A Leadership Skills Strataplex: Leadership Skill Requirements Across Organizational Levels.

What Academic Library Leadership Lacks: Leadership Skills Directors Are Least Likely to Develop, and Which Positions Offer Development Opportunity

“…But are we? Leadership development theory indicates that expertise at higher-level skills are only developed once a person inhabits a higher position (Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, 2007). This research would reify the importance of leadership development institutes targeted directly at library directors, but might indicate that leadership skill development for those at lower levels of the organization, those in current positions of librarian or department head, would have fewer opportunities to develop expertise in those skills needed at the directorship level.…”

Leadership Development and Organizational Success

“…A number of scholars have specified the behavioral outcomes. Mumford, Campion, and Morgeson (2007) developed a leadership skills strataplex that identified four categories of leadership skills requirements: cognitive skills, interpersonal skills, business skills, and strategic skills (Table 19.1). They found that different categories of skill requirements were important at different organizational levels so, for example, cognitive skills were required at all hierarchical levels whereas strategic skills were important at strategic levels in an organization.…”

“…Studies have investigated these leadership development interventions and their impact on organizational outcomes. Organizational outcomes can be conceptualized in different ways (Tharenou, Saks, & Moore, 2007;Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, 2007). These outcomes include human resource outcomes such as job satisfaction, motivation, organizational commitment, enhanced human capital, and competencies and retention of employees; organizational performance outcomes such as productivity gains, sales, customer service, and qualification levels; and financial outcomes such as profit/ profitability, return on equity, assets and investment, and general financial measures.…”

“…It is not solely to increase individual effectiveness in areas such as leadership behaviors (Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, 2007), affective and motivational characteristics (Ilies, Judge, & Wagner, 2006;Damen, Van Knippenberg, & Van Knippenberg, 2008), and leadership identity and mindset (Yammarino & Atwater, 1993;Shamir and Eilam, 2005). While these are important the ultimate goal is organizational performance.…”

The Relationship Between Academic Library Department Experience and Perceptions of Leadership Skill Development Relevant to Academic Library Directorship

“…On the contrary, according to leadership development research and expertise theory, experience is an essential ingredient in leadership development. Because researchers note that certain leadership skills do not emerge until one reaches the highest level of an organization (Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, 2007), this makes academic library directors the appropriate population to study, given that they have reached the apex of the library organization. While succession planning and grooming new leaders are recognized as essential to academic library success (Bridgland, 1999;Curran, 2003;Metz, 1978), exactly which skills those new leaders should be groomed to have, and how they should develop those skills in the course of their careers, are more complicated issues.…”