Deck 3: Skills Approach

Question 1

Pat Smith is personnel director for a large bank. Her major goal is to find a person who can adapt his or her leadership to different types of people and situations. Pat is basing her selections on

A) The great person approach
B) The trait approach
C) The skills approach
D) Leader emergence theory
E) Crystallized cognitive ability

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Developed a capability model that includes individual attributes, competencies, and leadership outcomes.

A) Katz
B) Stogdill
C) Goleman
D) Mumford et al.
E) Zaccaro

Answer 2

D

Question 3

All of the following environmental influences are external, except

A) Dial-up Internet
B) Traffic
C) Computer network crash
D) Unplowed parking lot
E) Inexperienced followers

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Performance outcome is measured by

A) Standard external criteria.
B) Original solutions to problems.
C)Solutions that go beyond given information.
D) Follower reaction to leader behavior.
E) Leaders own perspective.

Question 5

According to Katz, the most important leadership skills for lower-levels of management are :

A) Technical skills
B) Problem-solving skills
C) Technical, human, and conceptual skills
D) Technical and human skills
E) Conceptual and human skills

Question 6

By including such a large number of components, such as two types of intelligence, the skills approach and its models are criticized for

A) Being too similar to previously detailed approaches to leadership
B) Stressing the value of developing specific skills
C) The range of skills extending beyond the boundaries of leadership
D) Not being consistent with aspects of leadership education programs
E) Not being readily available to all

Question 7

Jim is a district manager of Wendy's in west Michigan. When he hires people, the most important thing he looks for is whether people are good problem solvers.

A) Jim is using the trait approach.
B) Jim is using Katz's skills approach.
C) Jim is using the Mumford skills model.
D) Jim is using the style approach.
E) Jim is using work experience.

Question 8

The abilities that help a leader to work effectively with subordinates, peers, and superiors to accomplish the organizational goal.

A) Technical skills
B) Conceptual skills
C) Human skills
D) Problem-solving skills
E) Personality skills

Question 9

Which of the following attributes begins to decline in later adulthood?

A) Personality
B) Motivation
C) Crystallized cognitive ability
D) General cognitive ability
E) Effectiveness

Question 10

In the skills model, which of these is a general cognitive ability?

A) Knowledge
B) Information processing
C) Motivation
D) Intellectual ability acquired over time
E) Problem-solving skills

Question 11

Which of the following is not an example of an internal environmental influence that can affect leadership outcomes?

A) Skill level of employees
B) Gender ratio of employees
C) Up-to-date technology
D) An economic recession
E) Group communication processes

Question 12

_________ are what leaders can accomplish, whereas __________ are what leaders are.

A) Traits and outcomes
B) Behaviors and skills
C) Skills and traits
D) Outcomes and skills
E) Goals and skills

Question 13

Bill is in charge of hiring a new manager for the first shift on the production line. According to Katz's model, Bill should be looking for a person with

A) Problem-solving skills
B) Cognitive ability
C) Social judgment skills
D) Knowledge
E) Technical skills

Question 14

The individual attributes factor in the skills model suggests

A) Complex problem-solving is not difficult.
B) That traits are not important to leadership.
C) That the skills model is not just a competency-based model.
D) Motivation plays little to no role within the model.
E) Personality influence is minimal.

Question 15

The skills approach takes a __________________ on leadership, like the trait approach.

A) Leader-follower centered perspective
B) Organizational-centered perspective
C) Situational-centered perspective
D) Follower-centered perspective
E) Leader-centered perspective

Question 16

Which of the following is not a competency?

A) Problem-solving skills
B) Cognitive ability
C) Social judgment skills
D) Knowledge
E) Confidence

Question 17

In the skills model, crystallized knowledge refers to

A) Intelligence quotient
B) Intellectual ability acquired over time
C) Motivation
D) Effectiveness
E) Inherent knowledge

Question 18

Which of the following presents a competency-based approach to leadership?

A) Trait approach
B) Skills approach
C) Style approach
D) Great person approach
E) Contingency approach

Question 19

Developed the three-skill model of leadership.

A) Katz
B) Stogdill
C) Goleman
D) Mumford et al.
E) Zaccaro

Question 20

The environmental influences listed are all internal, with the exception of

A) Dial-up Internet
B) Limited office space
C) Highly competent followers
D) Simplistic task
E) Flooding of the office

Question 21

Crystallized cognitive ability refers to one's innate intellectual ability or intelligence.

Question 22

How do career experiences affect the characteristics and competencies of leaders?

Question 23

Technical skills grow in importance as one moves up the managerial hierarchy.

Question 24

What best explains the comparison of the skills approach to sports such as golf and tennis?

A) Specific techniques are required to succeed.
B) Input from both sides takes place constantly.
C) Tools are essential in improving your skills.
D) People can improve their skills through practice and instruction.
E) Skills go back and forth between leaders and followers.

Question 25

The skills approach is relatively new and has not been widely used in training and development.

Question 26

Skills approach helps us best identify our

A) Place within an organization
B) Strengths and weaknesses
C) Performance as a leader
D) Outcomes of our leadership
E) Problem-solving skills

Question 27

The lack of high-speed Internet access in a company is an external environmental influence that can affect leadership outcomes.

Question 28

Katz states that human skills are most important for middle and top management levels.

Question 29

The skills approach suggests that many individuals have the potential for leadership.

Question 30

Mumford's research studied military personnel rather than business and organizational leaders.

Question 31

The skills approach is not descriptive.

Question 32

Career experience is a strong influence on a leader's competencies.

Question 33

Skills approach provides a structure consistent with leadership education programs.

Question 34

The ideas and mental abilities people learn through experiences can best be described as

A) Crystal cognitive ability
B) Motivation
C) Career experiences
D) General cognitive ability
E) Performance

Question 35

Environmental influences are factors in a situation that lie outside the leader's competencies, characteristics, and experiences.

Question 36

Social judgment is an individual attribute in the skills model.

Question 37

Human skills are important at all levels of management.

Question 38

You recently received a promotion to a higher-level of management within your organization. This is your third promotion with your department. What best represents this type of promotion and its outcomes?

A) Personality
B) Motivation
C) Environmental influences
D) Career experiences
E) Problem-solving skills

Question 39

Within an organization, the employees within the IT department are crucial for the success of the organization due to their

A) Judgment skills
B) Problem-solving skills
C) Conceptual skills
D) Technical skills
E) Human skills

Question 40

Motivation and personality fall within the competencies component of Mumford's skills model.

Question 41

Defend or refute: Although personal attributes are important, it is the leader's skills that are most important in addressing organizational problems.