Skills Theory presentation.pdf

Skills Approach to Leadership

Module Objectives

At the end of this module, you should be

able to:

1.

Define the skills approach to organizational leadershipExamine your previous leadership experiences and discuss whether they included components of the skills approach

2.

Audio Lecture Instructions

This presentation includes an audio lecture. Please note that the audio will not play continously. To listen to the lecture on each slide, click on the audio button towards the bottom left of each slide (I included an example below to show what the audio buttion looks like). If no audio button is present then there is no lecture for that slide. The transcript of the entire lecture can be found in the moodle classroom directly under this presentation.

Skills Approach to Leadership

• Leader‐centered perspective
• Instead of innate, fixed characteristics, the skills approach emphasizes skills and abilities that can be learned and developed

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed., pg. 43

THREE‐SKILL APPROACH

Three‐Skill Approach

• Technical Skills • Human Skills • Conceptual Skills

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Technical Skills

• Knowledge about and proficiency in a specific type of work or activity

• Include competencies in a specialized area, analytical ability, and the ability to use appropriate tools and techniques

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Human Skills

• Knowledge about and ability to work with people
• “people skills”
• “the capacity to get along with others as you go about your work”

• Human skills are important in all three levels of management”

• Top management
• Middle management
• Supervisory management

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Conceptual Skills

“The ability to work with ideas and concepts”

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

SKILLS MODEL

Skills Model

• Characterized as a “capability” model “because it examines the relationship between a leader’s knowledge and skills (i.e., capabilities) and the leader’s performance”

• Suggests that many people have the potential for leadership

• Capabilities can be developed over time through education and experience

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Skills Model Components

• Competencies • Individual Attributes • Leadership outcomes • Career experiences • Environmental influences

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Three of the Skills Model Components

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Competencies

• Problem‐solving skills
• “a leader’s creative ability to solve new and unusual, illdefined organizational problems, gather problem information, formulate new understandings about the problem, and generate prototype plans for problem solutions”

Key Problem Solving Skills

1. Problem definition
2. Cause/goal analysis
3. Constraint analysis
4. Planning
5. Forecasting
6. Creative thinking
7. Idea evaluation
8. Wisdom
9. Sensemaking/visioning

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Competencies

• Social Judgment Skills: “the capacity to understand people and social systems”

• Perspective taking
• Social perceptiveness
• Social Performance

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Competencies

• Knowledge
• “The accumulation of information and the mental structures used to organize that information”

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Individual Attributes

• General cognitive ability • Crystallized cognitive ability • Motivation • Personality

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Leadership Outcomes Component of the Skills Model

• Effective problem solving
• Creating solutions that are logical, effective, and unique, and that go beyond given information

• Performance
• The degree to which a leader has successfully performed assigned duties

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.

Summary of the Skills Model

• Includes five components, with three competencies “at the heart of the model”

• Problem‐solving skills
• Social judgment skills
• Knowledge
• “Through job experience and training, leaders can become better problem solvers and more effective leaders.”

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed., pg. 23

Skills Inventory

Northouse, P.G. (2019), Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth Ed.,

References

Northouse, P.G., (2019) Leadership Theory and Practice, 8 Ed. Sage Publications, Inc.: Thousand Oaks, CA