Charn McAllister, Katie Alexander, Parker Ellen: Understanding ‘Workplace Deviance’ and How to Stop It

Welcome to The Green Room, glad you could join us if you just came over from listening to episode 228. This is our bonus conversation.

In this segment, I’m talking to Drs. Charn McCalister, B. Parker Ellen and Katherine Alexander to give you paid subscribers practical tools and strategies to make you more effective leaders. 

We begin our conversation by defining “political skill” and its relationship to emotional intelligence and the need to develop this critical but underutilized skill. Dr. McCalister says, “Leaders who have political skill are set up for success.” And, I might add, it predicts high performance even more so than emotional intelligence.

Questions I asked our distinguished scholars:

1. What specific strength or practice of ‘political skill’ is most applicable for leading in the trenches? (Hint: It has to do with your interpersonal aptitude)

2. If you’re a new manager, how would such a person take the necessary baby steps toward developing political skills?

3. What’s a good science-backed strategy for handling conflict in the workplace?

4. How can leaders balance the demands of achieving their own business goals and getting results while ensuring employee well-being and engagement?

At the conclusion, they give their parting words on becoming a good leader.