Running Head: COMPETENCE AND LEADERSHIP
Competence and Successful Leadership
Paula Grundy
Siena Heights University
Organizations must promptly identify leadership competencies within their ranks
in order to realize the highest level of leadership potential possible (Morden, 1997).
Competent leaders in organizations need to have effective management, need to adapt
quickly to changes, and need know how to successfully implement system strategies. In
order for a leader to effectively address the challenges that hinder an organization’s
progress, they need to develop techniques and arm themselves with skills which will
allow them take advantage of opportunities that present themselves along the path to the
organization’s goals. The competence of a leader should parallel the knowledge, specific
skills, traits, and attributes required to address the organization’s specific challenges.
There are many opinions on how leadership is developed. According to Morden,
leadership just happens. He suggests that when there is an objective to be achieved or a
task to be carried out, most often more than one person is by default needed to do it. All
managers are by definition leaders in that they can only accomplish what must be done
with the support of their team, who the mangers must inspire or persuade to follow them
(Morden, 1997). Once a goal is identified and a task to achieve it is delineated, it does not
matter which individual completes the task. So what makes a leader’s contribution
toward completing the task different from any other individual?
Dubrin states that characteristics associated with leadership can be classified into
three broad categories: personality traits, motives, and cognitive factors (Dubrin, 2010).
Running Head: COMPETENCE AND LEADERSHIP
These personality traits include self-confidence, trustworthiness, authenticity,
extraversion, assertiveness, enthusiasm, optimism, and a sense of humor (Dubrin, 2010).
Earlier studies assessed successful leadership by focus on the personal traits and qualities
of leaders such as intelligence, socio-economic class background, and self-assurance
others (Morden, 1997). But a more recent study identified such features as personal
persistence, and the capacity to challenge and motivate others as essential traits of
leadership (Morden, 2012). Once a manager’s personality characteristics and traits are
identified the organization can analyze what type of leader an individual has become and
what is their style of leadership. For instance, charismatic and transformational leaders
communicate their visions, goals, and directives in a colorful, imaginative and expressive
manner. They communicate effectively and they inspire. They also bring about change
and create vision (Dubrin, 2010).
Another component of leadership competence is the ability to address crucial
tasks and activities with a sufficient knowledge base for making necessary leadership
decisions. Rausch, Sherman, & Washbush (2001) state that leaders must have a
foundation for the strategies they implement in order to reach their goals in a rapidly
changing world, and the two major components of the best foundations were strategy
formulation and implementation. Of the two, strategy implementation is far more difficult
because it is a more time-consuming management challenge than crafting or formulating
strategy. The challenges to effective strategy implementation are diverse: there is a wide
array of managerial activities that require constant monitoring; managers must constantly
choose from the many ways in which to proceed in problem solving; the demands on a
manger’s time from exercising people management skills in a any given situation; the
Running Head: COMPETENCE AND LEADERSHIP
perseverance necessary to get a variety of initiatives launched and moving; any number
of unexpected and bedeviling issues that must be worked out; and the resistance to
change that a manager overcome at all levels to meet the organization’s goals (Rausch et
al 2001).
Most research concurs that an effective leader must have a proper knowledge
base—including specific cognitive factors—in order to enhance their other leadership
qualities. Dubrin believes that one must possess analytical intelligence and a knowledge
of business or the group task (Dubrin, 2010). Morton agrees but also states that leaders
should use self-knowledge to perform an effective self-assessment, in addition to being
capable of helping their colleagues focus clearly on their own objectives and
responsibilities. In the end, much discussion focuses on whether a leader is made or
merely developed. But no matter which perspective appears strongest, it is certain that all
leaders have the potential to develop and improve their leadership competencies given the
tools of self-assessments and the opportunity to enhance their existing leadership
qualities.
Running Head: COMPETENCE AND LEADERSHIP
References
Dubrin, A.J. (2010). Leadership Research Findings, Practice, and Skills. Mason, OH:
South-Western/Cengage
Morden, T. (1997). Leadership as competence. Management Decision, 35(7), 519 – 526.
doi: 10.1108/00251749710170484
Rausch, E., Halfhill, S.M., Sherman, H., Washbush, J.B., (2001). Practical leadership-inmanagement education for effective strategies in a rapidly changing world.
Journal of Management Development, 20(3), 245 – 258. doi:
10.1108/02621710110386381