1.a) According to me, the skills approach is the most relevant.
1.b) The skills approach was first proposed by Robert Katz and focusses on the abilities and the skills required to be an effective leader. These skills have been broadly categorized as technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills (Northouse, 2013).
Technical skills refer to the technical knowledge that one must possess. It is the specialized skillset in a technical area. It also includes the ability to perform specific functions and use specific tools to produce an outcome (Virkus, 2009).
Human skills refer to the way to deal with different people. It involves people skills and how to make the best use of human capital to produce the maximum output. It also involves aligning the interests and goals of all those involved in a task, so as to maximise the output in the most efficient manner.
Conceptual skills refer to working with ideas and concepts and designing the broad strategy to achieve the overall objective. It involves looking at the broad picture and delegating sub-goals to others. Monitoring and motivating also form an important role in this skill set.
According to the skills approach, the skills required vary according a leader’s position in the organizational hierarchy. At the junior or low management level, technical skills are the most required, followed by human skills and finally the conceptual skills. At the middle management level, all the three skills are required in almost a similar level, while at the senior management level, the conceptual skills are required the most (Technofunc).
Also, Mumford presented a skills model in last 20th century, of which the three components are individual attributes, competencies and leadership outcomes. This model is generally taken as complementary to the Katz skills types (May).
1.c) The skills approach outlines the abilities and knowledge that a leader must possess to be effective. This, according to me, is the most practical of the three approaches in terms of actual application in today’s world. It shows what a person can do to become an effective leader (Sutevski).
2.a) A real life example of this approach that I have personally observed is of my uncle, who started off with working in a production unit as a head technician, got promoted to line manager and is currently the production supervisor.
As head technician, he focussed on applying his technical knowledge in the most useful manner while at the same time, sharing the knowledge with others and teaching them different things.
After getting promoted to line manager, his technical responsibilities became less and he was more involved in managing a number of workers and making sure they achieve their targets. He was also involved in motivating them while at the same time, assisting the supervisors in implementing any new ideas or production plans.
And currently while being the production supervisor, his role is to set targets for line managers and implementing new ideas and strategies provided by the top management of his company.
2.b) The theory helped me understand the behaviour displayed by my uncle. I could relate the various aspects of this theory with the behaviours displayed by him in different roles and the kind of trainings he undertook while at being different levels (Burkus, 2010).
Also, while interacting with him, I got to know about the efforts he made to develop these different skills to be more effective and earn the respect of other workers. So overall, the skills approach helped me understand the role that my uncle played in a better manner.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Virkus, S. (2009). Skills Approach: Robert Katz. Tallinn University. Retrieved from http://www.tlu.ee/~sirvir/IKM/Leadership%20Models/skills_approach_robert_katz.html.
TechnoFunc. Practical Application of Skills Approach to Leadership. TechnoFunc. Retrieved from http://www.technofunc.com/index.php/leadership-skills-2/leadership-theories/item/practical-application-of-skills-approach-to-leadership.
May, K. Skills-Based Leadership Theory. Chron. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/skillsbased-leadership-theory-31074.html.
Sutevski, D. Managerial Skills – 3 Types of Skills Each Manager Will Need. Entrepreneurship in a Box. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneurshipinabox.com/202/managerial-skills/.
Burkus, D. (2010). Skills Theory. David Burkus. Retrieved from http://davidburkus.com/2010/02/skills-theory/.
