The phrase “being politically savvy” at work always raises eyebrows. When I wrote my first book on the power of positive politics, I found that almost every leadership competency template had a reference to political savvy, political awareness or political skill. But hardly any organization offered programs to develop this skill (and it is a skill). I’ve attended many a talent development meeting where careers are moved upward or derailed; the discussions on political savvy were often significant for those moving ahead.
As the world of work has changed, do political skills (savvy) have a role to play? Recent global research clearly affirms its importance. My forthcoming book will further explore the value of political skills cross-culturally to drive both corporate performance and careers.
Political skill represents a potentially important social-effectiveness measure that can add productively to the expanded job performance
-Gerhard Blickle, University of Bonn
Today’s automation and AI play a significant role in transforming the workplace. But make no mistake that social skills will be in higher demand. Gerhard Blickle (and colleagues) at the University of Bonn wrote that “political skill represents a potentially important social-effectiveness measure that can add productively to the expanded job performance.” His research showed that political skill includes intuition, interpersonal, adaptable, “with a calm sense of self-confidence that promotes credibility in the eyes of others because it inspires confidence and builds trustworthiness.”
