The health care industry is recognizing the importance of political skill among its professionals. To address this need, a longitudinal study investigates how the political skill of health care leaders (N = 555) evolves and impacts unit performance. Utilizing cross-lagged panel through a three-wave study, measurement equivalence and analysis of variance, we found political skill to influence performance differently over time, across professions, and at the dimension level. Interestingly, political skill did not just influence next year’s political skill levels in health care leaders, but also showed a strong positive influence on the unit’s performance. Similar lagged overall effects were found for both clinical and nonclinical leaders with the caveat that political skills dimensions can evolve differently. For instance, networking ability is underdeveloped and likely to decrease over time for clinical leaders. In summary, future theories and applications consider the temporal elements, the dimensionality of political skill, and the differences in leaders’ occupational interests. We discuss further implications and future research.
AhearnK. K.FerrisG. R.HochwarterW. A.DouglasC.AmmeterA. P. (2004). Leader political skill and team performance. Journal of Management, 30(3), 309-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jm.2003.01.004
2.
AjzenI. (2005). Attitudes, personality and behavior. Open University Press.
3.
AndrewsM. C.KacmarK. M.HarrisK. J. (2009). Got political skill? The impact of justice on the importance of political skill for job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(6), 1427-1437. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017154
4.
BhattiN. I.CummingsC. W. (2007). Competency in surgical residency training: Defining and raising the bar. Academic Medicine, 82(6), 569-573. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3180555bfb
5.
BlickleG.FröhlichJ. K.EhlertS.PirnerK.DietlE.HanesT. J.FerrisG. R. (2011). Socioanalytic theory and work behavior: Roles of work values and political skill in job performance and promotability assessment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78(1), 136-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.05.010
6.
BlickleG.Kane-FriederR. E.OerderK.WihlerA.von BelowA.SchütteN.MatanovicA.MudlagkD.KokudevaT.FerrisG. R. (2013). Leader behaviors as mediators of the leader characteristics-follower satisfaction relationship. Group & Organization Management, 38(5), 601-629. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601113503183
7.
BlickleG.KramerJ.SchneiderP. B.MeursJ. A.FerrisG. R.MierkeJ.WitzkiA. H.MommT. D. (2011). Role of political skill in job performance prediction beyond general mental ability and personality in cross-sectional and predictive studies. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41(2), 488-514. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00723.x
8.
BlickleG.MeursJ. A.ZettlerI.SolgaJ.NoethenD.KramerJ.FerrisG. R. (2008). Personality, political skill, and job performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72(3), 377-387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.11.008
9.
ByrneB. M. (2006). Structural equation modeling with EQS: Basic concepts, applications, and Programming. Lawrence Erlbaum.
10.
ByrneB. M.WatkinsD. (2003). The issue of measurement invariance revisited. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34(2), 155-175. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022102250225
11.
CadizD.SawyerJ. E.GriffithT. L. (2009). Developing and validating field measurement scales for absorptive capacity and experienced community of practice. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 69(6), 1035-1058. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164409344494
12.
CheungG. W.RensvoldR. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 233-255. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5
13.
Clay-WilliamsR.LudlowK.TestaL.LiZ.BraithwaiteJ. (2017). Medical leadership, a systematic narrative review: Do hospitals and healthcare organisations perform better when led by doctors?BMJ Open, 7(9), Article e014474. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014474
DrasgowF. (1984). Scrutinizing psychological tests: Measurement equivalence and equivalent relations with external variables are the central issues. Psychological Bulletin, 95(1), 134-135. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.95.1.134
16.
EdmondsonA. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
17.
EdmonstoneJ. (2009). Clinical leadership: The elephant in the room. International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 24(4), 290-305. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.959
18.
EwenC.WihlerA.BlickleG.OerderK.EllenB. P.IIIDouglasC.FerrisG. R. (2013). Further specification of the leader political skill–leadership effectiveness relationships: Transformational and transactional leader behavior as mediators. Leadership Quarterly, 24(4), 516-533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.03.006
19.
FeitosaJ.LacerenzaC. N.JosephD. L.SalasE. (2017). Ethnic identity: Factor structure and measurement invariance across ethnic groups. Psychological Assessment, 29(9), 1129-1141. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000346
20.
