Political skill and informal leader emergence: The role of relationships, competence and outcome interdependence

Abstract

Political skill facilitates political influence, enabling individuals to distinguish themselves within an organization. The influence of political skill operates through three primary processes: interpersonal, behavioural and intrapsychic. These processes provide a comprehensive understanding of how political skill functions within an organizational context. According to political influence theory, we propose that political skill can promote informal leader emergence through its interpersonal process, which enhances team member relationship quality, and its behavioural process, which demonstrates peer-perceived competence. Furthermore, by integrating political influence theory with social interdependence theory, we identify outcome interdependence as a mechanism that elicits intrapsychic processes, specifically as a moderator that influences the indirect effect of political skill on informal leader emergence. Results from two multi-wave, multi-sourced studies provide empirical support for the notion that political skill encourages employees to emerge as informal leaders within a team by increasing team member relationship quality and peer-perceived competence. Additionally, outcome interdependence amplifies the indirect and positive effects of political skill on informal leader emergence. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.