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Chapter 3 Skills Approach

2003 Jan KriegerSAGEPublications

Skills Approach

Leadership

Theory and Practice, 3/ePeter G. Northouse, Ph.D.

William Kritsonis, PhD

Presenter


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OverviewSkills Approach Perspective

Three-Skill Approach

Skills-Based Model

How Does the Skills Approach Work?


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Skills Approach Description

Leader-centered

perspective

Emphasis on

skills and abilities

that can be

acquired and

developed

Leadership

skills- Theability to use

ones knowledge

and competencies

to accomplish aset of goals and

objectives

Perspective Definition


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Three-Skill

ApproachTechnical Skill

Human SkillConceptual Skill


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Basic Administrative Skills

Katz (1995)

Technical Skills (things)

Human Skills (people)

(ideas)Conceptual Skills

Manager Director VP Exec VP CEO

Level of Ski l l Needed


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Technical Skill

Technical skill- is having knowledgeabout and being proficient in a specific type of

work or activity.

Specialized competencies

Analytical ability

Capability to use appropriate tools and

techniques Technical skills involve hands-onability with a

product or process

Most important at lowerlevels of management


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Human Skill

Human skill- is having knowledge aboutand being able to work with people.

Awareness of ones own perspective and othersperspectives at the same time

People ski l lsallow a leader to assist group members in

working cooperatively to achieve common goals

Creates an atmosphere of trust where members feel theycan become involved and impact decisions in the

organization

Important at all levels of the organization


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Conceptual Skill

Conceptual skill- the ability to do themental work of shaping the meaning of

organizational policy or issues (what the

company stands for and where its going)

Works easily with abstractionand hypothetical

notions

Central to creating and articulating a visionandstrategic planfor an organization

Most important at top management levels


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Skills-BasedModel

Skills Model PerspectiveSkills-Based Model

Competencies

Individual AttributesLeadership Outcomes

Career Experiences

Environmental Influences


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Skills Model DescriptionMumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Owen 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

Perspective Skills-Based Modelof Leadership

Capabil i ty model-

Examines relationship

between a leaders

knowledge, skills, &

performance

Suggests many people

have the potential for

leadership


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Skills Model of Learning

General CognitiveAbilities

CrystallizedCognitive Abilities

Motivation

Personality

Problem-SolvingSkills

SocialJudgment

Skills

Knowledge

EffectiveProblem Solving

Performance

Career Experience


IndividualAttributes

Competencies LeadershipOutcomes


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Competency Skills

Competencies

Problem Solving Social Judgment Knowledge

Creative ability to solve

novel, ill-defined

organizational problems

Capacity to understand

people and social systems

- Perspective taking

- Social perceptiveness

- Social performance

The accumulation of

information & the mental

structures to organize the

information


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Individual Attributes

IndividualAttributes

General CognitiveAbility

Persons intelligence

- Perceptual processing

- I nformation processing

- General reasoning

- Creative & divergent

thinking

- Memory

Intellectual ability

learned or acquired

over time

CrystallizedCognitive Ability

Motivation Personality

Three aspects of

motivation

- Willingness

- Dominance

- Social good

Any characteristic

that helps people

cope with complex

organizationalsituations is

probably related to

leader performance


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Leadership Outcomes

LeadershipOutcomes

Problem Solving Performance

Originality & quality of

solutions to problem

situations

- Logical

- Ef fective

- Unique

- Go beyond give information

Degree to which a leader has

successfully performed his/her

assigned duties


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Career Experiences

CareerExperiences

ChallengingAssignments

Experience gained during career influences leaders knowledge & skills to

solve complex problemsLeaders learn and develop higher levels of conceptual capacity if they

progressively confront more complex and long-term problems as they ascend

the organizational hierarchy

Mentoring AppropriateTraining

Hands-onExperience With

Novelty


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EnvironmentalInfluences

Factors in a leaders situation that lie outside

of the leaders competencies, characteristics, andexperiences

-Outdated technology

-Subordinates skill inadequacies

Factors

Outside of LeadersControl


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HowDoes theSkills Approach

Work?Focus of Skills ApproachStrengths

CriticismsApplication


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Skills Approach

Focus is primarily

descriptive- Describes

leadership from a skillsperspective

Provides a structure for

understanding the nature

of effective leadership

Katz (1995)suggests

importance of particular

leadership skills variesdepending where leaders

reside in a management

hierarchy

Mumford et al. (2000)

suggest leadership outcomes

are a direct result of a

leaders skilled competency

in problem solving, social

judgment & knowledge

Focus Principal ResearchPerspectives


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Strengths

First approach to conceptualize and create a

structure of the process of leadership around skills

Describing leadership in terms of skills makes itavailable to everyone

Provides an overarching viewof leadership that

incorporates a variety of components (i.e., problem-

solving skills, social judgment skills)

Provides a structure consistentwith leadership

education programs


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Criticisms

Breadth of the skills approach appears to

extendbeyond the boundaries of

leadership Skills model is weak in predictivevalue

Skills model is partially trait-driven


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2003 J K iSAGE Publications

Application

The Skills Approach provides a way to delineate

the skills of a leader

It is applicable to leaders at all levels within theorganization

The skills inventory can provide insights into the

individuals leadership competencies Test scores allow leaders to learn about areas in

which they may wish to seek further training

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