Chapter 1: An Introduction to Competencies and Competency-Based Leadership

This moment in time is a critical one for leaders of organizations across sectors. The volume of books, articles, TED talks, and industry white papers on the subject of leadership and leadership development is extensive – and growing. Much of this work centers around discussions of what are presumed to be the required capacities, capabilities, and competencies associated with successful leadership. Effective leadership skills are increasingly valued in the workplace, and proficiency in these skills remains listed among the curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular goals of colleges and universities (Gigliotti, Ruben, & Goldthwaite, 2017; Seemiller, 2013). There is widespread agreement that leadership matters, especially given the complexity of today’s interconnected and globalized environment and the constantly increasing array of situations in which coordinated action is critical. That said, we continue to wrestle with epistemological questions about the phenomenon of leadership that require further attention. For example, do we know what we mean when we talk about leadership? Although there is a tendency to approach the subject with one’s own workplace, community, or sector in mind, it is important to ask which components of leadership are sector-unique and which cut across contexts? Finally, in what ways does “knowing” about leadership intersect with the “doing” of leadership? These questions will become increasingly important as leadership skills become more essential in the workplace, classroom, and community. Furthermore, as “leadership” becomes a general term for a broad range of behaviors and practices, the need persists for a systematic arrangement of the competencies associated with leadership. Such an arrangement must be comprehensive enough to embrace theory and practice, be applicable in multiple settings, and be able to differentiate generic “horizontal” leadership competencies from the “vertical” competencies that are context-specific (Ruben & Gigliotti, 2017; Ruben, De Lisi, & Gigliotti, 2017).