04 - Skills Approach, Sept 22

8/3/2019 04 - Skills Approach, Sept 22

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Leadership

Northouse, 5th edition

Chapter 3 - Skills Approach


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Overview

Skills Approach Perspective

Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955) Skills-Based Model (Mumford, et al, 2000)

How Does the Skills Approach Work?


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Skills Approach Description

Leader-centered Leadership skills -

Perspective Definition

Emphasis on skillsand abilities thatcan be learnedand developed

ones knowledgeand competencies toaccomplish a set of

goals and objectives


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Three-Skill Approach(Katz, 1955)

Technical Skill

Human Skill

Conceptual Skill


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Basic Administrative Skills Katz (1955)Management Skills Necessary at VariousLevels of an Organization

Leadersneed all three

s s u ,skillimportancechanges

based onlevel ofmanagement


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Technical Skill

Technical skill - having knowledge about andbeing proficient in a specific type of work oractivity.

S ecialized com etencies

Analytical ability

Use of appropriate tools and techniques

Technical skills involve hands-onability with aproduct or process

Most important at lowerlevels of management


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Human Skill

Human skillhaving knowledge about andbeing able to work with people.

Being aware of ones own perspective and others

Assisting group members in working cooperatively toachieve common goals

Creating an atmosphere of trust and empowerment ofmembers

Important at alllevels of the organization


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Conceptual SkillConceptual skill - the ability to do the mental

work of shaping meaning of organizational policyor issues (what company stands for and where itsgoing)

Works easily with abstractionandhypothetical notions

Central to creating and articulating a visionand

strategic planfor an organization Most important at topmanagement levels


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Skills-Based Model

Skills Model Perspective

Skills-Based Model

Competencies Individual Attributes

Leadership Outcomes

Career Experiences

Environmental Influences


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

Research studies (1990s)goal: to identify the

PerspectivePerspective SkillsSkills--Based ModelBased Modelof LeadershipLeadershipSkillsSkills--Based ModelBased Modelof LeadershipLeadership

Capability model-

create exemplary jobperformance in anorganization

Emphasizes thecapabilitiesthat makeeffective leadershippossible rather than whatleaders do

Examines relationshipbetween a leadersknowledge & skills & theleaders performance

Suggests many peoplehave the potential forleadership


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Skills Model

Three Components of the Skills Model


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Competency Skills

Competencies

Problem Solving Social Judgment Knowledge

Creative ability to

solve new/unusual,ill-defined

organizationalproblems

Capacity tounderstand people

and social systems

- Perspective taking

- Social perceptiveness

- Behavioral flexibility

- Social performance

The accumulationof information & the

mental structures to

organize theinformation


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Individual AttributesIndividualAttributes

General Cognitive Crystallizedty

Persons intelligence- Perceptual processing

- Information processing

- General reasoning- Creative & divergent

thinking

- Memory

Intellectualability learnedor acquiredover time

ogn t ve ty

Three aspects ofmotivation

- Willingness

- Dominance

- Social good

Anycharacteristicthat helps peoplecope with

complexorganizational

situations isprobably relatedto leader

performance


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Leadership OutcomesLeadershipOutcomes

Criteria = originality & quality ofsolutions to problem situations goodproblem solving involves creatingsolutions that are:

- Logical

- Effective

- Unique

- Go beyond given information

Degree to which aleader has successfullyperformed his/herassigned duties


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Skills ModelSkills Model of Leadership


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Career ExperiencesCareer

Experiences

Challenging Appropriate Hands-onss gnmen s ra n ng

Novelty

Experience gained during career influencesleaders knowledge & skills to solve complexproblems

Leaders learn and develop higher levels ofconceptual capacity if they progressively confrontmore complex and long-term problems as they

ascend the organizational hierarchy


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Environmental InfluencesEnvironmental

Influences

Factorsu s e o ea er s

Control

Factors in a leaders situation that lie outside ofthe leaders competencies, characteristics, and

experiences

Outdated technology

Subordinates skill levels


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How Does the Skills

Approach Work?

ocus o s pproac Strengths

Criticisms

Application


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Skills Approach

Focus is primarilydescriptive itdescribes

Katz (1955) suggestsimportance of particularleadership skills variesde endin where leaders

FocusFocusPrincipal Research

PerspectivesPrincipal Research

Perspectives

leadership fromskills perspective

Provides structure

for understandingthe nature ofeffective leadership

reside in managementhierarchy

Mumford et al. (2000)suggest leadership

outcomes are direct resultof leaders skilledcompetency in problemsolving, social judgment &

knowledge


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Strengths

First approach to conceptualize and create a

structureof the process of leadership aroundskills

leadership available to everyone

Provides an expansive viewof leadership thatincorporates wide variety of components (i.e.,

problem-solving skills, social judgment skills)

Provides a structure consistentwith leadershipeducation programs


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Criticisms

Breadth of the skills approach appearsto extendbeyond the boundaries ofleadership, making it more general,less

Weak in predictive value; does notexplain howskills lead to effectiveleadership performance

Skills model includes individualattributes that are trait-like


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Application

The Skills Approach provides a way to

delineate the skills of a leaderIt is applicable to leaders at all levels within

The skills inventory can provide insights intothe individuals leadership competencies

Test scores allow leaders to learn aboutareas in which they may wish to seek furthertraining


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Skills Inventory


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Group Exercise

Discuss Skills Inventory Results(each group member)

Do you agree/disagree? And Why?

How does this affect your perception ofyour leadership abilities?

Come up with a real world leader with skillssimilar to yours.

Documents

04 - Skills Approach, Sept 22