The Northouse (2018) chapter about the “Skills Approach” of leadership begins to summarize the model of exploring leadership practice through skills that can be developed in a person. When explaining how the skills approach works, the section leads with the following:
“The skills approach is primarily descriptive: It describes leadership from a skills perspective. Rather than providing prescriptions for success in leadership, the skills approach provides a structure for understanding the nature of effective leadership.”
And the section ends with:
“The skills approach works by providing a map for how to reach effective leadership in an organization: Leaders need to have problem-solving skill, social judgment skills, and knowledge. Workers can improve their capabilities in these areas through training and experience. Although each leader’s personal attributes affect his or her skills, it is the leader’s skills themselves that are most important in addressing organizational problems.”
And to all of this I say, “Yes, that is obvious. What are we questioning again?”
We regularly see unlikely leaders (Hunter, 2021) develop into success stories. We hear about unexpected persons who “rise to the occasion” (McCallum, 2020). And the impacts of unlikely leaders, like Stacey Abrams, can be felt the world over (Williams, 2019). Unlikely leaders are developing into their role of influencers—as guides for their followers—through the real-world tests they accept and face head-on. The development of unlikely leaders can be trial by fire—learning in the midst of leading—or it could be the product of a methodical and carefully-considered life path of personal development. But when it comes to the skills approach of leadership, one thing is certain about unlikely leaders becoming leaders is that process of “becoming”. They weren’t leaders before, and after developing their skills, they were seen as leaders afterward.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that unlikely leaders developed their leadership abilities in a manner that was customized and specific to them. They earned the ability to lead from their core group or key allies, and they learned as a result of their own experience, through a series of exercises to understand what is effective and what is not. And while there may have been plenty of bystanding people offering tips and advice to these leaders about how to lead or respond in a leader-like manner, I imagine that these unlikely leaders are those who spend much time ruminating, replaying, and imagining what went wrong and how they could improve next time. Although they didn’t develop leadership skills from leadership skill-building training courses, their authentic leadership experiences helped them develop a map for how to organize and understand leadership information they take-in.
Hunter, C. (2021, February 5). Unlikely Leaders. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unlikely-leaders-colin-hunter/
McCallum, T. (2020, March 24). Crisis Leaders Rise to the Occasion. Medium. https://tommccallum.medium.com/crisis-leaders-rise-to-the-occasion-c9c16a0ca02
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice (8th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Williams, V. (2019, February 3). Stacey Abrams lost the Georgia governor’s race. But her star is rising. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/stacey-abrams-lost-the-georgia-governors-raise-but-her-star-is-rising/2019/02/02/1c3f4b74-2737-11e9-ad53-824486280311_story.html