Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-1 Chapter 2 Managerial Traits and Skills

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-2 Learning Objectives Understand how conceptions about the importance of traits have changed over the past 70 years Understand the different types of traits that have been used in leadership research Understand the types of research methods that have been used to study leadership traits and skills Understand what traits and skills are most relevant for effective leadership

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-3 Learning Objectives (Cont.) Understand how traits and skills are related to leadership behavior Understand how the relevance of a trait or skill depends on the situation, type of organization, and national culture Understand the traits and skills that cause some people to derail in their managerial careers Understand the limitations of the trait approach

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-4 Nature of Traits and Skills Trait – Variety of individual attributes, including aspects of personality, temperament, needs, motives, and values Need (motive) – Desire for particular types of stimuli or experiences Values – Internalized attitudes about what is right and wrong, ethical and unethical, moral and immoral Skill – The ability to do something in an effective manner

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-5 Three-Factor Taxonomy of Skills Table: Three-Factor Taxonomy of Broadly Defined Skills

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-6 Research on Leader Traits and Skills Stogdill’s Review of the Research (1948 & 1974) Table: Findings in Early Research on Leader Traits and Skills

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-7 McCelland’s Managerial Motivation Measured with the Thematic Apperceptions Test (TAT) Need Basis Need for power Socialized power orientation Personalized power orientation Need for achievement Need for affiliation Optimal Pattern for Large Organizations Strong socialized power orientation Moderate need for achievement Low need for affiliation

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-8 Miner’s Managerial Motivation Measured with a Sentence Completion Scale Correlates with Advancement Desire to exercise power Desire to compete with peers Positive attitude toward authority figures

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-9 Critical Incident Research on Competencies Measured with Behavior Event Interview Traits of Effective Managers Strong efficiency orientation Strong socialized power orientation High self-confidence Strong belief in self-efficacy Internal locus of control

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-10 Critical Incident Research on Competencies (Cont.) Interpersonal Skills of Effective Managers Strong oral presentation skills Strong interpersonal skills Ability to manage group processes Ability to build member identification and team spirit Conceptual Skills of Effective Managers Inductive reasoning Deductive reasoning

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-11 Longitudinal Research with Assessment Centers Utilize Multiple Methods to Assess Traits & Skills Advancement Predictors after 8 years (AT&T Study) Desire for advancement Dominance Interpersonal skills Cognitive skills Administrative skills Advancement Predictors after 20 years Achievement orientation Self-confidence Energy level Low need for security

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-12 CCL Research on Managers Who Derail Advancing Managers versus Managers who were Dismissed, Transferred, Retired Early, or Plateaued Traits, Skills & Competencies of Successful Managers: Emotional stability Lack of defensiveness Integrity Interpersonal skills Technical and cognitive skills

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-13 Managerial Traits Effectiveness Table: Specific Traits Related to Leadership Effectiveness

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-14 Big Five Personality Traits Table: Correspondence of the Big Five Traits with Specific Traits

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-15 Managerial Skills and Effectiveness Technical Skills – Include knowledge about methods, processes, and equipment for conducting the specialized activities of the manager’s organizational unit Conceptual Skills – Involve good judgment, foresight, intuition, creativity, and the ability to find meaning and order in ambiguous, uncertain event Interpersonal Skills – Include knowledge about human behavior and group processes, ability to understand the feelings, attitudes, and motives of others, and ability to communicate clearly and persuasively

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-16 Other Relevant Competencies Emotional Intelligence Social Intelligence Systems Thinking Ability to Learn

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-17 Situational Relevance of Skills Figure: Relative Importance of Skills for Different Levels of Management

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-18 Situational Relevance of Skills (Cont.) Transferability of Skills Across Organizations Difficult to transfer lower-level managerial skills Disagreement about transferability of upper-level managerial skills Requisite Skills and the External Environment Mix of skills changes over time Impacted by: Globalization Technological development Social change

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-19 Application for Managers Guidelines for Understanding and Improving Relevant Competencies Maintain self-awareness Develop relevant skills Remember that a strength can become a weakness Compensate for weaknesses

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 2-20 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.