Leadership Technical, Interpersonal, and Conceptual Skills Interpersonal

Leadership

Technical, interpersonal, and conceptual skills

Interpersonal skills entail knowing how to interact with others. No employee desires to have a boss who is inconsiderate or rude or one who has poor human skills. All these could reduce productivity and employee morale. Managers with effective human skills tend to have subordinates who have positive attitudes and strong desires to increase productivity. Managers are always expected in any organization to have harmonious relationships with those below them like supervisors, peers, and subordinates (Yukl, 2012).

Conceptual skills refer to an individual's aptitude to formulate ideas. These skills include formulating abstractions, thinking creatively, understanding issues, solving problems, and analyzing complex situations. Within the business context, these skills are viewed as integral prerequisites for top executive positions. Conceptual skills differ from technical skills and interpersonal skills. The three types of skills assume vital roles for certain purposes and in certain situations. However, conceptual skills hoist the widest application as they could pertain to virtually anything.

Yukl (2012) shows that people with strong conceptual skills have superb cognitive abilities to solve problems and think creatively. In the business world, a person with these skills could come up with a business idea or an idea for a new product. The person will be able to examine complex issues and formulate specific and effective courses of action. Such people have the ability to examine how ideas are interconnected. Individuals with strong conceptual skills are typically perceived to be effective managers or leaders (Phillips, 1993). Presumably, their ability to understand the company as a whole and design creative strategies is critical in such a case. Top executive managers require technical skills, interpersonal skills, and conceptual skills.

Technical skills entail knowing about physical processes and other things. For instance, if a waste management process requires three steps, people with high technical skills will know how to implement each of the three steps. Often, people acquire technical skills from technical colleges or on-job training. Supervisors heading departments are managers with strong technical skills (Phillips, 1993). This may be achieved through learning: "Lincoln essentially treated his subordinates as equals; they were colleagues in a joint effort. . . . The best leaders never stop learning. They possess a special capacity to be taught by those with whom they come into contact" (138).

Path-goal theory and multiple-linkage theory

According to Yukl (2012), a leader may exhibit any or all of the leadership types in line with the Path-goal theory. The best leadership type depends on the detailed situation and the individual follower. Path-goal theory hypothesizes that when followers are under-experienced to handle complex tasks, the best course of action is to adopt a directive leadership. When tasks are boring, stressful, dangerous, and tedious, this theory argues that the most effective leadership style will be supportive leadership (Yukl, 2012). It is believed to increase follower satisfaction and effort by enhancing self-confidence, minimizing unpleasant aspects of work and lowering anxiety levels. It is suggested that participative leadership will increase follower efforts in the face of unstructured tasks by increasing follower autonomy and role clarity.

The Path-goal theory is similar to the multiple-linkage theory because both theories insist that the work of leaders is to increase the attractiveness of goals to the followers. However, Path-goal theory emphasizes the importance of situations in determining the appropriate course of leader action and does not entirely rely on the use of contingent rewards. Path-goal theory paves way for a long time dedication to goals and intrinsic motivation by followers (Phillips, 1993). In addition, the theory stresses that the work of leaders is to eliminate barriers that could occur en route to achieving goals while simultaneously encouraging followers to overcome these roadblocks on their own. On the other hand, the multiple-linkage has failed to address these issues.

The multiple-linkage theory builds on earlier theories of leadership and group effectiveness. This theory suggests that the overall consequence of certain leader behaviors on the performance of a group is complex and consists of four sets of variables (Yukl, 2012). These variables include criterion variables, managerial behaviors, situational variables, and intervening variables. Some of these variables tend to be highly influential in determining the effectiveness of a leader. Another set of variables moderating the impact of leaders on group performance involves situational characteristics. Two situational factors influence the efforts of followers like intrinsically work-motivated properties and formal reward systems (Phillips, 1993). In the multiple-linkage theory, intervening factors could be directly affected by situational characteristics. On the other hand, situational variables could directly affect intervening variables.

The Difference between position power and personal power

The two common sources of power come from position power and personal power. Although they share a few things, they also have some differences. While position power stems from top management, personal power stems from followers based on the behavior of the leader (Phillips, 1993). Looking at the power position, an individual holding a management position has more power to exert influence than a worker who is not a manager. On the other hand, in personal power, followers tend to have power over the leaders. In fact, followers must consent to the governing influence of managers of the company to be successful. For instance, unions are a result of followers dissatisfied with the behavior of management and the desire for power balance (Yukl, 2012). Despite the differences, both sources of power are viewed in a positive sense. Without position and personal power, managers might not achieve organizational objectives. Both of them go hand in hand with leadership. Employees use personal power to get the job done while managers utilize position power to succeed. Within the business world, position power and personal power are viewed as integral prerequisites for the effectiveness of an organization.

Elements of emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability for a person to recognize and manage his/her emotions, as well as other people's emotions. The following diagram is a summary of the four fundamental elements of emotional intelligence:

Figure 1: Elements of Emotional Intelligence

Self-awareness -- this refers to how aware a person is and how accurately a person can assess his/her emotions. Most people are often busy that they rarely take time to think about how they are responding to situations and how they come across. It is challenging people to see how other people are responding to them because most people tend to see what they want to see. As such, they tend to avoid uncomfortable actions of seeking feedback from others. Phillips (1993) shows that Lincoln "advised others to 'never add the weight of your character to a charge against a person without knowing it to be true'" (54).