Why Leaders Need Both Technical and Behavioural Competencies
Technical competence and behavioural competence play different but complementary roles in effective leadership.
Technical competencies are the knowledge, skills and expertise required to understand the work, make informed decisions and perform effectively within a particular professional or organisational context.
Behavioural competencies describe how a leader applies that capability through their behaviour. They include the ability to communicate, regulate emotions, adapt to change, influence others, build relationships, make decisions under pressure and respond constructively to challenge.
Technical expertise can help someone become highly capable in their profession. It does not automatically prepare them to lead people.
As responsibility increases, leaders are expected not only to understand the work, but to create clarity, make decisions, develop others, manage competing priorities and achieve results through people. This is why effective leadership requires both.
A leader with strong technical competence but limited behavioural capability may understand exactly what needs to be done but struggle to engage others, delegate effectively, handle conflict or adapt their approach.
Equally, strong behavioural capability cannot replace the technical or professional understanding required to make credible and informed decisions.
The objective is therefore not to choose between technical and behavioural competencies. It is to understand how they work together and how the balance required may change as people move into leadership roles.
What Are Technical Competencies in Leadership?
Technical competencies are the knowledge, skills and professional expertise required to understand the work and make sound decisions within a particular role, function or industry.
They may include:
- financial or commercial knowledge
- technical or professional expertise
- regulatory knowledge
- operational understanding
- data and analytical capability
- project or process management
- product or service knowledge
- industry specific systems and practices
Technical competence matters because leaders need enough understanding of the work to make informed decisions, assess risk, allocate resources and maintain credibility.
However, the technical capability required often changes as people move into leadership. A specialist may be valued for personally solving complex technical problems. A leader may need to spend less time solving those problems themselves and more time setting direction, making decisions, developing capability in others and creating the conditions for the team to perform.
This transition can be difficult.
People are often promoted because they are technically strong, but leadership requires a broader set of capabilities than the ones that made them successful as an individual contributor.
The challenge is not to abandon technical expertise.
It is to understand when that expertise adds value and when leadership requires the person to step back from doing the work and focus instead on enabling others to succeed.
What Are Behavioural Competencies in Leadership?
Behavioural competencies describe how a leader behaves when applying their knowledge, judgement and authority.
They influence how leaders communicate, make decisions, respond to pressure, build relationships, manage conflict, adapt to change and create accountability.
Common behavioural competencies in leadership include:
- emotional awareness
- emotional regulation
- self confidence
- social awareness
- regard for others
- adaptability
- assertiveness
- perseverance
- collaboration
- communication
- influence
- accountability
- decision making
- developing others
These capabilities matter because leadership performance is expressed through behaviour.
A leader may know the technically correct answer, but still struggle to achieve the outcome if they communicate poorly, avoid difficult conversations, fail to adapt their approach or lose effectiveness under pressure.
Behavioural competence therefore helps convert knowledge into leadership impact.
It also becomes increasingly important as leaders take responsibility for larger teams, broader functions or more complex organisational outcomes.
As the role becomes less about individual technical contribution and more about achieving results through others, the way a leader behaves can have a greater influence on performance than the depth of their specialist expertise alone.
That is why behavioural capability should not be treated as a “soft” addition to technical competence.
It is part of the capability required to lead effectively.
How Technical and Behavioural Competencies Work Together
Effective leadership depends on the interaction between what a leader knows and how they apply that knowledge. Technical competence helps leaders understand the work, assess options and make informed decisions. Behavioural competence influences how those decisions are communicated, implemented and experienced by others.
For example:
Making a difficult operational decision
Technical competence helps the leader understand the data, risks and practical implications. Behavioural competence helps them communicate the decision clearly, manage reactions and maintain trust.
Leading a change initiative
Technical competence helps the leader understand what needs to change. Behavioural competence helps them influence others, adapt their approach and respond constructively to resistance.
Managing performance
Technical competence helps the leader understand the standards, process and required outcome. Behavioural competence helps them give feedback, set expectations and hold the conversation effectively.
