This is the Full Paper. Examing the relationship of emotional intelligence and political skill with effective educational leadership styles

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1 This is the Full Paper Examing the relationship of emotional intelligence and political skill with effective educational leadership s Taliadorou, N a., Pashiardis, P b. a Ph.D. student of Educational Leadership,Open University of Cyprus b Professor of Educational Leadership, Open University of Cyprus Abstract Schools, are political arenas where social skills are becoming important. In that way politically and emotionally skilled educational leaders combine social effectiveness skills with the capacity to adjust their behavior to different and changing situational demands in a manner that appears to be sincere, inspires support and trust, and effectively influences and controls the responses of others. In this study, we examine two of the most popular social constructs: emotional intelligence (EI; Salovey & Mayer, 1990) and political skill (Ferris et al., 2005). The main objective of this study is to explore the relationship of school leaders emotional intelligence and political skill with leadership s they adopt when leading their schools and the effect of the above constructs to their teachers job satisfaction. The findings will contribute to our understanding of how emotional intelligence and political skill affect principals leadership s and teachers job satisfaction. Also, policy makers could use the findings in order to enhance the quality of school leadership and education in general. Keywords: Emotional intelligence, political skill, school leadership, job satisfaction. Corresponding author: address: niktalia@hotmail.com (N. Taliadorou).

2 Examing the relationship of emotional intelligence and political skill with effective educational leadership s 1. Introduction A perspective shared by many academicians is that organizations- and why not school organizations, are inherently political arenas where social skills are becoming more important. Schools around the world have undergone a considerable transformation, from old to new models of schools infrastructure. The process is characterized by a shift from hierarchical, bureaucratic designs, to flatter, more networked, and more flexible designs. This transformation has demonstrated substantial impact on the role of school leaders. Traditionally, the managerial role has been perceived as external to the educational workforce; that is, focusing on planning, monitoring, controlling, and evaluating teachers. However, in contemporary school systems, the role has been broadened, and school leaders are now also expected to coach, motivate, inspire, facilitate, promote positive attitudes, create a sense of contribution and meaning with and among teachers, and coordinate teamwork. As such Pashiardis (2009) suggested that school leaders should become artists in the three f s: forming, facing and feeling public opinion. Arguably, effective performance of the managerial role in these new contexts is heavily dependent upon interpersonal skills (Cascio, 1995). Once social interactions are involved in leadership, emotional awareness and emotional regulation become important factors affecting the quality of the interactions. Leadership is embedded in a social context, and the idea of social intelligence as a required leadership trait is a powerful one. Leaders needed to play different roles at different times, and more importantly, good leaders had the ability to select the right roles (leadership s) for the situation. In that way politically and emotionally skilled educational leaders combine social effectiveness skills with the capacity to adjust their behavior to different and changing situational demands in a manner that appears to be sincere, inspires support and trust, and effectively influences and controls the responses of others. In this study, we examine two of the most popular social constructs: emotional intelligence (Salovey & Mayer, 1990) and political skill (Ferris et al., 2005). Research on the effects of leaders emotional skills on employees emotions and work attitudes is limited (Bono et al., 2007) and even less of the effects of their political skill. Emotional intelligence, however, is a multifaceted construct that comprises several different abilities and skills (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). The present study extends the existing research by examining the multilevel relationships between different facets of leaders EI skills, political skill, leadership s and subordinates job satisfaction. The main objective of this study is to explore the relationship of leaders emotional intelligence and political skill to leadership s they adopt when leading their schools and the effect of the above constructs to their teachers job satisfaction. This article is organized as follows. We first discuss the importance of EI for leaders as suggested in the leadership literature, and review the constructs of EI. Then, the political skill that leaders may have in order to be effective. In later sections of this paper, we propose our research questions and the methodology that we will follow. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the general

