I saw this yesterday and thought it made a lot of sense --
Leaders must become comfortable portraying themselves as competent by virtue of their ability to learn and adapt rather than on the basis of their current knowledge and skills. The new environment requires a level of humility and curiosity that is simply alien within most traditional conceptions of leadership.
Happy holidays. I will be back in the new year to cover leadership competencies in more detail.
I continue to be with people who ask the definition of competency. It is important to get this firmly in mind before getting deeper into the specific competencies that are critical to exceptional leadership.
Here is a definition from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) that I like -
"Leadership competencies are leadership skills and behaviors that contribute to superior performance.
By using a competency-based approach to leadership, organizations can better identify and develop their next generation of leaders.
Essential leadership competencies and global competencies have been defined by researchers."
http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/orgempdev/Pages/competencies.aspx
The Most Important Leadership Competency?
Living by personal conviction
Means you know and are in touch with your values and beliefs, are not afraid to take a lonely or unpopular stance if necessary, are comfortable in tough situations, can be relied on in tense circumstances, are clear about where you stand, and will face difficult challenges with poise and self-assurance.
Consider this.
I would recommend that readers view the HBR Blog today - December 6, 2011 - entitled "Developing Executive Presence."
While presence is not a leadership competency, it is nonetheless an aspect of persuasion and communication and therefore, has an impact on leadership effectiveness.
But when it comes to the process of selection, my concern is that executive presence - or looks - or poise - or deportment - or dress - or appearance - or whatever you wish to call it - takes on too much weight when making selection decisions.
Presence is important - as are many other factors - but they must all be placed in the proper weighting.
One very important use of leadership competencies is in selection. Interestingly, chemistry and charisma usually play too great of a role in selection.
When you are hiring leaders, ask yourself these questions:
Most hiring managers let their "gut feel" take over and usually this means the halo effect is working. This often leads to the wrong decision.
The next few posts I will introduce some discussion around these issues.
There are many leadership competency models. Many of them have lists of competencies that number close to 100. I find lists that long not useful in my work as a search consultant and an executive coach. I think it is important to distill competencies down to the critical few. This was the goal when Dr. Andy Garman and I wrote our book in 2006. Our model presented only 16 critical leadership competencies that we felt were hallmarks of highly effective leaders.
The 16 Competencies fit within four cornerstones – Well-Cultivated Self Awareness; Compelling Vision; Real Way With People; Masterful Execution. Exceptional leaders are strong in these areas. The 16 competencies fit within the Four Cornerstones as follows:
Well-Cultivated Self Awareness
Compelling Vision
Real Way With People
Masterful Execution
Competencies provided from Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies for Healthcare Executives, Carson F. Dye & Andrew N. Garman, Health Administration Press, 2006
Leadership competencies are skills or abilities that an individual has which allow them to do something in a proficient or expert manner.
Leadership competencies can be developed. For some, this development is easier to achieve. It is similar to developing skill in a sport or playing a musical instrument.
The key however is to define those competencies that are the true foundation blocks to highly effective leadership. I will spend some time over the next few weeks providing insight into those competencies that I feel are most critical.
Without competencies, our ability to define and describe leadership is limited. Competencies help us do this. Competencies help observers see what it takes to be fully successful in a position. And success as a leader is both about what is done (applying technical knowledge, skills, and ability) and how it is done (the consistent behaviors that are demonstrated and used) while interacting and communicating with others at work.
Dr. Robert Hogan writes:
Personality concerns two major elements:
(a) generalizations about human nature (what people are like way down deep) and
(b) systematic accounts of individual differences (which differences are important and how they arise).
To understand personality, the concept should be defined from two perspectives:
(a) how a person thinks about him- or herself (i.e., a person’s identity) and
(b) how others think about that person (i.e., a person’s reputation).
A person’s identity concerns his or her most deeply held beliefs, whereas a person’s reputation is an index of his or her success in life. Identity is hard to study, and we do not know a great deal about it. In contrast, reputation is easy to study and vastly consequential. http://peterberry.sitesuite.ws/files/hogan_research_articles/journal_articles/what_we_know_about_leadership..pdf
Conclusion: Essentially it would be appropriate to state that it really does not matter as much what causes a leader to do what he/she does as much as it is to be able to observe, report, and define the behaviors that make that leader effective or not effective.
Competencies are the behavioral link to leadership. They provide us with the ability to better define the outwardly positive and/or negative behaviors of leaders.
After all these years and after writing a book in 2006 about leadership competencies, I am still sorting through this issue. David McClelland wrote initially about competencies. One of his points was:
"McClelland did cluster personality or traits into competencies, rather than separate them into attributes. He did not believe in the saying “once a bigot, always a bigot.” Rather he wrote that there is no solid evidence that this trait of any other trait cannot be changed. Thus if you cannot find the people with all the competencies you need, you can always train or develop them (of course some competencies are a lot more easy to train or develop than others). In addition, you can grow the people you presently have."
So my view of competencies as well as McClelland's views leadership development as something worthwhile.
Consider the impact of a good competency model on a leadership development program.
A great day to honor and respect all that they have done for us.
I am particularly fond of the many Medical Service Corps officers with whom I have worked for the past 25-plus years. I send a special note of thanks to all of you.
Thanks all for your sacrifices --
