1. LMTP: Trait and Skills Approach
Julie Potter: February 2017

2. Ten Leadership Theories in 5 minutes
Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

3. Trait Approach
Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

4. Overview Great Person Theories Historical Shifts in Trait Perspective
What Traits Differentiate Leaders From Non- leaders?
How Does the Trait Approach Work?
Focused on innate qualities – really believing that people are born leaders!
Reconceptualised as a relationship between people in a social situation.
Personal factors were still viewed as important but the arguments were that the qualities were associated with the actual situation presented.
Visionary versus charismatic – Jung and Sosik (2006) traits self actualization – motivation, attain social power, impression management – ideas very current
Stogdill (1948 and 74) 1st study revealed 8 traits – intelligence, alertness, insight, responsibility, initiative, persistence, self-confidence, and socialability.
The traits have to fit the situation in which they are functioning.
The trait moved to behavior as researchers recognized leadership is not a passive process but involves a relationship with a group.
The 2nd study found that traits and situation were determinants to leadership.
Reported 1o characteristics p.21 – drive, vigor, risk taking, self confidence, readiness, ability and capacity to structure social interaction systems.
Man (1959) identified 6 traits – intelligence, masculinity, adjustment, dominance, extraversion and conservatism.
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

5. Great Person Theories Trait Approach: one of the first systematic
attempts to study leadership
“Great Man” Theories (early 1900s)
Focused on identifying innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great social, political, & military leaders
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

6. Historical Shifts in Trait Perspective
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

7. Major Leadership Traits
Traits to possess or cultivate if one seeks to be
perceived by others as a leader:
Intelligence – Verbal, perceptual, and reasoning capabilities.
Self-Confidence – Certainty about one’s competencies and skills.
Determination – Desire to get the job done (i.e., initiative, persistence, drive).
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

8. Major Leadership Traits
Traits to possess or cultivate if one seeks to be
perceived by others as a leader:
Integrity – The quality of honesty and trustworthiness.
Sociability – Leader’s inclination to seek out pleasant social relationships.
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

9. 5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership
Goldberg (1990)
Are you and introvert or an extrovert?
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

10. 5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership
Big Five & Leadership Study Using Meta-Analysis
(Judge et al., 2002)
Results – a strong relationship between personality traits and leadership
Extraversion – factor most strongly associated with leadership
Most important trait of effective leaders
Conscientiousness – second most related factor
Openness – next most related
Low Neuroticism
Agreeableness – only weakly related to leadership
Reported that 96% of leaders identify as extroverts.
So what does that mean for the introverts amongst us?
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

11. Who’s the Introvert?
Which if these individuals do you think identifies as an introvert?
Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

12. Emotional Intelligence & Leadership
Definition
Underlying Premise
Ability to perceive and:
apply emotions to life’s tasks
reason/understand emotions
express emotions
use emotions to facilitate thinking
manage emotions within oneself and relationships
people who are more sensitive to their emotions & their impact on others will be more effective leaders
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

13. Different Ways to Measure EI
MSCEIT: EI as a set of mental abilities
to perceive, facilitate, understand, and manage emotion
Goleman (1995, 1998): EI as a set of personal and social competencies
self-awareness, confidence, self-regulation, conscientiousness, and motivation
Shankman & Allen (2002): EI as awareness of three aspects of leadership
context, self, and others
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

14. How Does the Trait Approach Work?
Focus of Trait Approach
Strengths
Criticisms
Application
1) Focus exclusively on the leader
Not on the follower or
The situation
No hypothesis about what kind of leader is needed or what a leader should do.?
2) Intuitively appealing
Much research undertaken. To back it up.
Benchmarks – what to look for.
3) Studies ambiguous and uncertain at times.
Failed to take situation into account
Results in highly subjective determinants.
Does not look at traits in relationship to leadership outcomes.
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

15. Focus of Trait Approach
Leader
Personality Assessments
Focuses exclusively on leader
What traits leaders exhibit
Who has these traits
organisations use personality assessments to find “right” people
Assumption - will increase organisational effectiveness
Specify characteristics/traits for specific positions
Personality assessment measures for “fit”
Instruments: LTQ, Myers-Briggs
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

16. Strengths Intuitively appealing
Perception that leaders are different in that they possess special traits
People “need” to view leaders as gifted
Credibility due to a century of research support
Highlights leadership component in the leadership process
Deeper level understanding of how leader/personality is related to leadership process
Provides benchmarks for what to look for in a leader
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

17. Criticisms Fails to delimit a definitive list of leadership traits
Endless lists have emerged
Doesn’t take into account situational effects
Leaders in one situation may not be leaders in another situation
List of most important leadership traits is highly subjective
Much subjective experience & observations serve as basis for identified leadership traits
Research fails to look at traits in relationship to leadership outcomes
Not useful for training & development
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

18. Application
Leadership Traits
Intelligence
Self-Confidence
Determination
Integrity
Sociability
Provides direction as to which traits are good to have if one aspires to a
leadership position
Through various tests and questionnaires, individuals can determine whether they have the select leadership traits and can pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses
Can be used by managers to assess where they stand within their organisation and what is needed to strengthen their position
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