Delegating responsibility
Technical competence helps the leader judge what needs to be done. Behavioural competence helps them create clarity, trust others and avoid taking the work back unnecessarily.
The strongest leadership performance is created when both types of capability are present. Technical competence without behavioural capability can limit a leader’s ability to achieve results through others. Behavioural capability without sufficient technical understanding can weaken judgement, credibility or decision quality.
The balance required will vary by role and leadership level, but both matter.
Why Technical Experts Can Struggle When They Move Into Leadership
People are often promoted into leadership because they are highly capable in their technical or professional role. That makes sense. Technical performance is visible, measurable and often closely connected to business results. But the capabilities required to succeed as an individual contributor are not identical to those required to lead others.
A technically strong employee may be used to:
- solving problems personally
- being the subject matter expert
- making decisions within their own area of expertise
- being recognised for individual output
- relying on their own judgement and experience
Leadership changes the nature of the work.
The leader now needs to:
- achieve results through other people
- delegate responsibility
- communicate expectations clearly
- develop capability in others
- manage conflict and performance
- make decisions across competing priorities
- influence people with different expertise and perspectives
- remain effective under pressure
This transition can create a capability gap.
A leader may continue to rely heavily on the technical skills that made them successful, even when the role now requires more behavioural flexibility and a greater focus on people, systems and outcomes. This does not mean technical expertise becomes unimportant.
It means the leader needs to broaden their capability so that technical knowledge is supported by the behavioural competencies required to lead effectively.
How to Develop the Right Balance of Technical and Behavioural Competence
The right balance between technical and behavioural competence depends on the role, the level of leadership and the context in which the leader is operating.
A first line manager may still need significant technical involvement alongside people leadership. A senior leader may need to rely less on detailed technical expertise and more on judgement, influence, delegation and the ability to lead through others.
Development should therefore begin by asking:
- What does this role require the leader to know?
- What does this role require the leader to do through other people?
- Which behaviours are most important for success?
- How does the leader respond when pressure increases?
From there, organisations can identify where the capability gap sits.
The leader may need deeper technical understanding. They may need stronger behavioural capability.
Or they may need help adjusting the balance between the two as their role changes. A strong development approach combines clear role expectations, behavioural insight, practical application, feedback and opportunities to build capability through real work.
The objective is not to reduce technical competence. It is to make sure that technical expertise is supported by the behavioural capability required to turn knowledge into effective leadership.
The flowprofiler® Perspective
At flowprofiler®, we distinguish between what a leader knows and how that capability is expressed through behaviour.
Technical expertise can provide credibility, judgement and professional understanding. Behavioural capability influences how effectively a leader applies that expertise through communication, decision making, adaptability, influence and relationships.
flowprofiler® provides behavioural insight across emotional intelligence, resilience and motivation, including how those behaviours may shift under pressure.
That can help organisations identify where a leader’s technical capability is already strong and where behavioural development may be needed to support the demands of the role.
Used within a broader leadership development pathway, this insight can help leaders strengthen the behaviours required to move from individual expertise towards achieving results through others.
The goal is not to replace technical competence with behavioural capability.
It is to develop leaders who can use both effectively.
Build Leadership Capability Beyond Technical Expertise
Strong technical capability matters.
Leadership effectiveness also depends on how people communicate, adapt, influence, make decisions and lead others under pressure.
flowprofiler® helps organisations understand those behavioural patterns and target development where it can have the greatest workplace impact.
Discover flowprofiler® ‘s unique attributes in this blog.
References
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- Katz, R. L. (1955). Skills of an effective administrator. Harvard Business Review, 33(1), 33–42.
- McClelland, D. C. (1973). Testing for competence rather than for intelligence. American Psychologist, 28(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034092
- 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
- Spencer, L. M., Jr., & Spencer, S. M. (1993). Competence at work: Models for superior performance. John Wiley & Sons.
