RESEARCH PROJECTS UNDERWAY &
IN THE MAKING
Rachel Kane-Frieder
Florida State University
Who Am I?
• 4th year doctoral candidate studying politics,
leadership, employee and organizational
effectiveness, and statistics
• Teaching “Contemporary Leadership Dynamics”
• Dissertation on political and relational view of
leadership
Dissertation: Leader Political Skill, Work Relationship
Quality, and Multi-Target Benefitting Outcomes
• Leadership involves getting things accomplished through
and with people
– But self-interest, diverging points of view, and “interesting”
personalities exist; teams/groups/departments (sometimes) have
conflicting goals
• Takes a certain finesse to navigate through the
aforementioned realities
– It takes POLITICAL SKILL
Dissertation: Leader Political Skill, Work Relationship
Quality, and Multi-Target Benefitting Outcomes (cont.)
• Political Skill: Ability to effectively understand others at work
and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways
that enhance personal and/or organizational objectives
• Comprised of 4 dimensions
– Social Astuteness: self-aware, sensitive to others & social setting
– Interpersonal Influence: effective communicators; adapt
behavior
– Apparent Sincerity: appear genuine, sincere, & devoid
of ulterior motives
– Networking Ability: position oneself in powerful
networks; adept conflict negotiators
Dissertation: Leader Political Skill, Work Relationship
Quality, and Multi-Target Benefitting Outcomes (cont.)
Leader-Benefitting
Outcomes
• Effectiveness
• Sub. extra effort
• Sub. job performance
Subordinate-Benefitting
Outcomes
• Job satisfaction
• Work engagement
• Job stress (↓)
Organization-Benefitting
Outcomes
• Org. commitment
• Citizenship behavior
• Perceived org. support
• Turnover intentions (↓)
What Does My Research Focus On?
Effectiveness
Organizational
Politics
Leadership
(+/−)
Organizational Politics
• How Politically Skilled Agents Leverage Social Networks
to Maximize Performance and Effective Client
Relationships
• I love Me, But is That So Bad? The Self-Regulatory
Function of Political Skill on Narcissism
Leadership (+/−)
• Can Politically Skilled Leaders Reduce Subordinates’
Perceptions of Differential Treatment?
• Reactions to Perceived Abusive Supervision: Knee-Jerk
Reactions or Judicious Reactions to a Jerk?
Effectiveness & Performance
• Social Effectiveness Showdown: What Interpersonal Skills
are Most Predictive of Performance?
• Performance as a Function of Political Motivations,
Political Abilities and the Political Context
• On the horizon: Empowerment, Engagement,
Resiliency, & Humility
If I’ve piqued your interest…
• If you think your organization can benefit from any of
these studies, let’s chat!
• My contact information:
– Email: rek09@my.fsu.edu
– Phone: 352-275-9584
Thank you for your time!
Questions?