What is political skill?

Navigate workplace politics with positive intent

Photo by Heidi Sandstrom, Unsplash.com

The word ‘politics’ can ignite passionate feelings, and often has a negative connotation. But political skill serves an important part of getting things done in an organization.

Any group of two or more people involves politics – with complex interactions between people, their egos, personal agendas, shared goals and getting things done.

This article focuses on defining workplace politics and political skill, considering whether or not workplace politics are inherently bad, examining the dimensions and precursors of political skill and discussing whether or not political skill can be learned.

Definition of workplace politics

Politics exist in the workplace. Leaders must navigate workplace politics to get things done and have a successful career.

One of the six key competencies for senior leaders in the Magnify Impact Coaching (MIC) model is ‘Navigate Politics’ which focuses on using workplace politics effectively and positively to get things done.

In his 2017 HBR.org  article ‘The Four Types of Organizational Politics’, Michael Jarret labeled workplace politics as ‘organizational politics’ and defined it as:

“…a variety of activities associated with the use of influence tactics to improve personal or organizational interests.”

This definition highlights influence-related activities and specifies that the activities can benefit personal or organizational goals.

Political skill and ‘Navigate Politics’

Workplace politics provide an important avenue for getting things done in complex organizations. The negotiations and influence between leaders help decide how to allocate scarce resources, prioritize goals, manage competition and balance power.

Political skill indicates how effectively a leader navigates the workplace politics through those negotiations and influence moments.

In 2010 Jean Leslie wrote ‘Why you have to be a politician at your job’ for Forbes.com based on work from Gerald Ferris and Center for Creative Leadership. Gerald Ferris is the lead researcher of the paper highlighted in this article.

 Jean Leslie wrote a profound statement about political skill:

‘Here’s an important paradox: If you have political skill, you appear not to have it. That’s because skillful political behavior usually comes across as genuine, authentic, straightforward and effective. Leaders who aren’t politically skilled, on the other hand, end up looking manipulative or self-serving. We all know both kinds of people.’

JEAN LESLIE

Leslie identified 6 dimensions of political skill: Think before you speak; Manage up and down; Influence effectively; Get your cues right (self-awareness and social cues); Network well; Be sincere.

Are politics inherently bad?

Politics are not inherently good or bad. It depends on intent and execution.

The basic definition describes politics as a means for accomplishing goals and getting things done in an organization.

In a perfect situation, politics will benefit the individual leader, the team, company and community. In imperfect situations, politics might lead to the benefit of one group or one person over others.

This shows a difference in intent – who will benefit?

Execution also plays a part. Even a positive goal can be tainted by bad politics such as manipulation, lies or other devious behavior. Positive intent should be reinforced with positive execution. That is when politics are good and contribute beneficially.

But we must stay mindful of the potential for politics to be destructive. Jean Leslie states “While we would be naive if we didn’t acknowledge politics as a potentially destructive force, when deployed effectively it can help the company meet its strategic goals and live up to its values, especially during organizational change.”

Navigating politics with integrity can help fight dysfunctional politics and set a standard for the organization.

What are the theoretical foundations of political skill?

Gerald Ferris and colleagues published a 2007 paper called ‘Political Skill in Organizations‘ that considered the theoretical foundations of ‘political skill’. Similar to Jarett’s definition, they define political skills as “the ability to effectively understand others at work, and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one’s personal and/or organizational objectives”.

They propose that political skill is related to, but distinct from, concepts like political savvy, emotional intelligence, intelligence and emotional stability.

The Ferris and team model of political skill

In this model, they identified four dimensions of political skill (social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, apparent sincerity) and five precursors (perceptiveness, control, affability, active influence, developmental experiences).

Model of political skill by Ferris et al (2007)

Four dimensions of political skill

Dimension 1: Social astuteness. Politically skilled people demonstrate social astuteness in their ability to tune into other people and understand social interactions.  This sensitivity allows them to achieve their goals by cleverly dealing with others.

Dimension 2: Interpersonal influence. Adapting their personal style allows politically skilled people to exert interpersonal influence on others. They can be unassuming and convincing and flex their style based on the situation and goals.