3 contribution of this study to the management and leadership literature on educational quality. 1.1 Emotional intelligence as a leadership quality In view of the complex and changing context of education, school leadership has gained growing attention by educational policy makers. As a result, various stakeholders have increased their expectations from school principals, demanding, for instance, higher academic results and performance standards. There is wide agreement about the need to have school leaders who exhibit the capacity to improve the quality of teaching and learning that takes place in their schools. School effectiveness as well as school improvement research has demonstrated the importance of the role of the leader in school life. Research evidence produced so far indicates that the principal s role is indeed crucial for improving students academic achievement (e.g. Marzano et al., 2005). As such, five leadership s were extracted and labelled. This was based on a thorough literature review over the last few decades on school leadership, educational governance and school effectiveness, and according to the heuristic theoretical framework as developed by Pashiardis and Brauckmann (2009). Each leadership consists of specific behaviours or practices which are likely to be exhibited by school principals: a) Instructional, representing leadership practices that enable achievement of instructional objectives. b) Participative, representing leadership practices that promote cooperation and commitment. c) Personnel Development, representing leadership practices that promote training and development of teachers. d) Entrepreneurial, representing leadership practices that promote the involvement of external actors. e) Structuring Style, representing leadership practices that promote establishment and implementation of clear rules. Many leadership researchers have also argued that effective leadership behavior fundamentally depends upon the leader s ability to solve complex social problems that arise in organizations (Mumford et al., 2000). Like others (Humphrey, 2002), we conceptualize leadership as a process of social influence through which a leader affects subordinates feelings, perceptions, and behavior. Additionally, leaders practices affect school climate that has direct effect at teachers job satisfaction (Bare- Oldham, 1999). Also, according to theories of human relations, leaders effectiveness can be measured in a relation to the level of teachers job satisfaction (Hall, 1994 in Bare-Oldham, 1999). Also, leaders emotions and emotional skills can influence subordinates emotion, emotional regulation, and motivation. Taking this idea a step further, Affective Events Theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) explicitly considers leaders as sources of affective events in the workplace, through which they can influence their employees attitudes and behaviors. Nevertheless, research on the effects of leaders emotional skills on employees emotions and work attitudes is limited (Bono et al., 2007). The few existing studies examining such questions typically conclude that leaders overall EI is positively related to both leaders and subordinates well-being and performance at work (Wong & Law, 2002). Emotional intelligence, however, is a multifaceted

4 construct that comprises several different abilities and skills (Mayer & Salovey, 2007). The present study extends the existing research by examining the multilevel relationships between different facets of leaders EI skills, leadership s, political skill and subordinates job satisfaction. The definition and domain of EI Although the specific concept of emotional intelligence has only been defined since the beginning of the 1990s (Mayer et al., 1990; Salovey & Mayer, 1990), interest in the interaction of emotions and intelligence is not new. Salovey and Mayer s ideas on emotional intelligence arise from Thorndike s (1920) work on social intelligence and Gardner s (1983) development of the constructs of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. In this study, we will use the Mayer and Salovey (1997) definition of EI as a set of interrelated skills concerning four distinct dimensions: 1. Appraisal and expression of emotion in the self (self emotional appraisal [SEA]). This relates to the individual s ability to understand their deep emotions and be able to express these emotions naturally. 2. Appraisal and recognition of emotion in others (others emotional appraisal [OEA]). This relates to peoples ability to perceive and understand the emotions of those people around them. 3. Regulation of emotion in the self (regulation of emotion [ROE]). This relates to the ability of people to regulate their emotions, which will enable a more rapid recovery from psychological distress. 4. Use of emotion to facilitate performance (use of emotion [UOE]). This relates to the ability of individuals to make use of their emotions by directing them towards constructive activities and personal performance. As some scientists suggest (Zeidner et al., 2004; Ashkanasy et al., 2002) there has been little empirical evidence to support the importance of EI in the workplace and that most of the claims remain anecdotal and unproved. However, the review from the latest research and experiments on EI provide analysis with new evidence. The data show the role that EI plays in regard to quality and problem solving (Rahim, Minors, 2003), conflict resolution (Jordan, Troth, 2004), an impact of emotional intelligence on individual performance (Thi Lam, Kirby, 2002), management performance (Langhorn, 2004), relationship between EI and transformational leadership (Mandell & Pherwani, 2003) as well as leadership emergence in self managing teams (Wolff, Pescosolido & Druskat, 2002). EI and effective leadership The focus on the leader s ability to manage complex social and personal dynamics, centered in the concept of emotional intelligence, has made the role of emotions in organizations prominent in the leadership literature (e.g., Cann, 2004). Efforts to apply emotional intelligence to leadership have started to emerge in the literature (e.g., Caruso, Mayer, & Salovey, 2002) and have coincided with findings that emotional intelligence is a strong requisite for effective leadership (e.g., Higgs & Aitken, 2003). Nevertheless, research on the effects of leaders emotional skills on employees emotions and work attitudes is limited (Bono et al., 2007). The few existing studies

