Leadership, Management & Life in the Workplace
  • Blog
  • About John
  • Decoding the Workplace
  • Dr. Juran AIG Archival Project
  • Contact
  • Disclaimers

On Cognitive Skills and Leaders

2/28/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Organizations need leaders. How do we find them? How do we develop them? At one level we are still struggling with defining what leadership is, how it differs from management, and so forth. Professionals in disciplines such as management, human resources, and organizational behavior have varying perspectives but no clear answers. Consequently we may use different approaches to understanding “leadership.”
 
In a 2017 issue of The Leadership Quarterly, Michael Mumford and associates focus on problem-solving skills critical to leader performance. In an article rich in ideas and information they argued that effective “real world” leadership occurs in situations where the leader has knowledge, experience, and creativity nurtured through experience. Effective leaders may have seen it before, seen similar, and have mental maps that help them work through problem resolutions. They also have the abilities to see potential problems, alternative solutions, and can evaluate potential consequences. Mumford et al. identified nine cognitive skills critical to effective leader performance. Here are the nine skills. For each I have posed a question for leaders based on my reading.

  • Identifying and defining problems.
         Do you actively seek or search for information, external and internal?
  • Analyzing causes and goals to address problem.
         Can you identify the biggest actionable causes affecting the problem?
  • Identifying constraints on solutions.
         Do you have a systems perspective? Can you perceive the constraints on problem solutions?
  • Formulating realistic plans.
         Can you identify and sequence the tasks and resources to work the problem?
  • Forecasting specific outcomes from plan execution
         How successful have you been in predicting outcomes in similar situations?
  • Formulating solutions to pitfalls foreseen and not foreseen
         Can you find creative solutions when implementation issues arise?
  • Evaluating alternative ways to implement plan.
         Are your decisions go-no-go or do you seek to improve alternatives?
  • Evaluating alternatives in context of situation.
         Do you have the experience to consider aspects that only arise out of experience?
  • Visioning and sensemaking in communicating with followers.
         Can you simply and effectively communicate the vision/plan?

Mumford and associates suggested that these cognitive skills critical to effective leadership can be improved by training programs and other organizational development interventions. Additionally they may provide the foundation for new methods to assess leadership potential.
 
My take-aways:
 
1.  This contribution of Mumford, Todd, Higgs, and McIntosh is significant. While there is little we can do to effect adult intelligence (and intelligence is correlated positively with leaders), there is much we can do to effect development of these cognitive tasks.
 
2.  While leaders with these cognitive skills may be desirable, a leader may not need to possess each skill. Effective leaders should know their strengths and weaknesses. Leaders should engage their groups and teams in all of these areas. Identifying these skills in others and letting them contribute help make effective leaders. 
 
3. For me this article underscores the importance of active learning.  Do we provide opportunities for experiences where people can learn through the experiences? Do we discuss “lessons learned” afterwards and guide development of mental models, that is how to handle different situations? In our busy day-to-day workplaces, do we as leaders find the time, make the time, to develop others?
 
Mumford, M. D., Todd, E. M., Higgs, C., & McIntosh, T. (2017). Cognitive skills and leadership performance: The nine critical skills. The Leadership Quarterly, 28, 24-39.
 
Image, "Thinking" by Tumisu.
Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/thinking-brain-head-idea-2006869/
Public domain: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ 
 
© John Ballard, PhD,  2017. All rights reserved.
 
Author of Decoding the Workplace, BEST CAREER BOOK Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    RSS Feed