Joan Roberts Consulting

I  was just doing some training with a predominately female workplace. The participants shuddered when I used the word political.  To so many, politics is still a dirty word.

Yet many NPO and public service positions require the competency of political acumen. So those who view political skills with a negative lens won’t be able to progress unless they develop the skill.

What comes to mind when you hear this term? Do you call someone with political acumen a political animal, a master manipulator, a player? 

Yet last week we were so delighted to see President Obama work his charm on traditional US foes like Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. What was that charm offensive anyway but a political skills at work.

In a U Calgary study I came across recently, http://www.ucalgary.ca/~iejll/volume9/mcginn.htm