LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Skills Approach
Northouse Chapter 3
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Overview: Two
Versions of the Skills
Approach
Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
 Skills Model (Mumford et al., 2000)
Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
2
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Skills Approach Description (both models)
Perspective
 Leader-centered
perspective
 Emphasis on skills
that can be
learned and
developed
Definition
Leadership skills The ability to use
one’s knowledge
and competencies
to accomplish a set
of goals and
objectives
Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
3
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
3 Basic Administrative Skills – Katz (1955)
Leaders need
all three skills –
but, relative
importance
changes based
on level of
management
Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
4
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Skills Model
(Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, & Fleishman, 2000)
Goal
 To identify the factors that
maximize a leader’s
performance, especially in
problem solving.
 Emphasizes the capabilities
that make effective
leadership possible rather
than what leaders do.
A Capability Model
• Suggests many people
have the potential for
leadership.
Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
5
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
First 3 Components of the Skills Model
Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
6
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
All 5 Components of the Skills Model
Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
7
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Strengths
 Describing leadership in terms of skills makes
leadership available to everyone
 Emphasizes the role of experience and
environment
 Provides a structure consistent with the intuitive
appeal leadership education programs
Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
8
LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE SIXTH EDITION
Criticisms
 Breadth of the skills approach appears to extend
beyond the boundaries of leadership, making it
more general, less precise
 Skills model includes individual attributes that
are trait-like
Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
9