FerrisG. R.AnthonyW. P.KolodinskyR. W.GilmoreD. C.HarveyM. G.WankelC. (2002). Development of political skill: Rethinking management education for the 21st century. Information Age.
21.
FerrisG. R.TreadwayD. C.KolodinskyR. W.HochwarterW. A.KacmarC. J.DouglasC.FrinkD. D. (2005). Development and validation of the political skill inventory. Journal of Management, 31(1), 126-152. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206304271386
22.
FerrisG. R.TreadwayD. C.PerrewéP. L.BrouerR. L.DouglasC.LuxS. (2007). Political skill in organizations. Journal of Management, 33(3), 290-320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206307300813
23.
FishbeinM.AjzenI. (1974). Attitudes towards objects as predictors of single and multiple behavioral criteria. Psychological Review, 81(1), 59-74. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0035872
24.
GentryW. A.KuhnertK. W. (2007). Sending signals: Nonverbal communication can speak volumes. Leadership in Action: A Publication of the Center for Creative Leadership and Jossey-Bass, 27(5), 3-7. https://doi.org/10.1002/lia.1220
25.
GolembiewskiR. T.BillingsleyK.YeagerS. (1976). Measuring change and persistence in human affairs: Types of change generated by OD designs. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 12(2), 133-157. https://doi.org/10.1177/002188637601200201
26.
HackmanJ. R. (1987). The design of work teams. In LorschJ. (Ed.), Handbook of organizational behavior (pp. 315-342). Prentice Hall.
27.
HarrisK. J.KacmarK. M.ZivnuskaS.ShawJ. D. (2007). The impact of political skill on impression management effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(1), 278-285. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.1.278
28.
HochwarterW. A.FerrisG. R.GavinM. B.PerrewéP. L.HallA. T.FrinkD. D. (2007). Political skill as neutralizer of felt accountability—job tension effects on job performance ratings: A longitudinal investigation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102(2), 226-239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.09.003
JawaharI. M.MeursJ. A.FerrisG. R.HochwarterW. A. (2008). Self-efficacy and political skill as comparative predictors of task and contextual performance: A two-study constructive replication. Human Performance, 21(2), 138-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959280801917685
31.
JöreskogK. G. (1969). A general approach to confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis. Psychometrika, 34(2), 183-202. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02289343
32.
JöreskogK. G.SörbomD. (2015). LISREL 9.20 for Windows [Computer software]. Scientific Software International.
33.
KilroyS.FloodP. C.BosakJ.ChênevertD. (2017). Perceptions of high-involvement work practices, person-organization fit, and burnout: A time-lagged study of health care employees. Human Resource Management, 56(5), 821-835. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21803
34.
LeiM.LomaxR. G. (2005). The effect of varying degrees of nonnormality in structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 12(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1201_1
35.
LiuY.FerrisG. R.ZinkoR.PerrewéP. L.WeitzB.XuJ. (2007). Dispositional antecedents and outcomes of political skill in organizations: A four-study investigation with convergence. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 71(1), 146-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.04.003
36.
LvinaE.JohnsG.TreadwayD. C.BlickleG.LiuY.LiuJ.AtayS.ZettlerI.Solga, NoethenD.FerrisG. R. (2012). Measure invariance of the Political Skill Inventory (PSI) across five cultures. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, 12(2), 171-191. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595812439870
37.
LvinaE.MaherL. P.HarrisJ. N. (2017). Political skill, trust, and efficacy in teams. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 24(1), 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051816657984
38.
MalbyB. (1998). Clinical Leadership. Advanced Practice Nursing Quarterly, 3(4), 40-43.
39.
MeadeA. W.JohnsonE. C.BraddyP. W. (2008). Power and sensitivity of alternative fit indices in tests of measurement invariance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(3), 568-592. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.568
40.
MossJ. A.BarbutoJ. E.Jr. (2010). Testing the relationship between interpersonal political skills, altruism, leadership success and effectiveness: A multilevel model. Journal of Behavioral & Applied Management, 11(2), 155-174.
NunnallyJ. S.BernsteinI. H. (1994). Psychological theory (3rd ed). McGraw-Hill.
43.
PerrewéP. L.FerrisG. R.FrinkD. D.AnthonyW. P. (2000). Political skill: An antidote for workplace stressors. Academy of Management Perspectives, 14(3), 115-123. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2000.4468071
44.