Dimension 3: Networking ability. Political skill supports the ability to network and create relationships and coalitions to support goals. Their subtle and unassuming interpersonal influence style enables them to easily build friendships and relationships. These relationships translate into opportunities, easier negotiations and the ability to make deals.

Dimension 4: Apparent sincerity. With their social astuteness, interpersonal influence and networking ability, politically skilled people seem sincere, authentic and genuine. They may or may not truly be sincere, depending on their goals and balance with integrity.

Five precursors to political skill

Ferris and team proposed five precursors to political skill. Four of these are personal traits and one is activity based.

Trait 1: Perceptiveness

Perceptiveness consists of self-monitoring and conscientiousness and is expected to influence social astuteness and networking ability. The self-monitoring component allows politically skilled people to monitor how they are presenting themselves and how they are being received. They monitor the environment and their impact on it.

Conscientiousness enables the politically skilled person to stay focused on the details of the situation and continuously monitor. The Big 5 theory of personality includes conscientiousness – indicating its broader impact on personality and behavior.

Trait 2: Control

In this model, control includes locus of control and self-efficacy with an anticipated impact on interpersonal influence and networking ability. Locus of control specifies how much an individual believes that she controls what happens to her.  People with internal locus of control believe that they can influence what happens to them.

Those with external locus of control believe that external forces like other people and events cause what happens to them. People with external locus of control often act like victims who have no control.

Politically skilled people naturally fall into internal locus of control, since they constantly monitor situations and events with an intent to direct them. This confidence in being able to influence also reflects in self-efficacy (belief they can accomplish something). Another article discussed the importance of self-efficacy in developing leaders.

Trait 3: Affability

Affability reflects traits of extraversion, agreeableness and positive affectivity and ties to interpersonal influence, networking ability and apparent sincerity. These elements strongly suggest a personality influence on political skill.

Some amount of extraverted and positive behaviors is required to make connections to other people. Along with conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness are also part of the Big 5 personality model.

Trait 4: Active Influence

Politically skilled people actively influence people and situations which requires being proactive and having an action-state orientation. This active influence links to interpersonal influence and networking ability. Proactive behavior involves taking action and persevering with actions.

The action-state orientation refers to an ability to regulate one’s own behavior in order to accomplish a goal. Politically skilled people act proactively and have the ability to stay focused.  

Precursor Activity: Developmental experiences

The fifth precursor to political skill is not a trait like the other four. This precursor indicates that political skill can be learned through developmental experiences such as role modeling and mentoring. The researchers expected these developmental experiences to influence all four of the dimensions of political skill.

This is good news! Any leader can learn or enhance their political skill.

Role modeling and mentoring provide two techniques for mastering political skill. For role modeling, leaders can observe people who have strong political skills. Determine how they build relationships and approach difficult situations.  

Mentoring provides an active partner in helping leaders improve their political skills. A mentor can observe them in meetings and interactions and provide feedback in the moment. Mentors can also help them learn more about the political structure of the organizations and power dynamics.

Key Takeaways

Takeaway 1: Political skill consists of several traits and behaviors that allow leaders to accomplish goals.

Takeaway 2: Politics are not inherently good or bad – it depends on intent and execution.

Takeaway 3: Political skill can be learned.

Takeaway 4: Being successful as a senior leader requires political skill.

In the next few articles, we’ll look at some other perspectives on political skill and discuss how to develop it in yourself.

References

Ferris, G. R., Treadway, D.C., Perrewe, P.L., R. L. Brouer, C. Douglas, S. Lux (2007). “Political Skill in Organizations”. Journal of Management, Vol. 33 No. 3, 290-320.

• Gerald R. Ferris, Florida State University
• Darren C. Treadway, State University of New York at Buffalo
• Pamela L. Perrewe, Florida State University
• Robyn L. Brouer, Florida State University
• Ceasar Douglas, Florida State University
• Sean Lux, University of South Florida

Jarret, M. (April 24, 2017) ‘The Four Types of Organizational Politics’, HBR.org.

• Michael Jarret, INSEAD