5 examining such questions typically conclude that leaders overall EI is positively related to both leaders and subordinates well-being and performance at work (Sy, Tram, & O Hara, 2006; Wong & Law, 2002). Greenleaf (1977) proposes servant leaders bring inspiration, reflection, empathy, foresight and intuition, perceptivity, and relational aptitude to their service which involve emotional intelligence within the leaders. Also, organisational leaders who are high on EI, in concert with a supportive organisational climate and the human resources team, may affect the relationship in the work setting, which, in turn, impacts upon group and individual EI and organisational commitment (Cherniss, 2001). From an interactionist-communicative perspective (Riggio & Reichard, 2008) there is evidence suggesting that leaders EI skills and subordinates work outcomes are related. Recently, there has been some evidence concerning relationships between leaders EI and subordinates job satisfaction and performance. Wong and Law (2002) found that managers EI was positively related to subordinates job satisfaction. These findings were supported and extended by Sy et al. (2006) who found that managers self-perceived EI was positively related to subordinates job satisfaction and performance, independent of subordinates Big Five personality traits. As we explain above each of the emotional skill contribute to the leadership effectiveness. First, awareness of emotion in the self can contribute to a clarification of emotions, and clarification of emotions has been shown to contribute to low stress levels (Salovey et al., 1995). Church (1997) found that leader self-awareness led to greater management performance and that self-monitoring was positively related to selfawareness. Followers rated leaders who were high in self-awareness as more effective than those who lacked self-awareness (Sosik & Megerian, 1999). Church and Waclawski (1999) found that direct-report staffers rated transformational leaders significantly higher on all behaviors than they did transactional (exchange process) leaders and that transformational leaders were significantly more self-aware regarding the practice of these behaviors. Rosete and Ciarocchi (2005) found that leaders ability to perceive one s own emotions were positively related to leadership effectiveness and to leaders actual performance. Their results also included the ability to perceive other peoples emotions as a predictor of leaders performance. Similarly, Kerr et al. (2006) found that managers scoring higher on the Experiential Area of the ability MSCEIT (which includes perception of others emotions) were rated as more effective leaders by their employees. Transformational leadership theories consider the ability to understand others emotions as a skill that effective leaders need (Bass & Avolio, 1994). Researchers examining the relationship between EI and leadership argue that empathy, as a key aspect of EI, contributes to effective leadership (Kellett, Humphrey, & Sleeth, 2006). Using the WLEIS (an instrument that will be also employed in this study) Wong and Law (2002) found that managers self-reported accuracy in perceiving others emotions was positively associated with employees job satisfaction. Generally speaking, job satisfaction is an affective response to one s situation at work. Thus, teacher job satisfaction refers to a teacher s affective relation to his or her teaching role and is a function of the perceived relationship between what one wants from

