Running head: ROAD TO EXPERT LEADER 1

The road to expert leader

Elizabeth A. Sweigart

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

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The road to expert leader

As Mintzberg (2011) pithily stated, "Leadership is earned, not anointed" (p. 9). In this

regard, both leaders and the leadership they exhibit must grow and develop. Although

circumstances may influence the timing of this growth and development—for instance, high-

pressure situations such as military combat may accelerate substantially the rate at which one

develops as a leader—there is consensus in the literature that acquiring the skills and abilities of

a leader is an ongoing process (Day, Harrison, & Halpin, 2009). Moreover, as Day et al. (2009)

note, as leaders advance within organizations, "technical skills become less important for success

than a systems perspective and the ability to integrate the activities of specialists" (p. 121). In

addition to demonstrating basic management and administrative acumen, other competencies like

emotional intelligence and social intelligence are critical to the success of a leader (Day et al.,

2009). More and more, research is showing that leaders can be grown rather than simply being

created as such (Day et al., 2009). Continuous learning and reflection leads to mastery and

expertise (Day et al., 2009). Thus, the process of becoming an expert leader is complex and takes

place over the course of adult development.

Foundational skills

Mintzberg (2011) writes that, "leadership cannot simply delegate management; instead of

distinguishing managers from leaders, we should be seeing managers as leaders, and leadership

as management practiced well" (p. 9, emphasis in original). In this vein, certain basic skills and

abilities—such as "planning, organizing, controlling, and coordinating" (Day et al., 2009, p. 121)

—are fundamental to a leader's success from a management perspective.

Similarly, there is the expectation that leaders possess technical skills commensurate with

their tenure, representing "domain-specific knowledge…in their respective areas" (Day et al.,
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2009, p. 121). Examples of technical skills include knowledge of and experience with applicable

federal, state, and local laws governing real property for a mortgage broker, oil and gas well

control for a drilling manager, and expectations for literacy development milestones for early

learning teachers. However, these abilities alone are insufficient to advance a leader from novice

to expert (Day et al., 2009). Even when a leader has passed from declarative knowledge of a

technical subject (i.e., having learned facts about a task by performing it), to knowledge

compilation (i.e., the acquisition of greater detail enables the individual to perform the task with

less thought), to procedural knowledge (i.e., the individual has practiced the task sufficiently to

have attained mastery)—it is not enough to be deemed expert at leading others (Day et al., 2009).

Emotional intelligence and social intelligence

Other functional capabilities, including "impression management, emotional regulation,

and the ability to discern other's emotions have been suggested as important leadership skills"

(Day et al., 2009, p. 122). Categorized as emotional intelligence, these skills represent an ability

learned over time that comes from self-awareness on the part of the leader derived from exposure

to multiple scenarios involving conflicting emotions of the leader and others resulting in both

positive and negative outcomes (Day et al., 2009). Similarly, social intelligence—the ability to

productively engage and solve problems interpersonally—is critical to success as a leader (Day

et al., 2009). As with emotional intelligence, social intelligence encompasses a set of learned

skills, acquired through experience (Day et al., 2009).

When considering the differences between novice and experienced leaders, problem

solving leveraging emotional- and social-intelligence skills provides insight. Broadly speaking,

there are two types of problem-solving scenarios: cued and not cued (Day et al., 2009). As Day et

al. (2009) notes, "Cued scenarios involve choosing among a set of alternatives, whereas uncued
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(sic) problem solving involves creating and formulating responses" (p. 123). For a leader without

much experience or exposure to a wide variety of interpersonal situations whose self-awareness

and emotional self-regulation skills may also be emerging, solving problems without reference

points to consider could be a substantial challenge. Even if the leader was skilled technically,

misreading the interpersonal dynamics of a difficult situation could result in a negative outcome,

possibly harming the personnel, the organization, and the leader's brand. It is true for both

technical and social- and emotional-intelligence skills that "deliberate practice is needed to

develop expertise" (Day et al., 2009, p. 126). Some research suggests that "the highest levels of

human performance across different domains can only be obtained after approximately 10 years

of extended, daily amounts of deliberate practice activities" (Day et al., 2009, p. 124).

Leadership maturity curve

Ultimately, as Day et al. (2009) articulate it, the distinction between novice and expert

leadership is observable and quantifiable resulting from the leader's growth through experience

over time. This leadership maturity curve supports the assertion that leader development is an

ongoing, iterative process that takes place across adulthood and because the learning is adult-

centered, adult-driven, and the responsibility of the adult, it fits the method and practice of

androgogy rather than pedagogy (Day et al., 2009). As noted above, the emotional intensity of

events may influence the overall duration of a leader's maturation, but it does not absent them the

process. Intentionality, repetition, reinforcement, and experience—including experience with

failure—are all necessary to achieve mastery and expertise as a leader, inarguably a lifelong

pursuit (Day et al., 2009).

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References

Day, D. V., Harrison, M. M., & Halpin, S. M. (2009). An integrative approach to leader

development: Connecting adult development, identity, and expertise. New York:

Psychology Press.

Mintzberg, H. (2011). Managing. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.