Skills Approach
a leader-centered perspective that believes knowledge and abilities are necessary for good leadership
Three Skills Model
Technical Skill
-Knowledge about a specific type of work
Human Skill (People Skills)
-Knowledge and ability to work with people
-Being aware of ones own perspective and the perspectives of others
-The ability to work with others to complete a common goal
Conceptual Skill
-Knowledge and ability to work with ideas
-Takes the understanding of a company, what it stands for, and where it is going
Technical Skill
-Knowledge about a specific type of work
Human Skill (People Skills)
-Knowledge and ability to work with people
-Being aware of ones own perspective and the perspectives of others
-The ability to work with others to complete a common goal
Conceptual Skill
-Knowledge and ability to work with ideas
-Takes the understanding of a company, what it stands for, and where it is going
Skills Model
Competencies
Problem-Solving Skills
-The ability to solve new, unusual, or odd problems
-This requires the ability to see a problem, gather information about the problem, develop a new understanding for the problem, and find a solution to the problem
Social Judgment Skills
-The ability to understand people and social systems
-This allows leaders to work with others to solve a problem
- People skills needed to solve problems
-Perspective taking
-Understanding others’ attitudes toward a problem
- Social perceptiveness
-Awareness of how others function in an organization
-Behavioral flexibility
- The ability to change your behavior because of other’s perspectives in an organization
-Social Performance
-The ability to communicate vision to an organization
-The ability to communicate change
-The ability to mediate when there is resistance to change
-Skills in conflict resolution are a necessity
Knowledge
Individual Attributes
General Cognitive Ability
-This includes: perceptual processing, information processing, reasoning skills, creative thinking capabilities, and memory skills
Crystalized Cognitive Ability
-This is intellectual ability that is learned over time through experiences
-This includes: the ability to comprehend new information and communicate that information to others
Motivation
-Be willing to solve difficult problems
-Express dominance to exert influence
-Be committed to the social good of the company
Personality
Leadership Outcomes
Effective Problem Solving
Performance
Competencies
Problem-Solving Skills
-The ability to solve new, unusual, or odd problems
-This requires the ability to see a problem, gather information about the problem, develop a new understanding for the problem, and find a solution to the problem
Social Judgment Skills
-The ability to understand people and social systems
-This allows leaders to work with others to solve a problem
- People skills needed to solve problems
-Perspective taking
-Understanding others’ attitudes toward a problem
- Social perceptiveness
-Awareness of how others function in an organization
-Behavioral flexibility
- The ability to change your behavior because of other’s perspectives in an organization
-Social Performance
-The ability to communicate vision to an organization
-The ability to communicate change
-The ability to mediate when there is resistance to change
-Skills in conflict resolution are a necessity
Knowledge
Individual Attributes
General Cognitive Ability
-This includes: perceptual processing, information processing, reasoning skills, creative thinking capabilities, and memory skills
Crystalized Cognitive Ability
-This is intellectual ability that is learned over time through experiences
-This includes: the ability to comprehend new information and communicate that information to others
Motivation
-Be willing to solve difficult problems
-Express dominance to exert influence
-Be committed to the social good of the company
Personality
Leadership Outcomes
Effective Problem Solving
Performance
TRAIT APPROACH
Focuses on identifying different personality traits and characteristics that are linked to successful leadership across a variety of situations.
History of the Trait Approach: one of the first systematic attempts to study leadership; in the early 20th century traits were studied to determine what made people great leaders.
- The theories developed were called “Great Man” theories because they focused on identifying the qualities of great social, political, and military leaders.
- It was believed that people were born with these traits.
- In the mid-20th century the trait approach was challenged; Stogdill suggested that there wasn’t a consistent set of traits that differentiated leaders from non-leaders, rather an individual with leadership skills in one situation, may not be a leader in another situation.
- Leadership was re-conceptualized as a relationship between people in a social setting.
So What?
What has a century of research on the Trait Approach given that is useful?
What has a century of research on the Trait Approach given that is useful?
This list of traits!
Table 2.1 provides a summary of the traits and characteristics that were identified by researchers from the trait approach. It illustrates clearly the breadth of traits related to leadership. Table 2.1 also shows how difficult it is to select certain traits as definitive leadership traits; some of the traits appear in several of the survey studies, whereas others appear in only one survey.
Here are the traits central to the long list from Table 2.1
- Intelligence: leaders tend to have higher intelligence than non-leaders, although the IQ of the leader should not vary too much from the IQ of those that he/she is leading. Ex. Steve Jobs
- Self-confidence: the ability to be certain about one’s competencies and skills, includes a sense of self-esteem and self-assurance that one can make a difference. Ex. Steve Jobs
- Determination: the desire to get the job done and includes characteristics such as initiative, persistence, dominance and drive. They are willing to assert themselves, are proactive & can persevere. Ex. Dr. Paul Farmer, shown determination in securing health care & to eradicate tuberculosis from Haiti and other 3rd world countries.
- Integrity: quality of honesty and trustworthiness, people who adhere to a strong set of principles and take responsibility for their actions. Ex. George W. Bush & Clinton – people want highly ethical leaders
- Sociability: leader’s inclination to seek out pleasant social relationships, they are friendly, outgoing, courteous, tactful, and diplomatic.