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 Outdated technology, skill level of employees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