Chia-Yen Chiu

Political skill dimensions and transformational leadership in China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the sub-dimensions of political skill and transformational leadership, arguing that in a Chinese sample, social astuteness, networking ability, and interpersonal influence will have a stronger impact than apparent sincerity. Additionally, transformational leadership is argued to mediate the relationship between leader political skill and subordinate job performance. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a dyadic, cross-sectional design where all data were collected at a single point in time and supervisors were matched to their followers. Findings – The results support that transformational leadership mediates the relationship between leader political skill and follower performance. Additionally, social astuteness was positively related to leader charisma, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation; whereas, interpersonal influence was related to leader charisma and intellectual stimulation. Apparent sinceri...