19. Skills Approach
Northouse - Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

20. Skills Approach Perspective Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
Overview
Skills Approach Perspective
Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
Skills-Based Model (Mumford et al., 2000)
How Does the Skills Approach Work?
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

21. Skills Approach Description
Perspective
Definition
Leader-centered perspective
Emphasis on skills and abilities that can be learned and developed
Leadership skills-The ability to use one’s knowledge and competencies to accomplish a set of goals and objectives
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

22. Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
Technical Skill
Human Skill
Conceptual Skill
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

23. Basic Administrative Skills – Katz (1955)
Leaders need all three skills— but relative importance changes based on level of management
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

24. Technical Skill
Having knowledge about and being proficient in a specific type of work or activity.
Specialized competencies
Analytical ability
Use of appropriate tools and techniques
Technical skills involve hands-on ability with a product or process
Most important at lower levels of management
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

25. Human Skill Having knowledge about and being able to work with people.
Being aware of one’s own perspective and others’ perspectives at the same time
Assisting group members in working cooperatively to achieve common goals
Creating an atmosphere of trust and empowerment of members
Important at all levels of the organisation
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

26. Conceptual Skill
the ability to do the mental work of shaping meaning of organisational policy or issues (what company stands for and where it’s going)
Works easily with abstraction and hypothetical notions
Central to creating and articulating a vision and strategic plan for an organisation
Most important at top management levels
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

27. Skills Model Perspective Competencies
Skills-Based Model
Skills Model Perspective
Competencies
Individual Attributes
Leadership Outcomes
Career Experiences
Environmental Influences
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

28. Skills-Based Model of Leadership
Skills Model Description (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, & Fleishman, 2000)
Skills-Based Model of Leadership
Perspective
Research studies (1990s) goal: to identify the leadership factors that create exemplary job performance in an organisation
Emphasizes the capabilities that make effective leadership possible rather than what leaders do
Capability model - Examines relationship between a leader’s knowledge & skills & the leader’s performance.
Suggests many people have the potential for leadership
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

29. Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

30. Competencies Skills Problem Solving Social Judgment Knowledge
Creative ability to solve new/unusual, ill-defined organisational problems
Capacity to understand people and social systems
- Perspective taking
- Social perceptiveness
- Behavioral flexibility
- Social performance
The accumulation of information & the mental structures to organize the information
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

31. Individual Attributes
General Cognitive
Ability
Crystallized
Cognitive Ability
Motivation
Personality
Person’s intelligence
Perceptual processing
Information processing
General reasoning
Creative & divergent thinking
Memory
Intellectual ability learned or acquired over time
Three aspects of motivation
Willingness
Dominance
-Social good
Any characteristic
that helps people
cope with complex
organisational
situations is
probably related to leader performance
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

32. Leadership Outcomes Problem Solving Performance
Criteria = originality & quality of solutions to problem situations – good problem solving involves creating solutions that are:
- Logical
- Effective
- Unique
- Go beyond given information
Degree to which a leader has successfully performed his/her assigned duties
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

33. Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

34. Career Experiences
Challenging
Assignments
Mentoring
Appropriate
Training
Hands-on
Experience with
Novelty
Experience gained during career influences leader’s knowledge & skills to solve complex problems
Leaders learn and develop higher levels of conceptual capacity if they progressively confront more complex and long-term problems as they ascend the organisational hierarchy
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

35. Environmental Influences
Factors in a leader’s situation that lie outside of his or her competencies, characteristics, and experiences
Internal environmental influences – Ex. Outdated technology, skill level of employees
External environmental influences – Ex. Economic, political, or social issues; natural disasters
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

36. How Does the Skills Approach Work?
Focus of Skills Approach
Strengths
Criticisms
Application
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

37. Principal Research Perspectives
Skills Approach
Principal Research Perspectives
Focus
Focus is primarily descriptive – it describes leadership from skills perspective
Provides structure for understanding the nature of effective leadership
Katz (1955) suggests importance of particular leadership skills varies depending where leaders reside in management hierarchy
Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, (2007) suggest higher levels of all skills needed at higher levels of hierarchy
Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding et al. (2000) suggest leadership outcomes are direct result of leader’s skilled competency in problem solving, social judgment, & knowledge
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

38. Strengths
First approach to conceptualize and create a structure of the process of leadership around skills
Describing leadership in terms of skills makes leadership available to everyone
Provides an expansive view of leadership that incorporates wide variety of components (i.e., problem-solving skills, social judgment skills)
Provides a structure consistent with leadership education programs
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

39. Criticisms
Breadth of the skills approach appears to extend beyond the boundaries of leadership, making it more general, less precise
Weak in predictive value; does not explain how skills lead to effective leadership performance
Skills model includes individual attributes that are trait-like
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.

40. Application
The Skills Approach provides a way to delineate the skills of a leader
It is applicable to leaders at all levels within the organisation
The skills inventory can provide insights into the individual’s leadership competencies
Test scores allow leaders to learn about areas in which they may wish to seek further training
Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. © 2016 SAGE Publications, Inc.