State-of-Mind as the master competency for high-performance leadership

Many well known leadership development approaches are based on models, consisting of behavioral or cognitive competencies or skills, such as decision-making, organization, delegating, interpersonal communication, influencing others, building talent, and so forth. This paper explores the question, "Is there a master competency that is the executor of all other competencies?" and purports that what is described as "State-of- Mind" is, in fact, that master competency. As such, it does not replace or negate the importance of the behavioral and/or cognitive competencies, but rather enhances the understanding of such competencies and the ability to utilize them more effectively. The paper describes a State-of-Mind - based competency model and its practical applications in leadership development and training, and concludes with implications for practice of O.D..