Based on field research in administration and his own firsthand observa-tions of executives in the workplace, Katz (1955, p. 34) suggested that effective administration (i.e., leadership) depends on three basic personal skills: technical, human, and conceptual. Katz argued that these skills are quite different from traits or qualities of leaders.

Katz identified three skills; technical, human, and conceptual as the basic personal skills essential for leadership. Technical skills related to the field, human skills related to communicating with people, and conceptual skills related to setting the vision.

Katz (1955: 34) defined skills as what leaders can accomplish, while traits are what leaders are. He argued that effective leadership or management depends on three basic personal skills: technical, human and conceptual. These skills are required to a different extent at different levels of management, as described by the diagram below.

Using Katz’s (1955) model, the three skill approach suggests that effective leadership depends on three essential personal skills: technical, human, and conceptual (Northouse, 2013). These are skills that could be learned. The technical skill is knowledge and proficiency in a type of work or activity (Northouse, 2013).