ORG 5020 Module 1 Traits, Skills and Behaviors of a New Plant Manager Example

Traits, Skills and Behaviors: Assessing a New Plant Manager

Student Name

Master of Science in Management, Thomas Edison State University

ORG-5020: Leadership and Management in the Twenty-First Century

Mentor Name

Month Day, Year

Traits, Skills and Behaviors: Assessing a New Plant Manager

Introduction

Northouse (2022) presents the trait, skills and behavioral approaches as three ways of answering the question of what makes leaders effective: who they are, what they can do and how they act. This assignment applies each approach to a composite leader, the newly promoted manager of a 310-employee frozen-food plant in Minnesota, who was the plant's most successful shift supervisor before the promotion eight months ago. Output has held steady, but two of four shift supervisors say they are struggling, and the corporate office wants the manager to lead a packaging line expansion next year.

Question 1: What Does the Trait Approach Reveal?

The trait approach identifies personal characteristics associated with leadership. Northouse (2022) highlights intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability as traits that recur across studies. Judge et al. (2002) pooled studies of the five-factor personality model and found that outgoing people were the likeliest both to be picked as leaders and to be judged effective, with dutiful and curious people next, and anxious, moody people least likely.

The plant manager scores high on conscientiousness and determination: production records are meticulous and problems are pursued until solved. Integrity is evident in the manager's insistence on food safety even when it slows the line. The manager is less extraverted, preferring the plant floor and data to meetings and speeches, which matters more in the new role than it did as a supervisor, since a plant manager must represent the plant to corporate leaders and rally 310 people around a change.

Question 2: What Does the Skills Approach Reveal?

Katz's three-skill model, as Northouse (2022) presents it, distinguishes technical, human and conceptual skills, with conceptual skills growing in importance at higher levels. Mumford et al. (2000) proposed a fuller skills model in which problem-solving skills, social judgment skills and knowledge combine to produce effective performance, and argued that these skills can be developed through experience.

The manager's technical skill is exceptional; the manager can diagnose a freezer tunnel fault faster than the maintenance team. Human skill is solid one-on-one but less developed with groups. Conceptual skill, the ability to think about the plant as a system and to plan a major expansion, is the least tested. The promotion has moved the manager from a level where technical skill dominates to one where conceptual and social judgment skills matter most, a common transition problem.

Question 3: What Does the Behavioral Approach Reveal?

The behavioral approach describes leadership in terms of task behaviors, which organize work and set expectations, and relationship behaviors, which support and connect people. Judge et al. (2004) went back over fifty years of studies on the two Ohio State behaviors and found each mattered: caring about people tracked how satisfied and motivated followers were, while organizing the work tracked how well the group performed.

The pattern suggests a manager still leading like a supervisor: heavily task-oriented and closely involved in daily details, with relationship behaviors concentrated on familiar people. In grid terms, the style leans toward high concern for production and moderate concern for people, short of the team management position that Northouse (2022) describes as integrating both.

Question 4: Strengths and Criticisms of the Approaches

Each approach adds something. The trait approach explains why the manager was promoted and where personality may limit the new role, but it offers little guidance on development, since traits are relatively stable. The skills approach is more useful for development because it treats leadership as learnable, though it is less precise about how skills produce results. The behavioral approach gives concrete, observable targets for change but has not identified a single best style for all situations, which the next module's situational theories address.

Question 5: Recommendations for Development

Three development steps follow. First, build conceptual skill through the expansion project itself, with a mentor from corporate operations and a requirement to present the plan to leadership, which also stretches the manager's comfort with public communication. Second, shift task behavior from daily reviews to weekly goal-setting meetings with each supervisor, freeing time for planning and signaling trust. Third, increase relationship behavior with the two struggling supervisors through regular one-on-one coaching conversations focused on their development rather than production numbers.

How the Plan Will Be Judged

Progress should be judged by evidence rather than impressions. After six months, the two struggling supervisors' engagement scores and turnover intentions can be compared with their earlier responses, the manager's weekly calendar should show more time on planning than on daily production reviews, and the expansion plan's reception by corporate leaders will indicate growth in conceptual skill and presentation. A short 360-degree feedback survey at the start and end of the period would add the views of peers and supervisors.

Conclusion

Taken together, the three approaches portray a conscientious, technically excellent leader whose traits and skills fit the old role better than the new one. The skills and behavioral approaches, more than the trait approach, point to practical ways to close the gap.

References

Judge, T. A., Bono, J. E., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M. W. (2002). Personality and leadership: A qualitative and quantitative review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 765-780. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.4.765

Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., & Ilies, R. (2004). The forgotten ones? The validity of consideration and initiating structure in leadership research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 36-51. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.1.36

Mumford, M. D., Zaccaro, S. J., Harding, F. D., Jacobs, T. O., & Fleishman, E. A. (2000). Leadership skills for a changing world: Solving complex social problems. The Leadership Quarterly, 11(1), 11-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(99)00041-7

Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). SAGE.