- Human skill - ability and judgment in working with and through people, including an understanding of motivation and an application of effective leadership
- Technical skill - ability to use knowledge, methods, techniques, and equipment necessary for the performance of specific tasks
- Conceptual skill - ability to understand the complexities of the overall organization or system and where one's own operation fits within that system
Let us first consider human skill.
We operate under the premise that human skill development is critical for effective leadership. This skill development involves three areas: understanding behavior, predicting behavior, and changing behavior.
Understanding behavior involves an understanding of why people behave as they do. Effective leaders/teachers need to know what motivates their students and what produces the patterns of behavior that are characteristics of individuals or groups.
Understanding past behavior is important in providing a framework for predicting behavior. Understanding why a student did what they did yesterday enables a teacher to predict how they are likely to behave tomorrow under similar conditions.
These first two areas (understanding and predicting) are passive, they do not require actions involving other people. The key to obtaining results is developing the skills needed to direct and change behavior. When you accept the role of leader/teacher, you accept along with it the responsibility of having an impact on the behavior of other people - influencing the behavior of others toward achieving results. As we say in coaching, if your players are doing something you don't like, you are either coaching it or allowing it to happen. If you are not actively leading, guiding, working with a plan to improve your students, you are allowing inappropriate or ineffective behaviors to take place . . . unless of course you are actually teaching the inappropriate or ineffective behaviors.
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