Testing the Relationship between Interpersonal Political Skills, Altruism, Leadership Success and Effectiveness: A Multilevel Model

Abstract

This multi-level field study examined the relationship between interpersonal political skills, leader success and leader effectiveness and the moderating effect of altruism. Data were collected from 95 participants and 217 raters from four different organizations---a manufacturing firm, a public school system, a regional college and an international investment firm. Success and effectiveness were differentiated where success was objectively calculated as level within the organization over duration in the field. Effectiveness was defined as overall rater satisfaction with performance. A multilevel data analysis was conducted using hierarchical linear modeling. Significant relationships were found between social astuteness and altruism in predicting effectiveness, networking in predicting both success and effectiveness, altruism interacting with social astuteness to positively impact effectiveness, and altruism interacting with networking to negatively impact success. These findings lend support to the notion that serving others, or altruism is an important and vital component of leadership effectiveness, and that those who are more altruistic will not likely seek promotion opportunities as frequently. Networking strategies led to both leadership success and effectiveness. Overall, social skills are important factors in both leadership success and effectiveness.

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