6 teaching and what one perceives it is offering to a teacher (Zembylas & Papanastasiou, 2004). Also, there is some evidence that leaders use of emotion may have beneficial effects for followers. In Kerr et al. s study (2006), the MSCEIT dimension of using emotion was related more positively to employees ratings of leaders effectiveness than leaders emotion recognition abilities. Although the research evidence on the effects of this particular dimension of leaders EI skills is limited, related theory and research (e.g., Brundin et al., 2008) suggest that using emotions has beneficial outcomes on employees motivation, through cognitive and affective routes. For example, Sy et al. (2005) demonstrated experimentally that leaders affectivity could raise (or lower) followers mood. Finally, emotion regulation is considered an important leadership skill that influences subordinates positive work emotion and attitudes (Newcombe & Ashkanasy, 2002). Recently, Glasø and Einarsen (2008) found that leaders regulate their emotions more than followers, and Zampetakis and Kafetsios (2009) found that subordinates perceptions of the emotion regulation skills of their leaders were positively related to subordinates entrepreneurial behavior. Our study intends to examine another important social construct, the political skill (Ferris et al., 2005), that maybe leaders ought to have in order to be effective, because school organizations, are inherently political arenas where social skills are becoming more important. In this regard, it is assumed that although performance, effectiveness, and career success are determined in part by intelligence and hardwork, other factors such as social astuteness, positioning, and savvy also play important roles (e.g., Luthans, Hodgetts, &Rosenkrantz, 1988). 1.2 Political skill as leadership quality Political skill is a work-related social effectiveness construct that may help increase our understanding of influence processes in organizations, and human resources decisions and actions. As such another purpose of the present study is to examine school leaders political skill effects on their leadership and subordinates job satisfaction. Definition and specification of the construct domain Mintzberg (1983) argued that to be successful in such political arenas, individuals need to possess political skill. Competitive demands and complex environments have made organizations increasingly more political. If Mintzberg (1985) was correct in categorizing organizations as political arenas, then, perhaps, we too should be interested in the political behavior of organizational managers and leaders. Leader political skill, as conceptualized by a number of writers (e.g., Ferris, Kolodinsky, et al., 2001), combines the ability to exert control in social situations, along with the capacity to cultivate one s social network and social capital. Similarly, it is seen as a critical competency in recent attempts to model leadership as a political phenomenon (Ammeter et al., 2002).

7 In an effort to capture the essential nature of the construct as Ferris et al. (1999), Mintzberg (1983), and others discussed, we define political skill as the ability to effectively understand others at work, and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one s personal and/or organizational objectives (Ahearn et al., 2004: 311). As such, politically skilled individuals combine social astuteness with the capacity to adjust their behavior to different and changing situational demands in a manner that appears to be sincere, inspires support and trust, and effectively influences and controls the responses of others. The four dimensions of political skill (i.e., social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and apparent sincerity) are assumed to be related to one another. Although the dimensions are presumed to correlate, they remain distinct constructs. Social astuteness. Individuals possessing political skill are astute observers of others. They understand social interactions well and accurately interpret their behavior and the behavior of others. Interpersonal influence. Politically skilled individuals have an unassuming and convincing personal that exerts a powerful influence on others around them. Networking ability. Individuals with political skill are adept at identifying and developing diverse contacts and networks of people. Apparent sincerity. Politically skilled individuals appear to others as having high levels of integrity and as being authentic, sincere, and genuine. Political skill and effective leadership Political skill, as previously discussed, involves going beyond mere ease and facility of interaction and manages these interactions with others in influential ways that lead to individual and organizational goal accomplishment amid rapidly changing contexts (Perrewé et al., 2002). Additionally, social capital increases reputational benefits for the individual, which are believed to favorably influence others reactions. Reputation is important to leadership because making a positive impression on others is one of the primary competencies of effective leadership (Zenger & Folkman, 2002). Thus, political skill provides the social astuteness, behavioral flexibility, and adaptability necessary to effectively address the needs and aspirations of others in ways that favorably influence their work reactions and behaviors, and thus affect the climate of the work unit. Furthermore, political skill influences others impressions of trust and support in the person, perceptions of competence and credibility, and outcome measures, such as increased member job satisfaction and citizenship behavior, and reduced intent to turnover (Ahearn et al., 2004). Treadway et al. (2004) found leader political skill to be directly related to subordinate perceptions of organizational support, and indirectly related to trust, job satisfaction, and organizational cynicism. Douglas and Ammeter (2004) found that subordinate perceptions of leaders political skill significantly predicted leader effectiveness ratings, after controlling for leader demographic and social skill variables. Also, Kotter (2001) posited that leaders must create and get employees to buy into the vision, and employees must collectively implement or carry out the vision. Simply put, because of the needed collaboration between leaders and employees, political

