Critical Thinking – the Basic Competency for Leadership in the 21st century

Agnieszka  Knap‑Stefaniuk; Eva Ambrozová

doi:10.35765/pk.2021.3302.10

Agnieszka Knap‑Stefaniuk Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9201-9889
Eva Ambrozová Newton College https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-4489

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2021.3302.10

Keywords: critical thinking, competence, cognition, professional manager, education, method of reflection, cognitive management

Abstract

Critical thinking is the necessary competence for the processes of cognition, decision‑making, and taking‑action by managers. Its importance is increasing as fast, and relatively easy access to information of different quality and importance in terms of its possible impact can lead to decision paralysis or cognitive dissonance or result in an easier manipulation and influence. The article includes the essential aspects of critical thinking and the possibilities of developing and improving critical thinking in preparing students to be good leaders in the future.

Author Biographies

Agnieszka Knap‑Stefaniuk, Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow

Doctor of Economics (Warsaw School of Economics). She holds BA and MBA diplomas (with distinction) from Thames Valley University, and graduated Trainers School at Wszechnica of Jagiellonian University. She specializes in issues related to Human Resources Management and Intercultural management. She was a member of Polish Accreditation Commission (Team of Economic Sciences) and the Rector’s Board and the Didactic and Scientific Council of the Polish Open University. She cooperated as expert with consulting companies – Otawa Group and Combidata Poland and PwC. She participated as a trainer and consultant in numerous EU projects concerning the issues of Human Resources Management and modern company management.
From 2018 – Assistant Professor in Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, Faculty of Education, Institute of Political and Administrative Sciences and Vice‑Director of this Institute for Didactic Affairs. She is a member of the Polish Economic Society, the Scientific Society for Contemporary Management and the Polish Association of Cultural Studies. She has lectures at different foreign universities (Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Lithuania). For many years she conducted classes at the Executive MBA and Msc level. She has numerous publications in the field of Human Resources Management and Intercultural management. She is a member of the Scientific Committees of Polish and International Conferences and she is a member of Scientific Boards in different Polish and foreign scientific magazines.
Scientific interests: International human resource management; intercultural management; multiculturalism and challenges linked with managing culturally diverse teams; leadership – challenges in contemporary organisations; motivation systems and building employee involvement; competence and talent management; change management, including people management.

Eva Ambrozová, Newton College

Associate Professor, deals with the issue of coping with stress and mental stress in difficult conditions and situations. She has worked or is working at several universities, on the editorial board of a professional magazine and has collaborated on several projects of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic. As the author of several professional publications and university textbooks, she actively participates in conferences in the Czech Republic and abroad. Eva Ambrozová is the Head of the Department of Humanities at NEWTON College in Brno. Her researching and publishing activities focus on the areas of education and development of competencies of professional managers and leaders. Particularly she addresses the issues of Connatural Management approach in the selection, education, and training of managers in environments Industry 4.0.
Scientific interests: competences of managers, competences of leaders, development of competences, critical thinking, education in the field of the development of managerial and leadership competences.

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