Blog Post #6 – Dealing in the domains of skills at various levels of leadership

What skill area and specific skills (discussed throughout chapter) are your strongest?

I believe that my strongest skill is the conceptual skill. That is because I always try to identify the problem first so as to learn how to proceed most effectively.   From there I attempt to generate alternative solutions. With a bevy of possible solutions I work with my group to selected the best one that we all feel will work thus everyone feels invested and wants to work well at it. As such we then implement the solution.

What skill area and specific skills (discussed throughout chapter) are your weakest and how can you build upon them?

My weakest skill area is the administrative skills. That is because I do not enjoy the skills that deal with this area. I rather not have to manage people too much. Nor do I enjoy trying to manage resources. Fortunately though, I more often than not am able to show technical competence. In order to improve these skills I need to simply bite the bullet and deal with these issues despite my hesitance towards them.

What impact do you think your leadership skills could have on your role as a leader?

I believe my leadership skills are critical to my role as a leader. That is because they directly influence and how I am able to handle myself in a leadership position. Ideally if I was a master in all three skill domains then I would be an extremely competent leader.

Do you think some of the skills discussed in the chapter are more important in some situations compared to others? If so, explain.

I believe that some skills are definitely more important than others in certain situations. For instance, if you are an authoritative leader then administrative skills are paramount where as a lassies-fare leader can get away without them so much. No matter the situation though, I believe that conceptual skills are critical as it is your duty as the leader to take the charge with problem solving and solutions.

Do you think individuals in “lower” levels of leadership require the same skills as those in “upper” levels? Discuss

I believe that even at lower levels of leadership all skill areas are important. What changes is how much leeway you have within the domains. A higher level leader will have full reign in all domains while a lower level leader will have more restrictions. However said lower level leader must still be competent in all or the individual will fail.