Three-Skills Approach

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Source: Financial Express

Skills Approach

Leadership qualities are widely discussed and researched in the business world and leaders influence people but what are the qualities of a leader which really influence the mass? Academics have come up with several theories to answer this question. 

Out of the theories Katz's three skills approach is a prominent theory. While Trait theory was arguing that leadership is to do with the individual's quality and character but David Katz argued that leadership skills are developable. Katz  suggested leadership should consist of three categories and this was named as Katz's Three-Skills Approach.

Three-Skills Approach.

According to Katz(1974), Three-Skills Approach shows that  effective leadership can be achieved by developing three main skills, which are Technical skills, Human skills and Conceptual skills.

" It is assumed here that an administrator is one who (a) directs the activities of other persons and (b) undertakes the responsibility for achieving certain objectives through these efforts. Within this definition, successful administration appears to rest on three basic skills, which we will call technical, human, and conceptual. It would be unrealistic to assert that these skills are not interrelated, yet there may be real merit in examining each one separately, and in developing them independently" (Katz, 1974)

Technical skills.

Technical skill is about having or possessing the knowledge and ability in a particular type of work or an activity. This is about capability, expertise, and having the knowledge about how to use certain tools and techniques (Northouse & Guy, 2016).

Having the right technical skill will help the leader to perform the job role effectively and monitor the workers. Most of the labours or subordinates will look up to the leader when they are stuck or confused and guiding them rightly will make them to follow the leader automatically.  

Human Skills

Human skills are about having the right knowledge and attitude how to deal with people. This is a very important skill which every leader must master. This is very useful in all situation may as a leader or as a group member.

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The person with highly developed human skill is aware of his own attitudes, assumptions, and beliefs about other individuals and groups; he is able to see the usefulness and limitations of these feelings. By accepting the existence of viewpoints, perceptions, and beliefs which are different from his own, he is skilled in understanding what others really mean by their words and behaviour. He is equally skilful in communicating to others, in their own contexts, what he means by his behaviour" (Katz, 1974).

Conceptual skill

Conceptual skills are having the capacity to work with ideas. This is very important to the higher management. This is where a leader comes up with new ideas and concepts and being able to convey it to the lower level or the followers.

"Conceptual skills are central to creating a vision and strategic plan for an organization" (Northouse & Guy, 2016)

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Source: psu.edu

According to Northouse and Guy (2016), Three-Skills approach has its own strengths and weaknesses. By analysing the strengths and weaknesses  we will be able to get a clear picture of this approach.

Strengths

It points out the important areas of a leadership

will help to analyse where the leader is lacking

will be able to focus and train in the specific area

Can be applied to everyone

Anyone can lean and develop

Weaknesses

It is not specific

It is hard to focus on one specific skill when training a leader

Beyond the boundaries of leadership

It is trait alike approach where it speaks of the human skills

There are no specific training packages to train a leader.

Leadership environment is not mentioned

In conclusion Three-Skills Approach is basically about having the Technical, Human and Conceptual skills to be an effective leader. Depending on the place of managerial hierarchy and the company structure the skill level will differ. However, all 3 skills are important for a successful leader (Northouse & Guy, 2016).

References

Katz, R.L., 1974. Skills of an Effective Administrator. Harvard Business Review, (September).

Northouse & Guy, P., 2016. Leadership Theory and Practice. In Northouse, P.G. Leadership Theory and Practice. 7th ed. Los Angeles: Sage.

Image1:

https://www.financialexpress.com/jobs/why-skills-education-has-to-be-part-of-school-curriculum/159719/

Image2:

https://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2013/01/29/three-skills-approach/

Leadership

Why Study Management and Leadership?

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The Question above is one of the most discussed topics in the business world, in fact not only in the business world it is discussed widely in many areas all over the world. People expect good leadership from our politicians and management from business people. But both of the qualities are required by the politicians as well as business people to succeed in their respective environments.

"Leadership is different from management, but not for the reasons most people think. Leadership isn’t mystical and mysterious. It has nothing to do with having “charisma” or other exotic personality traits. It is not the province of a chosen few. Nor is leadership necessarily better than management or a replacement for it. Rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment." (Kotter, 1990)

As John P. Kotter mentions above Leadership and Management has its own distinctive characteristics and it works well when it is used together in a balanced manner.

Leadership

Leadership is all about bringing change in any environment. Most of the time the change might not be interesting to others but the leader sees it through. A successful leader will communicate his or her idea across the people and motivates them to achieve the desired goal.

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"They don’t make plans; they don’t solve problems; they don’t even organize people. What leaders really do is prepare organizations for change and help them cope as they struggle through it." (Kotter, 1990)

"My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better." (Jobs, 2008)

Leaders are visionaries who are innovative, They lead with passion and make all the followers passionate in achieving the goal.

Management

Management is all about achieving the desired goal by controlling. Good managers ensure that the company goals are met by planning, budgeting, organising, and controlling.

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"Good management brings a degree of order and consistency to key dimensions like the quality and profitability of products." (Kotter, 1990)

Conclusion

The relationship between Leadership and management is very significant. Both rely on each other. Just having a vision will not suffice to achieve the vision and just having good management skills will not take the business anywhere. Need to possess both skills and qualities to succeed in this competitive world.

From a personal perspective, Managers are recognised quickly as it is easy to monitor and measure but on the other hand, Leadership is not an easy thing to identify and measure. Unless an opportunity is given it is difficult to identify good leaders. Most of the organisation run within a parameter, these barriers or controls overshadows the potentials of a good emerging leader as they are bound by routine work and the system.

Not everyone can be good at both leading and managing. Some people have the capacity to become excellent managers but not strong leaders. Others have great leadership potential but, for a variety of reasons, have great difficulty becoming strong managers. Smart companies value both kinds of people and work hard to make them a part of the team. (Kotter, 1990)

Managers promote stability while leaders press for change and only organizations that embrace both sides of that contradiction can thrive in turbulent times. (Kotter, 1990)

Organisations need to strive to have a good balance between Leadership and Management. Without these two elements, organisations will tend to fail. It is vital to keep both aspects in a well-balanced way to achieve the highest result.












References
John P. Kotter, 1990. What Leaders Really Do. BEST OF HBR
https://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/04/tech/innovation/steve-jobs-quotes/index.html

Image sources:
Figure 1: Peoplematters.in
Figure 2: inc.com
Figure 3: Shutterstock