The Inter‐Personal Skills of Leadership: their Analysis and Training—Part I

Abstract

There are signs of a changing approach to the study of leadership. In the session on leadership at the XIXth International Congress of Applied Psychology, contributions from the platform stressed theory building, whereas other speakers from the floor expressed greater interest in what managers actually do (a micro‐processes approach) and how well they do it (a skills approach). Similarly, Campbell, in his overview of the conference on leadership held at the University of Southern Illinois in 1976, suggested that the study of leadership has been hurt by over‐concentration on “theory”. He argued that we need to develop more reasonable taxonomies of what readers and followers actually do when they interact, and that one of the gaps to be filled in leadership research is the consideration of leadership as an ability. The question of skills is also stressed by Mintzberg in relation to managerial work in general, He states:

Citation

Wright, P.L. and Taylor, D.S. (1981), "The Inter‐Personal Skills of Leadership: their Analysis and Training—Part I", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 6-12. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb053480