So, the program of research we have underway focuses on the nature of political skill and how it can contribute to influence and effectiveness in the workplace. We define political skill 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. Therefore, individuals high in political skill combine social astuteness with the capacity to adjust behavior to changing situational expectations in a way that appears to be sincere, inspires support and trust, and effectively influences and controls the responses of others.

We see two principal directions for future research on political skill. First, political skill should be a main effect predictor of job performance and career progress. Furthermore, a related area for future work concerns the nature of leader political skill, and its effects on followers. Second, political skill should serve as a potentially important moderator that should facilitate the effectiveness of influence tactics on performance. Furthermore, we would expect to see political skill act as a moderator of the stress–strain relationship, serving as an antidote of sorts, as some of our research already has reported, whereby strain reactions to workplace stressors are neutralized for high political skill individuals but result in negative consequences for those low in political skill.

Recently, I wrote a book on political skill and its applications to job performance, career progress and promotions, reputation development, and leadership, which will be published by Davies-Black Publishing in July 2005. In this book, we examine how political skill manifests itself in work settings, and just how and why it can position individuals well to be effective and successful.