Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Skills Approach-What skills can we learn to be leaders?
Overview
 Skills Approach Perspective
 Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
 Skills-Based Model (Mumford et al., 2000)
 How Does the Skills Approach Work?
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Skills Approach Description
Perspective Definition
 Leader-centered  Leadership skills-The
perspective ability to use one’s
 Emphasis on skills and knowledge and
abilities that can be competencies to
learned and accomplish a set of
developed goals and objectives
Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
 Technical Skill (Things)
 Human Skill (People)
 Conceptual Skill (Ideas)
Basic Administrative Skills – Katz (1955)
Leaders need all

three skills— but
relative
importance
changes based
on level of
management
6
Basic Administrative (Leadership) Skills

 Technical: having knowledge about and being proficient
in a specific type of work or activity.
 Technical skills involve hands-on ability with a product or
process
 Human: having knowledge about and being able to work
with people.
 Ability to get along with others as you go about your work
 Conceptual:the ability to do the mental work of
organizational policy or issues
 Works easily with abstraction and hypothetical notions
 Captain Sully Video (watch in class)
Summary-Katz Model
 Based on field research/observations by Katz
which is summarized in the Harvard Business
Review.
 His interpretation of the basic administrative/leadership
skills needed in organizations.
 All three skills are important at all levels.
 Mid-level management requires high levels of all three
 His model informed future leadership research with a
skills focus.
Skills-Based Model
 Skills Model Perspective
 Competencies
 Individual Attributes
 Leadership Outcomes
 Career Experiences
 Environmental Influences
Skills Model Description
(Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, & Fleishman, 2000)
Perspective Skills-Based Model of

Leadership
 Research studies (1990s)  Capability model -
goal: to identify the leadership Examines relationship
factors that create exemplary
between a leader’s
job performance in an
organization knowledge & skills & the
 Emphasizes the capabilities leader’s performance.
that make effective leadership
possible rather than what Suggests any people have
leaders do the potential for leadership
Competencies Skills
Problem Solving Social Judgment Knowledge
Creative ability to Capacity to understand The accumulation of

solve new/unusual, people and social information & the
ill-defined systems mental structures to
organizational - Perspective taking organize the
problems information
- Social perceptiveness
- Behavioral flexibility
- Social performance
Individual Attributes
General Cognitive Crystallized

Motivation Personality
Ability Cognitive Ability
Person’s intelligence Intellectual ability Three aspects Any characteristic

learned or of motivation that helps people
• Perceptual
acquired over time cope with complex
processing
• Willingness organizational
•Information processing
situations is
•General reasoning • Dominance probably related to
•Creative & divergent leader performance
• -Social
thinking good
•Memory
Leadership Outcomes
Problem
Performance
Solving
Criteria = originality & quality of Degree to which a
solutions to problem situations – leader has
good problem solving involves successfully
creating solutions that are: performed his/her
- Logical assigned duties
- Effective
- Unique
- Go beyond given information
Career Experiences
Challenging Appropriate Hands-on

Mentoring Experience with
Assignments Training
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
Environmental Influences
 Factors in a leader’s situation that lie

outside of his or her competencies,
characteristics, and experiences
– Internal environmental influences – Ex.
Outdated technology, skill level of
employees
– External environmental influences – Ex.
Economic, political, or social issues; natural
disasters
– These influences could have positive or negative effects
How Does the Skills Approach Work?
 Focus of Skills Approach
 Strengths
 Criticisms
 Application
Skills Approach
Focus Principal Research

Perspectives
 Focus is primarily  Katz (1955) suggests importance of
descriptive– it particular leadership skills varies depending
describes leadership where leaders reside in management
hierarchy
from skills perspective
 Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, (2007)
 Provides structure for suggest higher levels of all skills needed at
understanding the higher levels of hierarchy
nature of effective  Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding et al. (2000)
leadership suggest leadership outcomes are direct
result of leader’s skilled competency in
problem solving, social judgment, &
knowledge
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
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
Application
 The Skills Approach provides a way to delineate 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 (bring your
completed Skills Inventory to discussion this week)
 Test scores allow leaders to learn about areas in which
they may wish to seek further training
Exam 1
 Exam 1 is Monday, September 21st
 Review sheet is posted in Compass 2g
 Mostly multiple choice; some matching
 All scantron—2 points each
 Please be on time
 Late students must wait to be seated (less time
to take Exam)
 Please fill in middle seats of each row first

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Chapter 3: Skills Approach-What skills can we learn to be leaders?

 Skills Approach Perspective

 Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)

 Skills-Based Model (Mumford et al., 2000)

 How Does the Skills Approach Work?

 Technical Skill (Things)

 Human Skill (People)

 Conceptual Skill (Ideas)

Leaders need all

Basic Administrative (Leadership) Skills

Perspective Skills-Based Model of

Problem Solving Social Judgment Knowledge

Creative ability to Capacity to understand The accumulation of

General Cognitive Crystallized

Person’s intelligence Intellectual ability Three aspects Any characteristic

Challenging Appropriate Hands-on

 Experience gained during career influences leader’s

 Factors in a leader’s situation that lie

 Focus of Skills Approach

Focus Principal Research

 First approach to conceptualize and create a structure

 Breadth of the skills approach appears to extend

 Weak in predictive value; does not explain how skills

 Skills model includes individual attributes that are

 The Skills Approach provides a way to delineate the

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