ABSTRACT

This book examines the various thinking skills that leaders may need to find success in contemporary organizations and institutions, covering a wide array of skills that are held to be important by key leadership scholars.

Bridging theory and practice, chapters summarize major findings with respect to a particular ability, knowledge, or skill, providing theoretical frameworks for understanding how these contribute to leader emergence and performance, and considering implications for leader selection, assessment, and development. The text appraises the existing research on the critical cognitive capabilities that underlie leader problem-solving and implications for the assessment and development of leadership potential in real-world settings. The role of creative thinking skills on leader performance is also addressed, bearing on the importance of processes such as problem definition and idea generation, but also using constraints to potentially stimulate creative thought.

With contributions from some of the most eminent scholars working in the field of leadership, this book will be in invaluable resource to academics, researchers, graduate students, and professionals interested in leadership and leader skills, I/O psychology, and business management.

chapter |13 pages

Leader Thinking Skills

chapter 2|25 pages

Leadership and Information Processing

A Dynamic System, Dual-Processing Perspective

chapter 3|27 pages

Uncertainty and Problem Solving

The Role of Leader Information-Gathering Strategies

chapter 4|24 pages

Are Satisfied Employees Productive or Productive Employees Satisfied?

How Leaders Think About and Apply Causal Information

chapter 5|26 pages

Thinking About Causes

How Leaders Identify the Critical Variables to Act On

chapter 6|28 pages

Leaders’ Shifts in Attention During an Organizational Crisis

Longitudinal Evidence of Responses to a Crisis Within a Top Management Team

chapter 7|29 pages

Creative Problem Solving

Processes, Strategies, and Considerations for Leaders

chapter 8|22 pages

Seeing the Future Through the Past

Forecasting Skill as a Basis for Leader Performance

chapter 9|33 pages

Leader Decision Making Capacity

An Information Processing Perspective

chapter 10|17 pages

Making Sense of Leaders Making Sense

chapter 12|33 pages

Leader Social Acuity

chapter 14|20 pages

Wisdom, Foolishness, and Toxicity in Leadership

How Does One Know Which Is Which?