan hubungan dan sistem penghargaan intrinsik daripada sekadar instruksi tugas.
Copyrights © 2003