The Influence Of Leader Political Skill On Leadership Effectiveness In Chinese Cultural Context

Political skill is 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”(Ferris,2004). Recently, the research of Ahearn, Ferris, Hochwarter, Douglas and Ammeter proved the role of political skill plays in team performance.They argued that political works as a mediating variable to influence job performance,whereas their research did not directly test this mediating effect.In response to this gap, Treadway,Hochwarter,Ferris’ s article published on “the Leadership Quarterly”,tested the notions concerning the effects of leader political skill on employee reactions.As a construct of Organizational Behavior,its way of effecting and being effected varies in different culture,while research in China has not discussed the relation between the people who possess political skill and the people or notions which are influenced by the skill.In this study,we aim to test the effect of leader political skill on the leadership.Having concluded the theories on political skill, this study choose the indicator of employee’s mental and behavioral performance as the leadership.Using the questionnaire revised after the preliminary research,we conducted employee working in different companies in Henan Province.The result has shown that leader political skill significantly affect his leadership.In a more detailed way, leader’s interpersonal influence and networking ability affect employee’s organizational commitment.Leader’s interpersonal influence affects organizational behavior.Leader’s interpersonal influence and social astuteness have a significant effect on employee’s trust in management.Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.