Leadership skills - Definition
The ability to use one’s knowledge and competencies to accomplish a set of goals and objectives
Skills Approach - Perspective
Leader centered
Skills Approach - Emphasis
Skills and abilities for leadership that can be learned and developed
Three categories of skill that affect leadership - Robert Katz
Technical Skills
Human Skills
Conceptual Skills
All three skills are important to leadership.
The relative importance of each skill changes based on level of management
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
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
The ability to do the mental work of shaping the meaning of
organizational policy or issues (what the 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
Management Skills Necessary at Various Levels of an Organization
How the Skills Approach Works
Descriptive approach
Describes leadership from skills perspective
Provides structure for understanding effective leadership
NOT prescriptive of leadership success
Three Skills Approach (Katz)
Describes the skills which need to be developed at a particular level of leadership
Skills Model of Leadership” (Mumford et al.)
Leadership outcomes are a direct result of leaders skilled competency
Competency influenced by leadership attributes
—> map for leaders to reach effective leadership in an organization
The skills approach works as a map for leaders to reach effective leadership in an organization
Leaders need to have particular skills
Aspiring or ascending leaders can increase their
leadership potential by training and experience
Organizations can train potential leaders in the skill areas needed for a particular level of leadership
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 - Weakness / Criticism
Breadth of the skills approach appears to extendbeyond 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
Application in Practice
How it is applied
Delineate the skills of a leader
Applicable at all levels within an organization
Identification of a leader‘s current competencies
Developing self-awareness
Last changed2 years ago
