Chapter 3: Skill Approach Leadership and Change Chapter 3: Skill Approach Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Overview Skills Approach Perspective Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955) Skills-Based Model (Mumford, et al, 2000) How Does the Skills Approach Work? Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Skills Approach Description Perspective Definition Leader-centered perspective Emphasis on skills and abilities that can be learned and developed Leadership skills - The ability to use one’s knowledge and competencies to accomplish a set of goals and objectives Personality certainly plays an important role. Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955) Technical Skill Human Skill Conceptual Skill Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Technical Skill Technical skill - having knowledge about 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-on ability with a product or process Most important at lower levels of management Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Human Skill Human skill – having knowledge about and being able to work with people. Awareness of one’s own perspective and others’ perspectives at the same time People skills help a leader to assist group members in working cooperatively to achieve common goals Creates an atmosphere of trust where members feel they can become involved and impact decisions in the organization Important at all levels of the organization Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Conceptual Skill 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 Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Basic Administrative Skills – Katz (1955) Management Skills Necessary at Various Levels of an Organization Leaders need all three skills – but, skill ability/ importance changes based on level of management
Skills Model (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, & Fleishman, 2000) Skills-Based Model of Leadership Perspective 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 Capability model - Examines relationship between a leader’s knowledge & skills & the leader’s performance . Suggests many people have the potential for leadership Skills-Based Model components Competencies Individual Attributes Leadership Outcomes Career Experiences Environmental Influences Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Three Components of the Skills Model Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Competency Skills Competencies Problem Solving Social Judgment Knowledge Capacity to understand people and social systems - Perspective taking - Social perceptiveness - Behavioral flexibility - Social performance The accumulation of information & the mental structures to organize the information Creative ability to solve new/unusual, ill-defined organizational problems Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Problem Solving Skills The skills include being able to define significant problems, gather problem information, formulate new understandings about the problem, and generate prototype plans for problem solutions. These skills do not function in a vacuum, but are carried out in an organizational context. Problem-solving skills demand that leaders understand their own leadership capacities as they apply possible solutions to the unique problems in their organization. (Mumford, Zaccaro, Connelly, & Marks, 2000). Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Problem Solving Skills Example First, you identify the full ramifications for employees of changing their health insurance coverage. What is the impact going to be? Second, you gather information about how benefits can be scaled back. What other companies have attempted a similar change, and what were their results? Third, you find a way to teach and inform the employees about the needed change. How can you frame the change in such a way that it is clearly understood? Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Cont’d… Fourth, you create possible scenarios for how the changes will be instituted. How will the plan be described? Fifth, you look closely at the solution itself. How will implementing this change affect the company’s mission and your own career? Last, are there issues in the organization (e.g., union rules) that may affect the implementation of these changes? Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Competency Skills Competencies Problem Solving Social Judgment Knowledge Capacity to understand people and social systems - Perspective taking - Social perceptiveness - Behavioral flexibility - Social performance The accumulation of information & the mental structures to organize the information Creative ability to solve new/unusual, ill-defined organizational problems Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Social Judgment Skills Perspective taking means understanding the attitudes that others have toward a particular problem or solution. Perspective taking means being sensitive to other people’s perspectives and goals—being able to understand their point of view on different issues. Social perceptiveness is insight and awareness into how others in the organization function. What is important to others? What motivates them? What problems do they face, and how do they react to change? Social perceptiveness means understanding the unique needs, goals, and demands of different organizational constituencies (Zaccaro et al., 1991). Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Cont’d… Behavioral flexibility is the capacity to change and adapt one’s behavior in light of an understanding of others’ perspectives in the organization. Being flexible means one is not locked into a singular approach to a problem. As the circumstances of a situation change, a flexible leader changes to meet the new demands. Social performance includes a wide range of leadership competencies. Skill in persuasion and communicating change is essential to do this. When there is resistance to change or interpersonal conflict about change, leaders need to function as mediators. To this end, skill in conflict resolution is an important aspect. In addition, social performance sometimes requires that leaders coach subordinates, giving them direction and support as they move toward selected organizational goals. Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Individual Attributes General Cognitive Ability Crystallized Cognitive Ability Motivation Personality Person’s intelligence - Perceptual processing - Information processing - General reasoning - Creative & divergent thinking - Memory Intellectual ability learned or acquired over time Three aspects of motivation - Willingness - Dominance - Social good Any characteristic that helps people cope with complex organizational situations is probably related to leader performance Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Leadership Outcomes Leadership Outcomes Problem Solving Performance Criteria = originality & quality of solutions to problem situations – good problem solving involves creating solutions that are: - Logical - Effective - Unique - Go beyond given information Degree to which a leader has successfully performed his/her assigned duties Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Skills Model Skills Model of Leadership Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Career Experiences Career Experiences Challenging Assignments Mentoring Appropriate Training Hands-on Experience With Novelty 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 Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Environmental Influences Factors Outside of Leader’s Control Factors in a leader’s situation that lie outside of the leader’s competencies, characteristics, and experiences Outdated technology Subordinates’ Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
How Does the Skills Approach Work? Focus of Skills Approach Strengths Criticisms Application Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Principal Research Perspectives Skills Approach Focus Principal Research Perspectives Focus is primarily descriptive – it describes leadership from skills perspective Provides structure for understanding the nature of effective leadership Katz (1955) suggests importance of particular leadership skills varies depending where leaders reside in management hierarchy Mumford et al. (2000) suggest leadership outcomes are direct result of leader’s skilled competency in problem solving, social judgment & knowledge Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
How does it work? The skills approach works by providing a map for how to reach effective leadership in an organization: Leaders need to have problem-solving skills, social judgment skills, and knowledge. Workers can improve their capabilities in these areas through training and experience. Although each leader’s personal attributes affect his or her skills, it is the leader’s skills themselves that are most important in addressing organizational problems. Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
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 Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
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 Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences
Application The Skills Approach provides a way to outline 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 Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMsciences