The evolution of leadership has come a long way in recent years, and although it is easily understood in many aspects, it is also one of themes dynamic and complex topics. Looking at the surface level of leadership, it is easy to pinpoint what it would take for a person to be successful at the role, but as we dig deeper into the ins and outs of leadership, topics branch off, and things become more complex and this week, we are able to dive into the Skills approach of leadership.
Abilities and knowledge seem to be the highlighted topics in this section. Taking these two traits and breaking them down further gives us more insight into what has been researched and etched out in the past decades, and at the same time has given us a base to build off of when exploring the skills approach with leadership. The book does a great job at explaining the skills approach on page 57 by saying “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” (Northouse 2016, p. 57). With that said, looking at this approach is similar to looking at a map and what the correct directions are and what we need to do in order to successfully get to where we want to go. The skills approach is the same idea, but the directions look more like abilities and knowledge of leaders in order to be successful in their jobs, and even in life.
Sifting through the pages in this chapter, you will find many skills highlighted and all of those are very important, however, from the different studies completed, the top two I believe are essential to a good leader would be career attributes and experiences. This goes hand in hand with the knowledge and abilities being much needed from successful leaders. These two traits highlight not only the importance of all experiences a leader has been through(whether they succeeded or failed), but also attributes which covers a broad range of abilities when looking at skills.
According to Northouse, “Problem solving is the keystone in the skills approach” (Northouse 2016, p. 53). With that information, we are able to look into companies big or small, and investigate not only how much training they put into leaders in order to help them better their problem solving skills to become better leaders, but also at what point in the leaders career is this type of training introduced? When do companies typically invest in their employees in order to allow them to advance in this aspect of their job in order to become more successful and productive? Diving deeper into when companies actually do decide to invest in their employees in the skills department, I found some interesting statements and information while reading an article written about Human Resource Management Review. This article stated that “Organizational leaders must frequently decide whether to “make or buy” human capital (Barney, 1991) when evaluating whether to recruit external candidates who already possess the requisite skills or to provide internal training for skills that employees lack (Cappelli, 2008)”. Diving deeper into this issue would yield some very interesting numbers and statistics. Renting or Buying is not a term that I have ever thought about combining with leadership positions, but it is accurate in many ways.
This Skills Approach to leadership has many facets and ideals, many people have tried to define and highlight their versions of which traits are most needed, but I do believe that should be fluid and flexible depending on the role of the leader. When looking to hire internally versus externally, it is interesting to see how companies decide and evaluate the pros and cons to investing in current employees in their skill sets, or try to hire from the outside and try to bring new skills and information in to build their diversity in terms of leaders and their skills. This topic seemed very flexible when I began researching, but it seems as though it mostly can be narrowed down to several broad skills- problem solving, abilities and knowledge.
References
- Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99–120.
- Cappelli, P. (2008). Talent management for the twenty-first century. Harvard Business Review, 86(3), 74.
- Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
mrb5628 says
I enjoyed reading your blog entry. Due to recent events unfolding within my organization, the part about skills playing a major role in whether an organization will hire externally or internally caught my eye. So far 2020 has been an interesting year for my organization. They have publicly stated to employees that the organization will begin to invest in teaching necessary skills to existing employees and always look to hire from within rather before looking externally. To help with this effort, the company built something called a ‘Career Profile’ that each employee is in charge of. Initially, we started with basic assessments where we went through roughly 30-40 skills and ranked ourselves on a scale of 1-10. Based on our ranking of each one, the new system provides recommendations of internal classes we have access to. Upon successful completion, our skill level increases.
Each position within the company, including leadership roles, has a series of skill requirements. So, for example, a senior vice-president position for operations management may require a high ranking (9/10) for budgeting/finance while a front-line position (e.g. bank teller) may require a much lower ranking (2/10) for the same skill. Doing this provides a certain amount of transparency around where an employee is currently, and what skills they need to develop to be eligible for the role they are considering. Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, and Fleishman (cited in Northouse, 2016) state knowledge is one of the three core competencies and that it enables a leader to define and resolve organizational problems. The Northouse (2016) reading also goes on to mention details around a mental structure known as a schema which is the “…summary, a diagrammatic representation, or an outline” and how multiple schemata make up an individual’s knowledge. Similar to schemas, while not in a mental state, my organization is helping employees understand the relationships between the different skills and why they’re required for the position.
When considering whether to hire from within or externally, an organization should consider both career experiences and environmental influences. Career experiences help bridge the gap between individual attributes and competencies and help improve leadership skills over time. A good example of this is anytime you were introduced to a new system. Out of the gate, a typical new user would not be in a position to coach others on how to use it. However, a seasoned user who has used it enough to fully understand its function, would be in a much better position of how that system would work. I personally like to look at this as my comfort zone. Every new experience (especially the ones that cause anxiety), seem to have expanded my comfort zone further. When I first became a manager, I was always nervous when reviewing an employee’s performance with them. It seemed like everyone handled the situation differently and I didn’t know what to expect. Once I got used to performing reviewing, I gradually increased my knowledge and began turning the reviews into coaching sessions as a result of my career experiences.
Environmental influences also play a valuable role since they bridge individual attributes, competencies, and leadership outcomes. The example provided in our commentary (PSU, WC, L.4, 2020) outlines how a promotion can be enabled by an economic upswing. The upswing caused growth and the need for additional employees/leadership. Another example around centered around a system environment could when you are placed into a new position, learn the systems, and work through different problems. Next, you change positions and encounter similar problems with a different system. You should (in theory) be in a better position from having dealt with similar internal environmental influences in the past. Since environmental influences are not usually controlled by the leader, the direction a leader usually takes when encountering them can be heavily influenced by previous career experiences.
In summary, I provided an example of how my organization is using the skills approach to develop internal talent. This creates a larger talent pool to select from for open positions and will be used as the preferred option when hiring. What my organization is doing is also aligned with Matthew Bidwell’s (research around the effects of hiring internal candidates. This research concludes that internal hires will perform better within the first two years and have less turnover (voluntary and involuntary) than external hires. I also provided support around why environmental influence and career experiences play such a large role in the skills approach.
References:
Bidwell, M. (2011). Paying more to get less: The effects of external hiring versus internal mobility. Administrative Science Quarterly, 56(3), 369-407. Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1108&context=mgmt_papers
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th Edition. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2016). PSYCH 281 Lesson 4: Skills Approach. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2040131/modules/items/28001699