Skills Approach Theory – Military

While reading through the skills approach theory in Northouse I couldn’t help but think of how familiar it all sounded.  I kept racking my brain on why it sounded so familiar but it didn’t click until I got to the end of chapter three in the criticisms portion.  “The skills model was constructed by using a large sample of military personnel and observing their performance in the armed services,” (Northouse, p. 59), and immediately said ‘bingo, Air Force leadership doctrine.’  In the military we are required to go to Professional Military Education (PME) courses at different stages of our careers.  I started my career as a 2nd Lieutenant by attending Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL and taking a very basic leadership course called; Air and Space Basic Course (ASBC).  It was required for 2nd Lieutenants and the first PME of our careers.  We learned how to work as a team, learned a little bit of Air Force doctrine, and a little bit about leadership.  However, it was just a refresher course of all the things we had learned in ROTC, Officer Training School (OTS) or at the Air Force Academy.

Further into our careers, sometime after an officer becomes a Captain, we attend another PME course called Squadron Officer School (SOS) in which we dive a little deeper into Air Force doctrine and leadership.  You may be saying ‘Ok, cool Cotton, but how does this relate to the skills approach theory?’  The three-skill approach directly relates to how Air Force leadership doctrine was written.  Air Force leadership doctrine looks a lot like the components of the skills model.  Attached on this link is model that shows leadership levels and institutional competencies according to the Air Force, https://www.scribd.com/document/82751360/Doctrine-Update-for-AFDD-1-1,  it also looks very similar to Figure 3.1 in Northouse.  The three levels that you see are Tactical Expertise, Operational Competence, and Strategic vision.  They all tie into the individual competencies of Personal, People/Team, and Organizational which I will explain next.

So we remember from our reading that the three-skill approach encompasses Technical Skill, Human Skill, and Conceptual Skill.  As a young 2nd Lieutenant through a junior Captain you master the technical skill in your profession which for me was learning the ins and outs of the B-52, learning to employ weapons, and becoming a tactical warrior.  I spent many hours in the weapons systems book and tactics books to try and become the best tactician I could.  During this time I did not lead a lot of people but the human skill was there because I also needed to work as a B-52 crew member and be able to communicate effectively during training and combat sorties.  All this ties into the Air Force leadership doctrine model as to be a tactical expert, have a sense of leading and being a follower, but not focusing on being a strategic thinker in the organization, or for me my bomb squadron.

Next is human skill which “is the knowledge about and ability to work with people,” (Northouse, p. 44).  This become increasingly important as you move from to a senior Captain to a Lieutenant Colonel.  You should have mastered that tactical skill by now and now you move on to taking larger leadership roles.  For me I was the flight commander of our scheduling shop in my bomb squadron.  I had build relationships with maintenance personnel and higher ranking officers for them to trust me I could lead my people/team to get our job done.  I also had to understand the bomb wing’s vision to understand organizational competence, for example knowing how my bomb squadron would fight against a near peer threat.  In keeping with the Air Force doctrine model that example opened more of the door to strategic thinking and the bigger picture Air Force organization.

Next we have the conceptual skill where you are meshing that technical and human skill as a leader of many people.  Also important to note is that “conceptual skills are central to creating vision and strategic plan for an organization,” (Northouse, p. 45).  In Air Force doctrine this is where as a Colonel and into the General Officer ranks you are in the strategic vision portion in the Air Force.  You now focus on little of the technical skill, less on the human skill, and way more on the organizational skill.  You become and expert in knowing how to employ all Air Force weapon systems to achieve the a common Air Force goal whatever it may be.

A leader also needs individual competencies as seen in the skills model on figure 3.2 in Northouse and relate to the institutional competencies of Air Force leadership doctrine.  We need these problem-solving skills, social judgement skills, and knowledge to put all those levels of leadership together.  As I finished up chapter three I see so much of what was taught in my leadership classes at the PME courses I attended.  While this research and theory was built off military members I believe that it still relates to the civilian world as well.  The three-skill approach I believe is part of stepping stone that will make a great leader, it just takes time.

References:

Northouse, P.G. (2016).  Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications