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Sustainability
Sustainability change agents: change agents
leveraging political skill
and reputation
Vickie Coleman Gallagher, Tracy H. Porter and Kevin P. Gallagher 181
Department of Management, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Received 25 January 2018
Revised 22 February 2019
20 May 2019
Abstract Accepted 26 August 2019
Purpose – Sustainability initiatives are important considerations for twenty-first century institutions.
Employees, customers and other stakeholders expect responsible business practices that focus on people,
profit and planet in unison. Sustainability efforts require a strong advocate who can champion relevant
business practices and embed new practices within the culture and across the entire organization.
The purpose of this paper is to explain the tangible actions described as necessary by change agents in order
to move sustainability initiatives forward in their organizations. This research employs the narrative
provided by these agents in interviews – to inform the activities outlined in an established model of political
skill and reputation building. This analysis enables the model to illustrate the sequential patterns and process
of events, i.e. antecedents and consequences that are simply assumed in the existing variance models.
Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on in-depth qualitative interviews with the
sustainability managers from a variety of organization and industry contexts (e.g. building products,
hospitals, banking, energy, environmental and manufacturing).
Findings – The exploration of sustainability initiatives reveals the importance of the change agent’s reputation
for building trust in their organizations. Reputation is fostered through political skill and persuasion, while
leveraging social capital.
Research limitations/implications – The research is rich in the depth of individual-level phenomena,
thereby highlighting the skills necessary to enact change within a variety of industries. However, given the
limited sample size, macro-level issues cannot be addressed.
Practical implications – Political skill is a teachable skill that is enhanced through mentoring and
coaching. Sustainability initiatives and their organizations can benefit from leveraging persons with strong
reputations to facilitate change. When lacking, persons with content knowledge can be groomed to grow their
reputation, network, persuasion and political skills.
Social implications – Sustainability is vital to the future of our earth and humanity. Business and society
would benefit from the growth of this phenomenon.
Originality/value – The authors aim to help change agents achieve their objectives through consideration
of not just the goals, but the process as well.
Keywords Sustainability, Change agents, Narrative, Reputation, Political skill, Process model
Paper type Research paper

Interest in sustainability among organizational leaders is growing and much of this interest
is based on the desire to create a better world (Aragon-Correa et al., 2017). Organizations are
looking for advice on how best to bring sustainability into their organizations and create
lasting change that is beneficial. This research aims to illuminate how change agents can
help to facilitate sustainability initiatives. We view their approaches from a process
perspective (Mohr, 1982), i.e. a pattern of events that together create a sequence of activities.
We explain this sequence of events by leveraging a well-established variance model of
political skill (Brouer et al., 2015; Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway,
Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005; Ferris et al., 2007) to help us
organize and explain the way our interview subjects described their efforts.
Sustainability is defined as “corporate activities which proactively seek to contribute to Journal of Organizational Change
Management
sustainability equilibria, including the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of Vol. 33 No. 1, 2020
pp. 181-195
today, as well as their inter-relations within and throughout the time dimension, while © Emerald Publishing Limited
0953-4814
addressing the company’s system (including operations and production, management and DOI 10.1108/JOCM-01-2018-0031
JOCM strategy, organizational systems, procurement and marketing, and assessment and
33,1 communication), and its stakeholders” (Lozano, 2015, p. 33).
Interestingly, while some might assume that sustainability is an obvious undertaking for
most organizations today, employees and management alike are not always quick to get on
board with such initiatives. As with any change, there is often resistance for an array of
reasons. However, according to Kassinis and Vafeas (2006), certain leaders have the ability
182 to influence organizational change strategies, such as green initiatives, in ways that are
much more successful than their peers (Kassinis and Vafeas, 2006). Specifically, they have
the ability, through their own skills and tactics, to gain political support, gain access to
appropriate resources and acquire the expertise to be successful. These special leaders
have been referred to as green champions (Cronin et al., 2011) who successfully drive
sustainability initiatives. Previous research has demonstrated that these individuals have a
tremendous role in the success or failure of green programs within organizations, as they
play a critical role in instituting appropriate organizational policies (Cronin et al., 2011;
Drumwright, 1994).
In this research, we want to understand how sustainability change agents’ social skills,
such as political skill and the ability to build a strong reputation, facilitate their actions and
help them succeed. Therefore, the goal of this research is to gain further understanding of
the ways in which sustainability change agents overcame challenges, gained buy-in and
persuaded others to get on board. In our analysis of the narratives they provided in our
qualitative interviews, we can then help to inform and illustrate how they leverage their
skills to embed new initiatives.

