Political Skill at Work and in Careers

Abstract

Organizations are political environments, and, thus, individuals engage in political behavior in the workplace. As research on organizational politics grew, it became clear that some individuals are more successful at managing this landscape than others. This construct, termed political skill, was designed to capture the social savvy and competencies an individual needs to effectively achieve organizational and/or personal goals. Political skill comprises four key facets: first, social astuteness refers to the ability to understand others and social situations at work. Second, interpersonal influence comprises the capacity to persuasively communicate with others at work. Third, networking ability captures building, fostering, and using interpersonal relationships and connections to achieve work-related goals. Fourth, apparent sincerity entails conveying authenticity while influencing others at work. The composite construct and its facets are measured with the political skill inventory, which has been extensively validated across many countries and cultures. Political skill positively associates with workplace and career outcomes such as job performance, job satisfaction, career advancement, stress management, leadership effectiveness, and team performance. It also serves as moderating variable, bolstering (or buffering) effects of individual or job characteristics on those same outcomes. Even though more research is needed that specifies mediating processes and moderating conditions, political skill is already a useful tool for personnel selection. However, a comprehensive training program has yet to be developed. Moreover, political skill can play a critical role in new forms of interaction via social media.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly? A Triarchic Perspective on Psychopathy at Work

“…Drawing on socioanalytic theory (Hogan & Shelton, 1998), we identified political skill (i.e., social skill at work) as such a moderator. Not only do these findings support the moderated-expression model for the boldness dimension (Benning et al, 2018), but our study also underscored the high relevance of the political skill construct for work related behaviors in line with previous studies (Kranefeld et al, 2020).…”

“…Besides the interpersonal influence domain, political skill also entails social astuteness, networking ability, and apparent sincerity (Kranefeld et al, 2020). Many studies have shown that political skill as a whole improves job performance (e.g., Munyon et al, 2015).…”

Machiavellian Leader Effectiveness

“…There is widespread evidence establishing a particular kind of social skill (i.e., political skill) as a critical workplace social competency (Munyon et al, 2015). Due to their acute understanding of others and social interactions, their ability to appear sincere and trustworthy, and their unmatched behavioral versatility, politically skilled individuals appropriately frame and package their behaviors to be well-received by others (Kranefeld et al, 2020).…”

Mikropolitischer Führungsansatz: Wer führt wen?

“…Auch die Forschung zur politischen Fähigkeit und Geschicklichkeit wartet, wie bereits erwähnt, mit zahlreichen empirischen Studien auf. Einstimmig gehen die Forschenden in diesem Bereich davon aus, dass die politische Fähigkeit eine wichtige Voraussetzung oder ein Prädiktor des beruflichen und führungsbezogenen Erfolgs ist (Kranefeld et al, 2020). In zahlreichen Studien wird der Zusammenhang zwischen der politischen Fähigkeit und der Leistung untersucht, wiewohl hier von einer generellen Betrachtung verabschiedet und eine zunehmende Beachtung des konkreten Arbeitskontextes erfolgt.…”