CHAPTER 3 MGT. 127

Technical Skill

Having knowledge about and being proficient in a specific type of work or activity. -Specialized competencies Analytical ability -Use of appropriate tools and techniques Technical skills involve hands-on ability with a product or process Most important at lower levels of management

Skills-Based Model: Competencies

Individual Attributes Leadership Outcomes Career Experiences Environmental Influences

Individual Attributes: Crystallized Cognitive Ability

Intellectual ability learned or acquired over time

Environmental Influences: Internal

Internal environmental influences - Ex. Outdated technology, skill level of employees

Skills Approach: PRINCIPAL RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES

Katz (1955) suggests importance of particular leadership skills varies depending where leaders reside in management hierarchy. Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, (2007) suggest higher levels of all skills needed at higher levels of hierarchy. Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding et al. (2000) suggest leadership outcomes are direct result of leader's skilled competency in problem solving, social judgment, & knowledge

Skills Approach Description: PERSPECTIVE

Leader-centered perspective Emphasis on skills and abilities that can be learned and developed

Skills Approach Description: DEFINITION

Leadership skills-The ability to use one's knowledge and competencies to accomplish a set of goals and objectives

Individual Attributes: General Cognitive Ability

Person's intelligence Perceptual processing Information processing General reasoning Creative & divergent thinking Memory

Three components of the Skills Model: COMPETENCIES

Problem-Solving Skills Social Judgment Skills Knowledge

Conceptual Skill

the ability to do the mental work of shaping meaning of organizational policy or issues (what company stands for and where it's going) Works easily with abstraction and hypothetical notions Central to creating and articulating a vision and strategic plan for an organization Most important at top management levels

Skills Model Description: PERSPECTIVE (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, & Fleishman, 2000)

Research studies (1990s) goal: to identify the leadership factors that create exemplary job performance in an organization Emphasizes the capabilities that make effective leadership possible rather than what leaders do

Basic Administrative Skills - Katz (1955)

TOP MGT: Low technical High human & conceptual MIDDLE MGT: High: technical, human, conceptual SUPERVISORY MGT: High: Technical & Human Low: Conceptual

Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)

Technical Skill Human Skill Conceptual Skill

Skills Approach: APPLICATION

The Skills Approach provides a way to delineate the skills of a leader. It is applicable to leaders at all levels within the organization The skills inventory can provide insights into the individual's leadership competencies Test scores allow leaders to learn about areas in which they may wish to seek further training

Competencies Skills: Knowledge

The accumulation of information & the mental structures to organize the information

Individual Attributes: Motivation

Three aspects of motivation -Willingness -Dominance -Social good

Individual Attributes: Personality

Any characteristic that helps people cope with complex organizational situations is probably related to leader performance

Skills Approach: CRITICISMS

Breadth of the skills approach appears to extend beyond the boundaries of leadership, making it more general, less precise Weak in predictive value; does not explain how skills lead to effective leadership performance Skills model includes individual attributes that are trait-like

Skills-Based Model of Leadership

Capability model: -Examines relationship between a leader's knowledge & skills & the leader's performance. Suggests many people have the potential for leadership

Competencies Skills: Social Judgment

Capacity to understand people and social systems - Perspective taking - Social perceptiveness - Behavioral flexibility - Social performance

Competencies Skills: Problem Solving

Creative ability to solve new/unusual, ill-defined organizational problems

Leadership Outcomes: Problem Solving

Criteria = originality & quality of solutions to problem situations - good problem solving involves creating solutions that are: - Logical - Effective - Unique - Go beyond given information

Leadership Outcomes: Performance

Degree to which a leader has successfully performed his/her assigned duties

Three components of the Skills Model: LEADERSHIP OUTCOMES

Effective Problem Solving Performance

Skills Approach: STRENGTHS

First approach to conceptualize and create a structure of the process of leadership around skills Describing leadership in terms of skills makes leadership available to everyone Provides an expansive view of leadership that incorporates wide variety of components (i.e., problem-solving skills, social judgment skills) Provides a structure consistent with leadership education programs

Skills Approach: FOCUS

Focus is primarily descriptive - it describes leadership from skills perspective Provides structure for understanding the nature of effective leadership

Three components of the Skills Model: INDIVIDUAL ATTRIBUTES

General Cognitive Ability Crystallized Cognitive Ability Motivation Personality

Human Skill

Having knowledge about and being able to work with people. Being aware of one's own perspective and others' perspectives at the same time Assisting group members in working cooperatively to achieve common goals Creating an atmosphere of trust and empowerment of members Important at all levels of the organization

Career Experiences

1. Challenging Assignments 2. Mentoring 3. Appropriate Training 4. Hands-on experience with Novelty

Career Experiences (Def.)

Experience gained during career influences leader's knowledge & skills to solve complex problems Leaders learn and develop higher levels of conceptual capacity if they progressively confront more complex and long-term problems as they ascend the organizational hierarchy -Indiv. Attributes & Competencies

Environmental Influences: External

External environmental influences - Ex. Economic, political, or social issues; natural disasters

Environmental Influences: Definition

Factors in a leader's situation that lie outside of his or her competencies, characteristics, and experiences