Background
In any sustainability change initiative, the champion has a unique responsibility in moving
things forward and creating a culture conducive to change, whereby individuals and the
organization are more agile and innovative. Martin and Hrivnak (2009) note the importance
of change agents as well as contextual considerations. They highlight the systematic
process by which organizations can train current employees to be instruments of positive
organizational change by developing knowledge workers and creating a learning
organization (Martin and Hrivnak, 2009). Learning organizations are vital in that they are
more adept at responding to rapid changes in the marketplace. Change agents can increase
knowledge transfer, offer personal growth opportunities and ultimately set forth a model
“designed to support novice employees as the main focus of the change effort” (Martin and
Hrivnak, 2009, p. 4), but they also need to get folks on board first. This ability is the nature of
our research, as discussed below.

Political skill and reputation as mechanisms for change

We interviewed an array of sustainability leaders in a variety of organizations.
Sustainability change agents exhibited political skill: “a comprehensive pattern of social
competencies, with cognitive, affective, and behavioral manifestations” (Ferris et al., 2007,
p. 291). Political skill is not just knowing, acting and feeling in an appropriate and sincere
manner, but directing those energies for desired outcomes (Ahearn et al., 2004). As explained
in this body of work, political skill manifests itself in the relationships between the following
constructs: networking ability, social astuteness, apparent sincerity and interpersonal
influence (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter,
Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005).
For example, networking ability allows persons high in political skill to build relationships
and maintain a network of friends, colleagues and important people who could help to support
their initiatives. Networking is a deliberate effort and commitment of time to developing
connections, focusing on relationships with influential people at work and leveraging these
connections when necessary (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Sustainability
Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005). These activities might manifest change agents
themselves in taking the time to focus on social activities not just work activities so that the
bonds and relationships are stronger. These deliberately constructed social networks allow
the politically skilled to position themselves to take advantage of opportunities (Ferris,
Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas
and Frink, 2005; Pfeffer, 1992). These networks are strengthened through influence tactics 183
such as upward appeal (e.g. gaining support of individuals higher up in the organization) and
coalition building (e.g. mounting support from co-workers and subordinates to reinforce one’s
position or request resources) (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway,
Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005; Kipnis et al., 1980).
Political skill can also allow individuals to gather information about the work environment,
thus providing them with an understanding of the political dynamics that could either support
or hinder their sustainability initiatives. For example, change agents would need to navigate
the workplace and discover an array of perspectives both for and against a sustainability
initiative or program, preparing their future messaging in order to either bring that individual
onboard or determine ways to combat resistance. Politically skilled individuals are also
socially astute, able to understand others and their motivations, knowing the right things to
say or do, and having good intuition in order to utilize their interpersonal influence (Ferris,
Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas
and Frink, 2005). This would result in their being aware of their impact on others, carefully
gauging the receptivity of their messages and sustainability initiatives, exhibited through
higher than average self-monitoring (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway,
Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005). Change agents described this as
tailoring their messages to the individuals and unique audiences. Finally, the politically skilled
are perceived as sincere and trustworthy, concerned about whether or not others find them
believable (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter,
Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005). This authenticity would be equally important to building
support for their sustainability initiatives. Specifically, the dimension of apparent sincerity is
described as authenticity, showing a genuine interest in others, such that persons who are
politically skilled are not viewed as being manipulative or coercive, not having ulterior
motives (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter,
Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005).
When individuals are politically skilled, over time, they develop a strong reputation for
being trustworthy (Ferris et al., 2003), whether it be with regard to sustainability initiatives
or other change efforts. In our research, reputation was a recurring theme. Reputation is
defined as “a perceptual identity reflective of the complex combination of salient personal
characteristics and accomplishments, demonstrated behavior, and intended images
presented over some period of time” (Ferris et al., 2003, p. 215). Reputation emerges over
time (Ferris et al., 2003) and requires development and maintenance (Bozeman and Kacmar,
1997). An important element of reputation is meeting behavioral expectations in the eyes of
one’s stakeholders, or role set as described by Tsui (1984). Reputation reduces uncertainty
as a signaling function (Posner, 1997), which is helpful under ambiguous change situations.
The model of political skill and previous variance research shows that reputation is an
outcome of political skill. However, Figure 1 illustrates how reputation is likely a
precondition necessary for success in a change initiative. We will illustrate that reputation
evolves over time through proven successes within the same institution, or proven
successes as a sustainability change agent or champion at other institutions. Ultimately,
persons with a positive reputation exhibit consistent behaviors that build trust, respect, a
perception of integrity and a results orientation. That is, they are both consistent in their
messaging, signaling integrity and prove that they can deliver results.
JOCM Tangible actions
33,1 Practitioners may struggle to translate the broader concepts of political skill and
reputation into practice, since the models assume temporal relationships, but by definition
prior quantitative research with regard to political skill and reputation only models and
tests static relationships between constructs. Hence, our objective with our research is to
provide insights into tangible activities that help to work through the sequential process
184 assumed to occur in the development of the skills and the execution of tactics described in
these constructs and relationships in the model, and thereby help explain the change
agents’ actions.
Our undertaking this qualitative research is to both help inform prior theory and
elaborate on quantitative research by describing the process that is inherently assumed to
take place in the variance research model in Figure 1. Our qualitative method allows us to
provide, through description and direct quotes from our interviews, the efforts and actions
that they undertook in their change initiatives. Using the process described in the interviews
by our subjects, i.e. the narrative they provided of their actions and rationales (Pentland,
1999), we offer a theoretical interpretation of their process using the lens of an existing
model of political skill and reputation.
This prior research model described in the process is the work of both Ferris et al. (2007),
as well as Brouer et al. (2015). Specifically, Ferris argued that political skill leads to influence
tactics and strategies, which leads to reputation building, and other positive outcomes.
Brouer et al. (2015) expanded this model and tested how the antecedents of influence tactic
and selection (e.g. networking ability and social astuteness) lead to positive tactic
selection. However, performance was moderated by the proper execution of these tactics
(e.g. interpersonal influence and apparent sincerity). These models were developed as
variance theories and tested with survey data collection methods that limited the ability to
reveal how the process of developing tactics, for example, takes place. In this qualitative
research, our use of rich interview data allowed us to leverage the participant’s narrative
description of their approach and activities to examine the process by which they undertook
the work of change necessary for the success of the initiatives.
As we discuss the unfolding process, as described in the narrative provided by the
interview subjects, our manuscript will flow in the order of the model illustrated in Figure 1,
with corresponding letters (A, B, etc.) to represent the paths of the model. Our findings will
thereby help to inform prior theory and future research in the domain of political skill,
reputation and the sequencing of these events as a process by which change agents can
build these skills and tactics.
Before describing our methods and the narrative, we provide the following overview of the
variance research model put forth in Brouer et al. (2015). First, to begin a change initiative,
change agents must build strong networks and have social awareness before trying
to persuade or influence (paths labeled “A” in Figure 1). This has historically been referred
to as organizational awareness in the organizational change literature (Schein, 1984).

E
Sustainability
Interpersonal Apparent Success
Influence Sincerity
Networking C
Figure 1. Ability B
Model of reputation- Performance
building activities Positive IM
A (Small Reputation D
Tactics
to succeed at Wins!)
sustainability Social
initiatives Astuteness
Utilizing variance-based research (vs process and narrative) (Mohr, 1982), Brouer et al. (2015) Sustainability
found that individuals who reported having a strong foundation of a network, and based on change agents
their social astuteness, were more likely to select positive impression management tactics
(path labeled “B” in Figure 1). Note that it is important to the quantitative research of Brouer
et al. (2015) that the paths and order of actions (e.g. having a network before selecting
impression management tactics) were established as theoretical, but only tested and
supported with survey data. Alternatively, our qualitative research provides narratives that 185
help to describe the sequential set of activities that make up the process (Pentland, 1999).
Importantly, the authors found that a person high in political skill will use positive
tactics in unison with sincerity and interpersonal influence, leading to higher performance
(path “C”). Our sustainability research extends and helps to inform Brouer’s work to show
that if change agents use their skills of interpersonal influence and sincerity, they are more
likely to have success (e.g. performance) and in the long term, they can thereby build a
positive reputation (path “D”). Their social capital (reputation) can then be used to continue
to move forward an agenda related to sustainability initiatives (and hence longer-term
success toward their goals – path “E”).

Method
We contacted sustainability managers at organizations in a large Midwestern city. These
organizations ranged in context and specifically were identified by the following areas:
building products, hospitals, banking, energy, environmental and manufacturing.
Each of these organizations ranged in size; however, each was chosen as they had a
dedicated sustainability manager and not simply an individual who included
sustainability as part of their job description. The chosen sample size is appropriate
based on the guidelines offered by Malterud et al. (2016). These scholars suggest that the
size of a sample with sufficient information power depends on the aim of the study, sample
specificity, use of established theory, quality of dialogue and analysis strategy. We then
followed the guidance of Eisenhardt (1989) in letting the sample size be determined by the
point at which theoretical saturation is reached. Since the focus of this research was to
assess the experiences of dedicated sustainability managers, and for purposes of
informing the existing theory and also building process theory with narrative (Pentland,
1999), we believe the sample size of six in-depth interviews was sufficient. Although the
sample may not include all industries, we contend that the nature of this exploratory
research and the positions under investigation can be informed by the variety of
industries we do include. The nature of their activities did not vary considerably across
industries to the degree that six is in any way insufficient. In addition, only organizations
within the USA were chosen, as sustainability procedures and measures vary greatly
throughout the world. This study sought to understand sustainability change initiatives
solely within a US context.
All interviews were conducted on-site at the convenience of the participant. An interview
guide was utilized; however, adjustments were made to the interview guide based on the
discussion with each manager. Specific incidents such as challenges, ways in which they gained
buy-in from employees, tactics used to persuade and lessons learned while in such positions
were the central focus of the protocol. (The interview questions are provided in the Appendix.)
We conducted structured in-depth interviews with six individuals, lasting 30–60 min in
duration. A list of interview questions was developed. Because of the nature of exploratory
research, there was deviation from the questions to allow the participants to expand on their
experiences. Detailed notes were taken and were recorded and transcribed. The intent of
these qualitative interviews is to help to provide insights into the manner in which existing
theory applies to these critical roles. As such, our use of quotations to populate the findings
of the paper is intended to draw from the narrative provided by the interviewee so as to
JOCM describe the nature of the process to describe the unfolding events and thereby further
33,1 inform the existing theory (e.g. theory driven) rather than through an inductive approach to
create theory (Boyatzis, 1998).

Interpretive findings
The interpretive findings associated with this study are organized into two subsections:
186 development of trust and integrity over time (e.g. reputation) based on hermeneutical
analysis; and development of political skill and leveraging it with impression
management. The validity of the interview data was maintained by contextualizing
reputation and political skill, showing how these concepts were utilized in
persuading multiple audiences, and motivating others to change without formal
reporting structures. Specifically, we offer below some examples from our qualitative
research and interviews with key leaders in sustainability change initiatives. See the list
(political skill inventory) for the complete description of the dimensions of political skill
that were exhibited by our change agents, and see the list (reputation inventory) for the
dimensions of reputation.
Political skill inventory (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway,
Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005):
(1) Networking ability:
• I spend a lot of time and effort at work networking with others.
• I am good at building relationships with influential people at work.
• I spend a lot of time and effort at work developing connections with others.
• I have developed a large network of colleagues and associates at work who I can
call on for support when I really need to get things done.
• I am good at using my connections and network to make things happen at work.
• At work, I know a lot of important people and am well connected.
(2) Interpersonal influence:
• I am able to make most people feel comfortable and at ease around me.
• I am able to communicate easily and effectively with others.
• It is easy for me to develop good rapport with most people.
• I am good at getting people to like me.
(3) Social astuteness:
• I understand people very well.
• I am particularly good at sensing the motivations and hidden agendas of others.
• I have good intuition or “savvy” about how to present myself to others.
• I always seem to instinctively know the right things to say or do to influence others.
• I pay close attention to peoples’ facial expressions.
(4) Apparent sincerity:
• It is important that people believe I am sincere in what I say and do.
• I try to show a genuine interest in other people.
• When communicating with others, I try to be genuine in what I say and do.
Reputation inventory (Hochwarter et al., 2007): Sustainability
• I am regarded highly by others. change agents
• I have a good reputation.
• I have the respect of my colleagues and associates.
• My colleagues trust me. 187
• My colleagues see me as a person of high integrity.
• Others regard me as someone who gets things done.
• I have a reputation for producing results.
• People expect me to consistently demonstrate the highest performance.
• People know I will produce only high-quality results.
• People count on me to consistently produce the highest quality performance.

Building trust and integrity over time

Reputation is labeled as “D” in Figure 1, as prior research and theory (Ferris et al., 2003,
2007; Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter,
Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005) conceptualized it as an outcome of political skill.
However, in our process model and as highlighted through the narratives of our
respondents, reputation is also an antecedent to building a network. Sustainability change
agents build a reputation through prior accomplishments that may or may not have been
related to sustainability. Small wins (path “C”) are not only important to show progress
(results), but are also important to the visibility and reputation building of the change
agent. Furthermore, prior initiatives are most effective if they include boundary spanning
or bridge building (Hamner et al., 2008) across multiple divisions or departments. To be
clear, the activities are the “wins” that are promoted through one’s influence abilities
(path “B”); however, one cannot influence others without a strong network of allies
(path “A”). This network provides referent power (French and Raven, 1959) and social
capital. In our research, we learned that when institutions select sustainability change
agents to lead the initiative, management considers not only content knowledge and one’s
passion for sustainability, but also the agent’s ability to maneuver throughout the
organization and get others on board.
Reputation is a complex combination of salient personal characteristics, self-presentations
and accomplishments (Ferris et al., 2003). Relevant aspects of reputation, which are
highlighted in the construct in the list (reputation inventory) (and based on the work of
Hochwarter et al., 2007), are trust, respect from one’s colleagues and associates, a proven track
record of getting things done, and being seen as having integrity. Specifically, several of the
sustainability change agents found trust to be an essential component in the development of a
relationship with their co-workers:
People began to talk to people outside their own divisions. This developed a level of trust between
divisions and ultimately employees began to work much more closely regardless of the topic. The
sustainability teams actually increased collaboration between the various divisions for things
outside of sustainability. (Catherine, Construction Cosmos)
They trust me largely (I think) to develop a good program for them. (Mary, Powerplant Inc.)
Another important component of reputation development noted in the interviews was that
of showing commitment to both the organization and individuals, demonstrating integrity
JOCM through this commitment, and proving their ability through results (or “small wins” as some
33,1 interviewees referred to them) as well as leading through example:
So it was really valuable to have [the senior leader] thank everybody and let them know that he
values the program. We are talking about programs that require time, commitment and resources
from senior leaders. (Angel, Healthcare Systems)
We leaned on [senior leader] to be the kind of trail blazer and get a pilot compressing program
188 started in her department. It worked great (we had some great numbers to report about how it
went) and we were able to contract with a local compressing company and implemented a system
wide program. Based on the success of this pilot program, we will be leaning on a couple of our
most committed champions who are willing to try something new and use their success to help
motivate other people to do the same thing. So, that is one very simple example. It is handy when
you have a champion on the ground to lean on. (Angel, Healthcare Systems)
(Note that the above examples also illustrate how valuable the change agent’s network is
vital to the success of the program. As explained earlier, networking ability allows those
who are politically skilled to utilize their social capital and coalitions when necessary, often
using upward appeals to leadership or calling on favors from their network).
The third area of reputation development noted in the data focused on the level of high
respect co-workers and superiors had for the sustainability manager. That is, sustainability
change agents are held in high regard. The reasons for this level of respect are varied, but
the result is the same – buy-in and the ability to engage with stakeholders:
With collaboration I can gain respect; with respect people pay attention to me and when they pay
attention I can gain their confidence. (Catherine, Construction Cosmos)
When I am talking to a group about a new initiative I am able to speak their language and show
that I understand their perspective. If I am talking to engineers I can speak their language – at least
enough for them to listen to me. I know enough about marketing, sales, customer support to get
them to see me as their peer. I am not an outsider being sent from the president’s office to make
their lives more difficult. I am one of them. When I first began in this job, I didn’t realize how
important these collaborations were, and I approached everything as if I was being sent by the
president. So at first many at Construction Cosmos didn’t seem too enthused by my new position.
When I realized the hard way that I needed to use my own background to move into their circle,
things began to change. I have to allow time to develop a rapport with groups, time to gain their
confidence, and time to listen to their ideas. (Catherine, Construction Cosmos)

