Competencies and Leadership Effectiveness: Which Skills Predict Effective Leadership?

This study explores the relationship between leadership effectiveness and generic and stable competencies. Task-related, people-related and self-related competencies were examined as predictors of leadership effectiveness as measured by four different criteria: group performance, leader effectiveness, leadership emergence and leadership self-efficacy. 134 top managers were evaluated by 2,482 subordinates after a four-month management simulation game. Task-related competencies were shown to be the best predictor of leadership effectiveness; they were a very strong predictor of leadership emergence, strong predictor of leadership self-efficacy and perceived leadership effectiveness and moderately strong predictor of group performance. People-related and self-related competencies weakly predicted leadership emergence. The results can be applied when selecting leaders for working groups that have short-term durations and do not require frequent personal contact.