PfefferJ. (1992). Understanding power in organizations. California Management Review, 34(2), 29-50. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166692
45.
PodsakoffP. M.MacKenzieS. B.PodsakoffN. P.LeeJ. Y. (2003). The mismeasure of man (agement) and its implications for leadership research. Leadership Quarterly, 14(6), 615-656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.08.002
46.
QuintanaS. M.MaxwellS. E. (1999). Implications of recent developments in structural equation modeling for counseling psychology. The Counseling Psychologist, 27(4), 485-527. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000099274002
RiordanC. M.VandenbergR. J. (1994). A central question in cross-cultural research: Do employees of different cultures interpret work-related measures in an equivalent manner?Journal of Management, 20(3), 643-671. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639402000307
49.
RobbinsC. J.BradleyE. H.SpicerM.MecklenburgG. A. (2001). Developing leadership in healthcare administration: A competency assessment tool/Practitioner application. Journal of Healthcare Management, 46(3), 188-202.
50.
RosenmanE. D.IlgenJ. S.ShandroJ. R.HarperA. L.FernandezR. (2015). A systematic review of tools used to assess team leadership in health care action teams. Academic Medicine, 90(10), 1408-1422. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000848
51.
SchwartzR. W.PoggeC. (2000). Physician leadership: Essential skills in a changing environment. American Journal of Surgery, 180(3), 187-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9610(00)00481-5
52.
ShaughnessyB. A.TreadwayD. C.BrelandJ. W.PerrewéP. L. (2017). Informal leadership status and individual performance: The roles of political skill and political will. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 24(1), 83-94. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051816657983
53.
ShiJ.JohnsonR. E.LiuY.WangM. (2013). Linking subordinate political skill to supervisor dependence and reward recommendations: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(2), 374-384. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031129
54.
SpeharI.FrichJ. C.KjekshusL. E. (2012). Clinicians’ experiences of becoming a clinical manager: a qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 12(1), Article 421. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-421
55.
SteflM. E.BontempoC. (2008). Common competencies for all healthcare managers: The healthcare leadership alliance model. Journal of Healthcare Management, 53(6), 360-374. https://doi.org/10.1097/00115514-200811000-00004
56.
SteigerJ. H. (2007). Understanding the limitations of global fit assessment in structural equation modeling. Personality and Individual Differences, 42(5), 893-898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.09.017
57.
StollerJ. K. (2009). Developing physician-leaders: A call to action. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 24(7), 876-878. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-1007-8
TreadwayD. C.BrelandJ. W.WilliamsL. M.ChoJ.YangJ.FerrisG. R. (2013). Social influence and interpersonal power in organizations: Roles of performance and political skill in two studies. Journal of Management, 39(6), 1529-1553. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311410887
60.
van de VijverF.LeungK. (2000). Methodological issues in psychological research of culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31(1), 33-51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022100031001004
61.
VandenbergR. J.LanceC. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: Suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 3(1), 4-70. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810031002
62.
WangM.RussellS. S. (2005). Measurement equivalence of the job descriptive index across Chinese and American workers: Results from confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 65(4), 709-732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164404272494
63.
WeaverS. J.DyS. M.RosenM. A. (2014). Team-training in healthcare: A narrative synthesis of the literature. BMJ Quality Safety, 23(5), 359-372. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2013-001848
64.
WestabyJ. D.PfaffD. L.ReddingN. (2014). Psychology and social networks: A dynamic network theory perspective. American Psychologist, 69(3), 269-284. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036106
65.
XuR.CartyM. J.OrgillD. P.LipsitzS. R.DuclosA. (2013). The teaming curve: A longitudinal study of the influence of surgical team familiarity on operative time. Annals of Surgery, 258(6), 953-957. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0b013e3182864ffe
66.
ZaccaroS. J.GreenJ. P.DubrowS.KolzeM. (2018). Leader individual differences, situational parameters, and leadership outcomes: A comprehensive review and integration. Leadership Quarterly, 29(1), 2-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.10.003
67.
ZhouZ. E.YangL. Q.SpectorP. E. (2015). Political skill: A proactive inhibitor of workplace aggression exposure and an active buffer of the aggression-strain relationship. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 20(4), 405-419. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039004
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
