Introduction to Great Man Theory, Trait Theory & Three skill Approach Vs. Mumford et al skill Model

Introduction to Great Man Theory, Trait Theory & Three skill Approach Vs. Mumford et al skill Model

Great man theory holds the view of only men can be leaders where they posse’s leadership traits by born.

According to them leaders are born not made & leadership skills can’t be learned or developed. Great Man theory is the starting point where people understands that human traits can make great leaders.

Great Man theory was restricted to a specific community & there was no scientific way to explain it.

Once the Great Man theory faded, Trait theory has come up where people started to focus on traits rather than the sex. Trait theory claims that certain characteristics & personalities made individuals great leaders which focused only on few defined traits in this theory.

Later in 1974 Robert Katz introduced the Three Skills Approach which explains that a leader possesses certain skills that drives he or she to perform better in a leadership role.

Technical skills are the profession or the expertise which a person has in a specific area (Northouse, 2012).

Human skills are the ability to work as a team & engaging with people (Northouse, 2012).

Conceptual skills are the ability to work with ideas & concepts (Northouse, 2012).

Main advantage in skill approach is, it is encouraging the people who are willing to become leaders & do not possess traits for it. They can develop specific skills by finding relevant resources & by working hard.

Focusing on identifying specific skills on leadership rather than providing or explaining some influencing skills for leadership is one of the main disadvantages in the skill approach.

In 2000, Mumford et al has introduced a new model based on skills which a leader should have. They explain five main components which are,

1.     Individual Attributes

2.     Competencies

3.     Leadership Outcomes

4.     Career Experiences

5.     Environmental influences

Individual Attributes

This includes the skills of intelligence, Information processing, Creative thinking, memory skills as General cognitive abilities.

The knowledge gained through the experiences as Crystalized cognitive abilities.

Motivation & Personality.

Competencies

Social judgement skills & knowledge, Problem solving are some of the items under competency.

Leadership Outcomes

Effective problem solving & performance of the leader.

Career Experiences

In the course of the leader’s career, gained experiences are influencing their knowledge to solve complex problems where leaders can be helped by challenging job roles, training & mentoring & hands on experience to solve new & unusual problems (Northouse, 2007).

Environmental influences

This is a part of the skill model which is not under the control of the leader. Available technologies, subordinates’ competencies, communication quality, task complexity are identified as environmental influences.

References

Edusada, S. (2016) Pros & Cons of Trait Theory, WIX.com. Available at: https://shaunedusada.wixsite.com/thefirststep/single-post/2016/02/12/Pros-Cons-of-Trait-Theory.

Three Skills Approach (2019) Pennsylvania State University. Available at: https://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2013/01/29/three-skills-approach/.

Katz’s Three-Skill Approach (2013) TechnoFunc. Available at: http://www.technofunc.com/index.php/leadership-skills-2/leadership-theories/item/katz-s-three-skill-approach.

Virkus, S. (2009) Leadership Models, Tallinn University. Available at: https://www.tlu.ee/~sirvir/Leadership/Leadership%20Models/mumford_et_al_skills_model.html

Chpt 3 Skills[1] (2010). Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/guestfa49ec/chpt-3-skills1.

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Leadership Vs Management – Use in Different Context

Leadership Vs Management – Use in Different Context

The terms Leadership & Management are not similar concepts though it looks so. The use of Leadership & Management in different context will be discussed under this blog.

What is Leadership?

In simple terms, leadership is a skill to motivate & influence people to achieve a common goal.

According to Lynch (2009), Leadership is the art of process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically towards the achievement of the organizations purpose.

Leadership is concerned with setting directions, influencing people, implementing innovative ideas.

Great leaders create a vision & successfully get others to work towards it.

What is Management?

Management in simple terms explains about planning, organizing, leading and controlling the efforts of organization members while using all the resources to achieve the organizational goal.

Management is more concerned with routine & control.

Comparison of Leadership Vs Management

Basis	Manager	Leader
Origin	A person becomes a manager by virtue of his position.	A person becomes a leader on basis of his personal qualities.
Formal Rights	Manager has got formal rights in an organization because of his status.	Rights are not available to a leader.
Followers	The subordinates are the followers of managers.	The group of employees whom the leaders leads are his followers.
Functions	A manager performs all five functions of management.	Leader influences people to work willingly for group objectives.
Necessity	A manager is very essential to a concern.	A leader is required to create cordial relation between person working in and for organization.
Stability	It is more stable.	Leadership is temporary.
Mutual Relationship	All managers are leaders.	All leaders are not managers.
Accountability	Manager is accountable for self and subordinates behaviour and performance.	Leaders have no well defined accountability.
Concern	A manager’s concern is organizational goals.	A leader’s concern is group goals and member’s satisfaction.
Followers	People follow manager by virtue of job description.	People follow them on voluntary basis.
Role continuation	A manager can continue in office till he performs his duties satisfactorily in congruence with organizational goals.	A leader can maintain his position only through day to day wishes of followers.
Sanctions	Manager has command over allocation and distribution of sanctions.	A leader has command over different sanctions and related task records. These sanctions are essentially of informal nature.

Use of Leadership & Management

Leaders & Managers are quite different roles when it comes to functionality of a business. Without a good leadership, companies will go through a hard time in terms of competitive advantages since there are no new ideas or change will happen. If the company continue with the same old strategy without coming up with new ideas, success of the organization will be decreased.

At the same time, without a good management an organization can face many financial & human resource problems which will direct the business to a disaster in a very short period of time.

Therefore, it is necessary to have both leaders & managers in an organization to drive it in the path of success. Also, there are possibilities to have only one person who can carry the role of a leader & a manager by him/herself. It is proven that most of the organizations are benefited by having only one person who can work with both capacities.

References

Lynch, R. (2009) Strategic Management. 5th edn. FT Pentice Hall.

Juneja, P. (no date) Leader versus Manager. Available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/leader_versus_manager.htm.

Why you need both leaders and managers (2019) Spectrum Business. Available at: https://spectrumbusinessinsights.com/management/why-you-need-both-leaders-and-managers-in-your-business/.

Kukreja, S. (2019) Functions of Management, Management Study HQ. Available at: https://www.managementstudyhq.com/functions-of-management.html.

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