8 skill is important to this process. In formulating a vision, leaders attempt to get others to buy into their vision, and, in doing so, they try to create self-schemas for the followers to match the vision (Sims & Lorenzi, 1992). In this instance, leaders might rely on reputation, networking and positioning, and positive impressions to generate support for their vision. However, when leaders establish a vision derived from the collective understanding of what the group or organizational members hope to accomplish (Raelin, 2006), requiring leaders to use influence tactics that support greater involvement and network building. Another quality we see associated with leadership probably more than any other is charisma, which is variously referred to as a special quality or charm that tends to inspire people to follow a vision or course of action (e.g., Gardner & Avolio, 1998). Charisma and political skill would appear to be quite closely related. That is, politically skilled leaders are effective because they astutely read contexts, situationally adjust, adapt, and calibrate their behavior to create the desired image, leverage their social capital to further reinforce their image, and do all this in a sincere, authentic, and convincing way (Douglas, Ferris, & Perrewé, 2005). Charismatic people have been argued to easily adjust to different situations, and effectively read others interests, motivations, and emotions (Greer, 2005). Considering all the constructs we analyzed, we propose to test the model shown in Fig. 1. School Leaders social skills School leaders Emotional Intelligence self emotional appraisal others emotional appraisal regulation of emotion use of emotion School leaders Political skill Social astuteness Interpersonal influence Networking ability Apparent sincerity Effective school leadership Instructional Participative Personnel Development Entrepreneurial Structuring Style Teachers Job Satisfaction Figure 1. The recommended conceptual framework of the study

9 2. Methodology 2.1 The aims of the study The main objective of this study is to explore the relationship of school leaders emotional intelligence and political skill with leadership s they adopt when leading their schools and the effect of the above constructs to their teachers job satisfaction (Figure 2). More specifically, this study attempts to identify: a) the extent to which leaders emotional intelligence skills and political skill affect the leadership s of school leaders b) the extent to which leaders emotional intelligence skills and political skill affect teachers job satisfaction c) the extent to which leaders emotional intelligence skills affect their political skill and vice versa d) the extent to which leaders leadership s affect teachers job satisfaction Participants We decided to focus on leader-follower social interactions within an educational setting because this is an organizational setting in which emotion labor and affect at work play important roles for employee outcomes. For example, school leaders are considered the main source of teachers positive and negative affect at work (Schmidt, 2000), and emotion contagion processes are important for teachers burnout and work outcomes (Bakker & Schaufeli, 2000). Participants will be all cypriot primary school leaders (N=317) and their teachers. Five teachers will rate each leader. School leaders and teachers will be approached independently to participate in the study. Both leader and teacher survey will confidentially be completed by participants and return directly to the researcher. For our purposes, we will be treating teachers as nested within school leaders because leaders typically have numerous subordinates under them, as is the case with our data.

10 Model 1a/1b Examining the relationship of emotional intelligence and political skill with effective leadership s. S.E. O.E. R.E. U.E. S.A. N.A. I.I. A.S. Leaders Emotional Intelligence (Mayer et al., 1999) Leaders Political Skill (Ferris et al, 2005) Personnel Development Style Instructional Style Structuring Style Participative Style Entrepreneurial Style Effective Educational Leadership HOLISTIC LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK PASHIARDIS BRAUCKMANN Model 1a Teachers Professional Satisfaction Model 1b Model 2 S.E. O.E. R.E. U.E. S.A. N.A. I.I. A.S. Leaders Emotional Intelligence (Mayer et al., 1999) Leaders Political Skill (Ferris et al, 2005) S.E.: Self emotional appraisal O.E.: Other s emotional appraisal R.E.: Regulation of emotion in the self U.E.: Use of \\ emotion to facilitate performance Teachers Professional Satisfaction S.A.: Social astuteness I.I.: Interpersonal influence N.A.: Networking ability A.S.: Apparent sincerity Figure 2. Conceptual model

11 Survey Measures School leaders will be asked to complete the Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS, Wong & Law, 2002; in Greek, Kafetsios & Zampetakis, 2008) and the Political Skill Inventory (PSI, Ferris et al. s, 2005). Effective school leadership s used by school leaders will be assesed by using the scale from the School Leadership Questionnaire (Pashiardis & Brauckmann, 2009) completed by teachers. Teachers will also complete the General Index of Job Satisfaction (Brayfield & Rothe, 1951). Emotional intelligence. We will use the self-report Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS, Wong & Law, 2002; in Greek, Kafetsios & Zampetakis, 2008). The scale has 16 items and has four subscales corresponding to the four components of EI suggested by Mayer and Salovey (1997). The Self-Emotion Appraisal (SEA) subscale measures people s self-perceived ability to understand their own emotions (e.g., I have a good sense of why I have certain feelings ). The Appraisal of Others Emotion (AOE) subscale measures a person s ability to perceive other peoples emotions (e.g., I always know my friends emotion from their behaviour ). The Use of Emotion (UOE) subscale measures the self-perceived tendency to motivate one self to enhance performance (e.g., I would always encourage myself to try the best ). The Regulation of Emotion (ROE) subscale measures individuals ability to regulate their own emotions (e.g., I am able to control my temper and handle difficulties rationally ). School Leadership. We will use the self-report School Leadership Questionnaire (Pashiardis & Brauckmann, 2009). The scale has 46 items and has five subscales corresponding to the five components of school leadership s suggested by Pashiardis & Brauckmann, The five school leadership s are Instructional, Participative, Personnel Development, Entrepreneurial, and Structuring Style. Political skill. Leader political skill will be measured using Ferris et al. s (2005) 18- item scale. We will translate into Greek the Political Skill Inventory (PSI) with some items modified to enhance the naturalism of the translations. The PSI is comprised of 18 items, and uses a 7-point Likert-type scale that ranges between 1 = low, and 7 = high. Sample items include I spend a lot of time and effort at work networking with others, I am able to make most people feel comfortable and at ease around me, and I am particularly good at sensing the motivations and hidden agendas of others, and I try to show a genuine interest in other people. Job satisfaction. We will use the Greek version of the General Index of Job Satisfaction (Brayfield & Rothe, 1951). The scale has 12 items such as I am generally satisfied with my current job and I consider my job rather unpleasant. The process of development for the Greek version of political skill questionnaire The development of the Greek version of Political Skill Inventory (PSI: Ferris et al. s, 2005) will follow three phases. At the beginning, the translation of the questionnaire from the English language to the Greek language will be undertaken. Then, the content and face validity of each questionnaire will be examined. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis approaches will be employed in order to examine the

12 construct validity of the questionnaire. The reliability of the scale will also be calculated. Figure 3. The process of data collection Phase Duration Objective 1η 2η 3η December 2010 January 2011 June 2011 The validation (piloting) of the Greek version of the Political Skill Inventory. Measurement of the explanatory variables school leaders (leadership s, emotional intelligence and political skill) and teachers (job satisfaction). Data analysis The data analysis Two statistical techniques will be used to analyze the data: descriptive and multivariate. Hypotheses will be tested by using descriptive statistics and especially multivariate analyses, such as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. For the statistical purposes of exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistics, correlations, reliability evaluation we will use the SPSS statistical program. Although, because of the complex nature of the hypothetical research models, for the confirmatory factor analysis purposes we will use the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques. In its broadest sense, SEM models represent translations of a series of hypothesized cause-effect relationships between variables of a series of hypothesis concerning patterns of statistical dependencies (Shipley, 2000). The relationships are described by parameters that indicate the magnitude of the effect (direct or indirect) that independent variables (either observed or latent) have on dependent variables (either observed or latent). By enabling the translation of hypothesized relationships into testable mathematical models, SEM offers researchers a comprehensive method for the quantification and testing of theoretical models. Once a theory has been proposed, it can then be tested against empirical data. The process of testing a proposed theoretical model is commonly referred to as the confirmatory aspect of SEM (Raykov & Marcoulides, 2000). Another aspect of SEM is the so-called exploratory mode. This aspect allows for theory development and often involves repeated applications of the same data in order to explore potential relationships between variables of interest (either observed or latent). In the present study we will test whether school leaders EI trait and political skill mediated fully or partially the relationship between leadership s and teachers job satisfaction in the context of Structural Equation Modelling using the maximum likelihood estimation method. Prior to the analysis, data screening will be performed and data will be tested for deviation from normality. Following Hall, Snell, and Foust (1999) we will form item parcels on the basis of factor analysis in order to control for inflated measurement errors and improve the psychometric properties of the variables. We will use a two-stage analytic procedure: in stage 1 the four-factor model will fit to the data and then a measurement model specifying perfect correlation among all four latent variables will assess to test overall discriminability. The one-factor model also

13 provides a test for common method bias. We will employ several model fit statistics (RMSEA: Root Mean Square Error Approximation; CFI: Comparative Fit Index; GFI: Goodness of Fit Index; RMR: Root Mean Square Residual; AIC: Akaike Information Criterion; Shook, Ketchen, Hult, & Kacmar, 2004). In order to select among the competing structural models we will apply model selection for SEM (Raftery, 1993). Also, we will employ a stepwise strategy in model selection, which includes forward selection and backward elimination features. We will use Steiger s Power Analysis (StatSoft, 2001) to estimate SEM model-level power. Finally, we will use bootstrapping procedures (resampled 1000 times and used the percentile method to create 95% confidence intervals). By using the EQS program the first hypothetical model (1a) is: SE OE UO RO SA AS II NA Leaders Leaders Leaders Political We will use Emotional multilevel modeling procedures because OLS Political analyses Skill Skill provide less accurate (and Intelligence Intelligence sometimes misleading) estimates of relationship. Such advantages are explained in Raudenbush and Bryk (2002), and a discussion of these issues as they pertain to social psychological research can be found in Nezlek (2008). Therefore, in the remaining of this discussion we will review evidence for relationships between separate EI and PS dimensions and work-related affect both at the teacher (job satisfaction) and leader level (leadership s), and we will discuss research relevant to understanding cross-level leadership effects on teachers (i.e., relationships between leaders Instructional EI and teachers Participative job satisfaction). Entrepreneurial Personnel Structuring The model 1a supposes that leaders emotional intelligence and political skill constructs affect the leadership they adopt in every day working life at school. In other words, we want to examine whether the first constructs are responsible for a high percentage for the differentiation among the leaders leadership s. Also, we suppose that there is a bidirectional relation among leaders emotional intelligence skills and their political skill.

14 The second model (1b) supposes that leaders leadership affect teachers job satisfaction, in a high percentage. Instructional Participative Personnel Entrepreneurial Structuring Teachers Job Satisfaction The model 2 supposes that leaders emotional intelligence and political skill constructs affect teachers job satisfaction. SEA OEA UOE ROE SA AS II NA Leaders Emotional Intelligence Leaders Political Skill Teachers Job satisfaction

