1. Respond to below colleague with substantive critical analysis of their work.

Mitchell Lucas

WednesdaySep 27 at 11:37am

Manage Discussion Entry

The Skills Theory of Leadership lays the groundwork of what effective leadership looks like using a particular set of skills. It is important for leaders to be equipped with certain sets of skills to be able to lead effectively.

There are three different strengths to the skills theory. One of the strengths is the fact that skills can be learned and taught so anyone can be an effective leader (Kumar et, al. 2014). Personality traits can not be learned like skills which makes having a certain set of skills better than having a certain personality. Our textbook describes Skills Theory of Leadership as a "Leader-centered model that stresses the importance of developing particular leadership skills" (Northouse, 2022, p. 71). Lastly, the skills defined in Skills Theory of Leadership like problem solving and conflict resolution are often taught in schools today because they are skills that make people competent and prepared for leadership.

There are some weaknesses to the Skills Theory of Leadership as well. One weakness is that the needed skills to be an effective leader are somewhat broad and they do not include very many variables (Northouse, 2022, p. 71). Second, just because someone has most or all of these skills does not mean that they will be an effective leader. It is important to have these skills but it also requires a little bit of personality as well to be an effective leader. Lastly, this model was created using research within the military so it makes it hard for this information to be relative to other organizations or groups because they do not operate in the same way as the military.

Another circumstance where the Skills Theory of Leadership might be beneficial is when grading certain leaders. This framework can be used as an evaluation tool as well instead of just a training tool. There needs to be more than just this theory for evaluating but it lists some important skills that make an effective leader. Leaders could be "graded" based on this model.

References

Kumar, S., Adhish, V. S., & Deoki, N. (2014). Making sense of theories of leadership for capacity building.Indian journal of community medicine : official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine,39(2), 82-86. https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-0218.132721

Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice. SAGE.