It came as a surprise to discover in this research that those skills which relate to developing greater understanding were deemed to be less critical than the actual act of influencing. Our construct of political skill defined seven dimensions, three of which related...

A strong divergence of view was identified between men and women in our survey. Overall, women scored a mean of 4.90 compared to 4.50 for men (max. 5.0). This was not entirely unexpected, given the common notion that women tend to be more socially aware and concerned...

Generally it was found that more senior individuals place far more emphasis on political skill. This is perhaps no surprise, but does provide focus for developing more junior staff, particularly those with talent and potential. In addition to these differences being...

It was established in the literature review that researchers consider that political skill needs to be exercised in a social environment. This is consistent with experience in that in most cases, there is a strong need to influence individuals which, aside from...

To bring this article to a conclusion, we decided to comment on the implications of this work for those responsible for senior management development. These remarks may also be useful to individuals who are interested in developing their political skill. The first...