Leadership Theory & Practice 5th Edition, Peter G. Northhouse - Case Study Example

The Case Study Question 1 The success with regard to the restaurant business of Andy could be attributed to the kind of skills that is possessed by him. Skills have been referred to as a significant and vital quality that is required in an individual to become a successful leader. There are certain innate characteristics which make an individual a leader but it was later stated in this regard that leadership was rather considered to be a collection of skills that needs to be developed by an individual with constant endeavors. The effectiveness of a leader is ascertained based on the individual’s potential to find solutions to multifaceted organizational issues. Skills have been stated to be a quite different aspect compared to characteristics or features of leaders. Skills have been defined to be the comprehension or the competencies which could be attained by the leaders (Nothhouse, 2009). Three fundamental skills have been stated to be possessed by an individual to become an effective and successful proprietor. The three set of fundamental administrative skills entail human, technical and conceptual aspects. The development of the mentioned skills would aid an individual to become a successful leader along with achieving success in the works carried out (Nothhouse, 2009). For instance, with regard to the considered case, it could be stated that operating a restaurant business would require knowledge regarding the kind of foods that is offered in the particular restaurant and the way those foods or dishes are prepared for satisfying the taste buds of the customers. From this instance, it could be understood that technical skills entail a practical and concrete activity with regard to the core or fundamental products offered along with the organizational processes. Technical skills are considered to be quite vital as it aids in delivering the exact products that is intended to be produced by an organization (Nothhouse, 2009). The notion of human skill is believed to be quite vital for an individual to become a successful leader or administrator. Human skill refers to the know-how and capability of working along with numerous other individuals. Human skills have been defined as the aptitudes that aid a leader to carry out the tasks effectually in harmony with the peers, subordinates and superiors. This is required to be done for the reason of attaining the organizational aims (Nothhouse, 2009). Leaders with this particular skill help to generate an environment of trust which creates a comfort level for the employees and make them feel protected. This sense of comfort and security provides support to the employees to get engaged in developing certain things which would pose an influence on them. From the details of the case, it could be stated that proprietor Andy Garafallo possesses the human skills which contributes greatly towards the success of his business (Nothhouse, 2009). The conceptual skills refer to the aptitude of carrying out activities or business operations with ideas as well as notions. Technical skills entail the notion of managing things, the human skills involve the aspect of managing people and the conceptual skills refer to the aptitude of performing with ideas. The conceptual skills facilitate a leader to form a vision and develop a calculated plan with regard to the organization. For instance, the aspect of conceptual skills would aid a leader or a proprietor to attain competitive advantage for the organization. In other words, it could be stated that conceptual skills is significant as it helps in defining the implication of the organizational issues and in comprehending the aim and future goals of an organization (Nothhouse, 2009). Therefore, it could be stated that these are the skills possessed by Andy Garafallo which has helped him to achieve success in his restaurant business. Question 2 The characteristics of the managers have been described below with regard to a skills perspective. Kelly works as a kitchen manager in the restaurant and is stated to be quite an expert and efficient in preparing food and ordering. However, she has been stated to lack the competence to deal with the other people or the employees. This implies that Kelly possesses quite strong technical skills but her inability or lack of proficiency to deal with or cope up with the other employees indicates that she is deficient of human skills. The evaluation regarding the skills establishes the need for Kelly to develop and incorporate this particular skill for the reason of becoming a successful leader or kitchen manager After gaining a comprehension regarding the role of Kelly, it could be stated that she also possesses a minimum degree of conceptual skills (Nothhouse, 2009). Danielle is an out front manager and possesses great proficiency in assessing the requirements of the customers. Danielle takes great care in satisfying the requirements of the customers. However, it has been mentioned regarding Danielle that she lacks expertise to deal with numbers or rather the financial statistics of the organization. This proves that Danielle possesses great human skills but is weak in the aspect of technical skills. Dealing with or gaining a comprehension regarding the financial figures or data is considered to be an integral part of any organization and every individual manager needs to understand the implication of the numbers for the reason of making alterations in the business operations. It could be also mentioned that Danielle possesses strong conceptual skills as well to a certain extent (Nothhouse, 2009). Patrick is the other out-front manager of the restaurant but is even capable of handling the kitchen work as well. Patrick has been stated to command strong expertise in dealing with the financial numbers of the organization but again falls short of capability when it comes to handling the customers. Therefore, it can be concluded from the stated characteristics that Patrick holds strong technical skills and conceptual skills to a minimum extent but lacks in human skills to a significant extent (Nothhouse, 2009). Question 3 In terms of skills, the competencies of Andy could be described as technical skills, human skills as well as conceptual skills. Observing the characteristics of Andy, it could be stated that he holds strong human skills which could be inferred with the way he works and deals with his employees and customers. He has been learnt to work hard towards enhancing and honing the skills of his restaurant employees. The ways of managing the workforce and the customers have been the chief reason behind the success of his restaurant. Apart from the human skills, it has been deduced that he also possesses conceptual skills. The ideas and concepts regarding the way of operating the restaurant business is quite clear in Andy’s mind. This proves the fact of possessing conceptual skills as Andy is quite clear with the restaurant’s vision as well as the strategic plan. It was also observed that Andy possessed an understanding regarding the technical aspects of his business like the financial figures but does not put in much time in evaluating those figures. Although this proves that Andy possesses technical skills, at the same time it implies that Andy needs to develop and enhance his technical skills to become an effective leader or proprietor (Nothhouse, 2009). From the nature of Andy’s leadership it is evident that he entails all the three necessary skills in his ways of managing the business. However, there exists difference in the degree of proficiency of the skills. Therefore, Andy’s leadership does not substantiate the fact that the three fundamental skills are not equally necessary for the reason of becoming an effective leader. An effective leader needs to possess the fundamental skills in order to be successful. The three fundamental skills namely the technical, human and conceptual skills are considered to be quite important and are necessary to be possessed by an individual in order to become an effective leader. The development of these skills were believed to be essentially significant for individuals by Warren Bennis as these skills helped an individual to put in the best possible efforts into the work undertaken. The passion of an individual about carrying out the designated work would help in development of the mentioned skills which in turn would make an effective leader out of that individual (Bennis, 1999). Reflection From the analysis of the case and the comprehension gained in the classes regarding the leadership theories I have understood that in order to become an effective leader it is necessary to possess the mentioned skills. The possession of the mentioned skills would help me to understand all the aspects related to a particular business. I would inculcate these skills in me which would help to attain success as a leader and in all the tasks undertaken by me. I aspire to become a good leader and would prefer to see myself as a successful manager or a proprietor in the next 3 to 5 years. I would like to be a manager or a proprietor as both these job responsibilities would entail the requirement of leadership skills. Becoming a successful manager or a proprietor would imply providing direction to the individuals working with and under me. The development of the skills would help to make me a good and effective manager or proprietor and would also help me to discharge my responsibilities efficiently. Being an effective leader, I would be able to guide my organization towards its mission and would also be able to attain success and growth for the organization with the help of efficiently managing the technical, human and conceptual aspects of the business. References Bennis, W. (1999). The Leadership Advantage. Leader to Leader, pp.1-8. Northhouse, P. G. (2009). Leadership; Theory and Practice. California: SAGE. Read More