How to recognize politically competent leaders

The expression “political competence” comes from the junction of two terms political will and political skill. Organizational Politics deals with the informal dimension of organizations and the management of social interactions in the work environment. Despite being seen predominantly as negative, many scholars regard politics as a neutral concept. In recent decades, research has emerged that positively relates this competence to leadership effectiveness, facilitation of the performance of followers, support in the mobilization of coalitions, and management of sharing meaning, thus demonstrating its positive perspective.

The notion of politics arises from the idea that, when interests are divergent, society must offer means that help individuals to reconcile their differences through consultation and negotiation, thus avoiding totalitarian forms and rules. The political influence system is described as one that forces the “responsible person” to fight for what he believes is right, encourages a variety of “voices” that need to be heard on a given issue and each “voice” is forced to draw its own conclusions about the needs of the company as a whole.

Political competence is used to describe the human abilities to interact and effectively influence the workplace towards a goal. This concept is associated with the exercise of influence devoid of and independent of formal power.

In this context, it is necessary for the professional to have both the will and the political skills. Therefore, it is important to consider the combination, or interaction, of motivation and skill in terms of their ability to predict or explain job performance.

“Political will” is the influencer’s willingness to spend their social capital in pursuit of their goals. However, it is not uncommon for people to silence their voices even when they have something important to say or contribute. This lack of “political will” can be due to several factors, whether personal, social or environmental or a combination of them. Individuals with higher levels of political will (i.e. motivation) will be much more likely to engage in political behavior, in which case their level of political skill becomes much more relevant.

“Political skill” describes the ability to identify and understand the subtleties, intentions, and needs of your organization, co-workers, supervisors, and customers, as well as having the competence to strategically modify your own behavior to influence your work environment.

There are four dimensions considered critical of political skill: perceived sincerity, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and social astuteness.

Perceived sincerity is at the heart of political skill and what makes it happen. To inspire trust and confidence in the long term, it is believed that the most effective influence is one that is done in an honest, empathetic, and genuine way. This is because this dimension involves being able to exert influence in a way that does not appear or provoke the feeling of trying to influence. However, some people the attempt to influence overdo it or push too hard, so they end up being seen as manipulative, which causes the target of influence to question their motives and react in a negative way.

Interpersonal Influence is related to an effective communication style, the development of good relationships, knowing how to create synergy, and focusing on a high character objective. Professionals with this skill are perceived as good people to associate with them, they have charisma and are able to make themselves liked. This competence is related to the ability and motivation to make people feel comfortable around you. It is also related to flexibility, the power of adaptation, and the ability to shape behavior for each situation.

Networking Skills can be defined as the ability to identify, develop and use diverse contacts and relationship networks, forming strong and beneficial alliances. These professionals are always willing and know how to relate to others and position themselves properly and create opportunities. They are considered good negotiators, and know how to make agreements, and manage conflicts. They gain sympathy for their ideas, access to information, cooperation, and trust. They are seen as people who have the intention of reciprocity and inspire commitment.

Social Astuteness is about the ability to understand others (their feelings, desires, personality, and hidden agendas). In addition to a good understanding of social interactions and interpretation of their own behavior. Individuals with this ability are keenly aware of social diversities and are self-aware and astute observers.

For this reason, using the term political competence makes it possible to associate the use of “will” and “political skill” in a functional way. Since the broad concept of competence includes inputs (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and products (results, production, and deliveries that add value to the organization).

The term competence referring to people was defined as knowing how to act responsibly, which implies mobilizing, integrating, and transferring knowledge, resources, and skills that add economic value to the organization and social value to individuals.

Political skill is not a single skill or trait but brings together skills that are mutually reinforcing and reflect an integrated set of components that is consistent, making it possible to influence others to act in ways that advance personal and organizational goals.

We live in an era of increasing complexity, uncertainty, and interdependence. In this context, leadership takes on other contours and its performance extends beyond the leader-follower relationship to also involve peers, superiors, strategic partners, and customers. In this sense, the legitimacy of leadership is supported by the aggregation of value for all stakeholders and the leader starts to act in different “political arenas”. So, developing political competence can be a great differentiator for leaders to fight for what they believe is right, mobilizing people in favor of a common objective and creating a more participatory, humane, and sustainable environment.