The Perennial Leadership Preparation Challenge: Unpacking the Tacit Knowledge and Skills of Leadership Competence

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Contemplating Requisite Standards and Skills for Leaders (Table 5)

Abstract

Weick and Polanyi theorize that ‘competence’ in a task or role is a function of synthesizing two knowledge types: knowledge that can be articulated ('let me tell you what and how’); and ‘tacit’ knowledge (‘I can’t tell you what or how, watch as I demonstrate’). Stated differently, humans ‘know more than they can tell.’ Building on these ideas, and consistent with the theme of ‘Research in the Pursuit of Truth,’ this paper explores the: 1) ‘tacit knowledge’ on which working theories of leadership rest; 2) the art of translating knowledge into praxis. An incipient theory of the content and character of this tacit knowledge and strategies for surfacing, teaching, and acquiring this knowledge are offered.

Authors

• Bob L. Johnson, University of Alabama
  Presenting Author

• Jingping Sun, University of Alabama
  Presenting Author