1. Developing Leadership Skills
Chapter 6:
Developing Leadership Skills

2. Chapter Objectives
Understanding administrative skills and their use in practice.
Understanding interpersonal skills and their use in practice.
Understanding conceptual skills and their use in practice.

3. Discussion Questions
What skills do you think are most important for leaders to possess?
Why have traits of leaders historically received more attention than leadership skills?

4. What Are Leadership Skills?
Leadership skills refer to learned competencies that leaders are able to demonstrate in performance.
Leadership skills:
Give people the capacity to influence others
Are a critical component in successful leadership

5. Core Leadership Skills
Administrative Skills
Interpersonal Skills
Conceptual Skills

6. Administrative Skills
The competencies needed to carry out the purposes & goals of the organization
Involve planning, organizing work, coordinating work activities
Allow leaders to accomplish the mundane, but critically important, aspects of leadership
Divided into three specific skill sets:
Managing People, Managing Resources, & Showing Technical Competence 6

7. Managing People
An effective leader connects with people & understands the tasks, the skills required to perform them, & the overall environment.
Includes helping employees
to work as a team
motivating them to do their best
promoting satisfying relationships among employees
Occupies the most time
Involves communicating with multiple stakeholders
Ex.: Nate Parker and after-school recreation program
“Management by walking around”

8. Managing Resources
Resources can be money, supplies, equipment, space, etc., anything needed to operate an organization.
Managing resources requires a leader to be competent in both obtaining and allocating resources. Ex.: cross-country coach buying new uniforms for the team
The ultimate responsibility of resource management rests on the leader.

9. Showing Technical Competence
Technical competence involves having specialized knowledge about our work.
A leader with technical competence understands the intricacies of how the organization functions.
A leader is more effective when he or she has knowledge about the activities subordinates are asked to perform.
A leader is not required to have technical competence in every situation.
Also referred to as “Functional Competence”

10. Interpersonal Skills
People skills—the abilities that help a leader to work effectively with subordinates, peers, & superiors, to accomplish the organization’s goals
Divided into three specific skill sets:
Being Socially Perceptive
Showing Emotional Intelligence
Managing Interpersonal Conflict

11. Being Socially Perceptive
Being socially perceptive involves understanding the unique needs, goals, & demands of different constituencies
Having insight into & awareness of:
what is important to others
how they are motivated
the problems they face
how they react to change
Ex.: Univ. of Michigan graduation

12. Showing Emotional Intelligence
a person’s ability to understand his or her own & others’ emotions
apply this to life’s tasks
Emotional intelligence is the ability to:
perceive & express emotions
use emotions to facilitate thinking
understand & reason with emotions
manage emotions effectively (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000)

13. Enhancing Emotional Intelligence
1. Leaders need to work on becoming aware of their own emotions.
2. A leader should train to become aware of the emotions of others.
3. A leader needs to learn how to regulate his or her emotions & put them to good use.
Ex.: high school principal and student pranksters

14. Handling Conflict
Conflict creates the need for change and occurs as the result of change.
Conflict is the struggle between two or more individuals over perceived differences regarding substantive issues or relational issues.
Although uncomfortable, conflict is not unhealthy nor necessarily bad.
If conflict is managed effectively there is a reduction of stress, an increase in creative problem solving, and improved group relations.

15. Conceptual Skills
Conceptual skills involve the thinking or cognitive aspects of leadership, such as concepts and ideas.
Divided into three specific skill sets:
Problem Solving
Strategic Planning
Creating Vision

16. Problem Solving
Problem Solving Skills are a leader’s cognitive ability to take corrective action in a problem situation to meet desired objectives.
Skills include the following:
identifying the problem
generating alternative solutions
selecting the best solution from among the alternatives
implementing that solution

17. Strategic Planning
Strategic planning requires developing careful plans of action based on available resources & personnel to achieve a goal
Boal & Hooijberg (2000) suggest that strategic leaders need to have:
The ability to learn—capacity to absorb new information and apply it towards new goals
The capacity to adapt—being able to respond quickly to changes in the environment
Managerial wisdom—A deep understanding of people and the environment in which they work

18. Creating Vision
Creating vision requires the capacity to challenge people with compelling visions of the future.
To create vision, a leader needs to:
set forth a picture of a future that is better than the present
move others toward a new set of ideals & values that will lead to the future
A leader must implement the vision & model the principles set forth in the vision

19. Leadership Snapshot: Coquese Washington
Grew up in Flint, MI; played seven musical instruments.
Was an All-State selection for girls’ basketball two years in a row and was awarded a scholarship to attend Notre Dame where she earned her undergraduate and law degree.
After law school, played for the Portland Power of the ABL (American Basketball League) and the WNBA.
Helped the Houston Comets win the WNBA title.
Became the founding president of the WNBA Players’ Association and negotiated the players’ first collective bargaining agreement.

20. Leadership Snapshot: Coquese Washington
She realized that she loved being part of a basketball team. In 2007 she was chosen as the Head Coach for Penn State Women’s Basketball and by 2013, she led the Lady Lions to three consecutive appearances at the NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Championships.
But the winning isn’t what’s keeping Washington on the court. It’s the opportunity to be a mentor and leader to her players.
Coach Washington believes that “we use basketball as a vehicle, but I’m probably most proud of our kids’ ability to achieve. I’ve learned over the years that that is a skill that’s developed, not something you’re born with. Perseverance, persistence, belief – there are so many skills that have to be nurtured to become an achiever.”

21. Case Study: Sweet Caroline’s
Based on the Model of Primary Leadership Skills (Fig. 6.1), how would you describe Caroline’s skills? In what skills is she strongest and in what skills is she weakest?
Sweet Caroline’s bakery and restaurant seemed to emerge out of nowhere. What role did Caroline play in this? Do you think Caroline could improve her business with more strategic planning?
Have you ever worked at a place that was very successful but felt quite chaotic and disorganized? How did you handle it?
If you were a consultant to Caroline, would you recommend she open a second location? If so, what three skills would you have Caroline develop in order to help manage her business better?

22. Summary
Administrative, interpersonal, & conceptual skills play a major role in effective leadership.
Through practice & hard work, we can all become better leaders by improving our skills in each of these areas.