15 Importance of our survey The originality and importance of this study stems from the fact that there is no other research which examines the relationship of emotional intelligence and political skill with effective educational leadership s proposed by Pashiardis and Brauckmann (2009). Also, we adopt the assumption that emotional intelligence is a multifaceted construct that comprises several different abilities and skills (Mayer & Salovey, 2007) and is the political skill. In that way, the present study extends the existing research by examining the multilevel relationships between different facets of leaders EI skills and their political skill with their leadership s and teachers job satisfaction. Furthermore, there is limited amount of research, about relationships between leaders EI and teachers work attitudes. This lack of research is particularly noticeable given the consistent evidence that leaders influence subordinates affective reactions at work (e.g., Bono et al., 2007). Therefore, this study will explore the relationship of school leaders emotional intelligence and political skill with leadership s they adopt when leading their schools and the effect of the above constructs to their teachers job satisfaction. The findings will contribute to our understanding of how emotional intelligence and political skill affect principals leadership s and teachers job satisfaction. Schools around the world have undergone a considerable transformation, from old to new models of schools infrastructure. The process is characterized by a shift from hierarchical, bureaucratic designs, to flatter, more networked, and more flexible designs. This transformation has demonstrated substantial impact on the role of school leaders. Once social interactions are involved in leadership, emotional awareness and emotional regulation become important factors affecting the quality of the interactions. Also, leadership is embedded in a social context, and the idea of social intelligence as a required leadership trait is a powerful one. Leaders needed to play different roles at different times, and more importantly, good leaders had the ability to select the right roles (leadership s) for the situation. When a leader expresses emotions through relationships and friendships that are created within the organization this is a sign of organizational health. Current research indicates that there is increasing importance being placed on emotions and relationships and how they exert an influence on those we lead within an organization (Pashiardis 1998, Zembylas 2007). In addition to exhibiting these emotions, Pashiardis (2009) argues that educational leaders of the future need to use their emotions, feelings and sense of egalitarianism even more than they do currently. Futhermore, schools are political arenas where social skills are becoming important. In that way politically and emotionally skilled educational leaders combine social effectiveness skills with the capacity to adjust their behavior to different and changing situational demands in a manner that appears to be sincere, inspires support and trust, and effectively influences and controls the responses of others. Therefore, we believe that educational researchers should examine the social skills that an effective school leader should have, not only concentrate at the logistical school conditions. Leaders should be empowered with social skills that will help them to lead the human resource to achieve school omission. We believe that our survey will have important applications for both leadership literature and for EI and political skill theory. First, the findings will be of interest for educational policy makers as they introduce a necessary skepticism regarding the

16 social skills school leaders choose to use to assess and ultimately improve their interactions with subordinates, in order to be effective. Our research suggests that to be more effective, school leaders may need to apply, and interpret differently, assessment and training practices and methods that target specific components of EI and political skill, as a function of the disciplinary context too. Moreover, the results of our study may prove useful for evaluating and training school leaders from different disciplines at organizational entry in terms of their political and EI skills. Additionally, we believe that the present study will contribute to our understanding of the roles of emotional and political skills in social interactions and will have important implications for educational management practice. Also, they may call for closer consideration of the practical consequences of the managerial role of regulating and controlling own emotionality for the subordinates emotionality and work outcomes as well as for the organization. Further, theoretically, the results will highlight the roles emotions play in organizational settings and address the issues that are the focus of several theories of emotion at work (e.g., Affective Events Theory, Emotional Intelligence, and Emotional labor). Importantly, the results will demonstrate the importance of considering the interaction between organizational roles and person level social attributes (emotional intelligence and political skill), an issue that has recently created considerable interest. References Ahearn, K. K., Ferris, G. R., Hochwarter, W. A., Douglas, C., & Ammeter, A. P Leader political skill and team performance. Journal of Management. 30: Ammeter, A. P., Douglas, C., Gardner,W. L., Hochwarter,W. A., & Ferris, G. R Toward a political theory of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 13: Ashkanasy, N. M., Hartel, C. E. J., & Daus, C. S. (2002). Diversity and emotion: the new frontiers in organizational behavior research. Journal of Management, 28, Bakker, A. B. & Schaufeli, W. B. (2000). Burnout contagion processes among teachers. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, Bare- Oldham, K.M. (1999). An examination of the perceived leadership s of Kentucky public school principals as determinants of teacher job satisfaction. Dissertation submitted to the educational Leadership Department College of Human resource and education of West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of education, Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B.J. (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Bono, E. J., Foldes, H. J., Vinson, G, & Muros, P. J. (2007). Workplace emotions: The role of supervision and leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92 (5), Brayfield, A. and Rothe, H. (1951) An index of job satisfaction, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 35, pp Brundin, E., Patzelt, H., & Shepherd, D. A. (2008). Managers' emotional displays and employees' willingness to act entrepreneurially. Journal of Business Venturing, 23, Cann, A. (2004). Rated importance of personal qualities across four relationships. The Journal of Social Psychology, 144,

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