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Chapter 6

CRITICAL LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES - WHAT MAKES A
SUCCESSFUL LEADER?

Introduction

Behaviors are what you as an individual do that others see or experience.
Competencies are general areas of proficiency that you have that impact
your behaviors and your style of leadership. Although the terms
competencies and skills are often interchanged, for the purposes of this

book skills are defined as specific capabilities that support an overall
competency. Competencies usually require years of continual learning
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to master, and, certainly, specific leadership skills are not learned
overnight. The successful leaders are those that have the self-discipline
and perseverance to “stay the course.”

Gaining personal proficiency over one’s behavior so that new competencies
can be acquired requires several steps. Firstly, one has to have an
awareness of his/her existing behavior patterns. In order to learn new
behavior, an individual must first recognize that he/she is not effective in

some particular aspect of organizational activity. This means moving from
unconscious incompetence (I don’t know that I am ineffective) to
conscious incompetence (through feedback, or in some other way, I
become aware that I am not achieving what I want to achieve when I
behave in a certain way).

Subsequent to gaining one’s behavior awareness, it is then possible and

important to understand and to improve upon one’s range of behaviors.
This involves making a careful examination of one’s leadership experiences
and reflecting on what needs to be changed in one’s choices and
performance. This means moving beyond awareness into aggressive
application of new learning through ongoing practice.

111 Caela Farren and Beverly L. Kaye, “New Skills for New Leadership Roles.” Frances Hesselbein,
et.al.editors. The Leader of the Future. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996. p.186.

David Kolzow 97