Leveraging political skill to influence

Political skill is defined as, “a comprehensive pattern of social competencies, with cognitive,
affective and behavioral manifestations” (Ferris et al., 2007, p. 291). In this study, the
political skill of networking ability, interpersonal influence, social astuteness and apparent
sincerity was all richly described by the change agents we interviewed.
Networking ability. Networking ability (labeled as “A” in Figure 1) is an important
dimension of political skill and is defined as the ability to build relationships with vast
networks of important and influential people at work (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005;
Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005). In addition
to the act of building networks, persons high in political skill also recognize the need to
leverage these networks to get things done (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris,
Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005). For example:
It is important to have colleagues in the industry to bounce my ideas off of and to share ideas with.
Colleagues who aren’t necessarily in the energy industry also. Colleagues who have the perspective
of outside industries. One that that has helped me to navigate quickly has been to have
relationships with other sustainability managers. I talk to her on a regular basis. We all meet and
 brainstorm […] move the neighborhood forward instead of any of our individual institutions […]. Sustainability
There is a lot of power in that collaboration. (Mary, Powerplant Inc.) change agents
Part of the evolution of learning, my personal learning because until I went to summit and as I
learned more I found it easier to share that information and become a focal point for people who
want or need more information. ( John, Manufacturing Equipment)
I’ve been here long enough […].I know the vice presidents […].I know people. ( John, Manufacturing
Equipment) 189
Several respondents noted the importance of building coalitions by sharing information
with co-workers. In doing so, they were able to develop their own sustainable network. And,
as noted earlier during the discussion of reputation, networks and social capital are
leveraged to get others on board.
Interpersonal influence. In addition to building networks, interpersonal influence
(path “B”) is an important component of political skill, described as the ability to make
others feel at ease, communicate easily and getting others to like you (Ferris, Davidson and
Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink,
2005). Our respondents often articulate the outcome of this ability (rather than the style and
manner of influence):
These people (target team members) seem to have a real knack for rallying the troops and getting
people enthusiastic about making changes. (Catherine, Construction Cosmos)
I have also learned the more time I spend talking and not implementing the easier it will be for me to
actually start a new initiative. I get “buy-in” from people that way. (Mary, Powerplant Inc.)
I’ve been in charge of the corporate sustainability team from almost the very beginning.
So, through that […] I use it as a tool to try to push sustainability across the organization now.
( John, Manufacturing Equipment)

Social astuteness. Social astuteness (path “A”) in reference to political skill is defined as the
ability to monitor one’s environment and to be able to read another individual to determine
their current mood (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky,
Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005). Social astuteness allows sustainability
change agents to read their audience and then tailor their message appropriately:
For example, a facility manager who might find it not very compelling to talk about sustainable
practices may listen when we talk about really high yield management initiatives, opportunities for
increased investments his/her facility. So we focus on something that is of priority to them. (Angel,
Healthcare Systems)
I know [my colleagues] enough to know how they feel about stuff and where I can push and can’t.
( John, Manufacturing Equipment)
If I get enough interest, I feed into that interest a little […] but, I just could never make it the main
[…]. I could never do that kind of stuff because I’ll lose credibility […] I am very conscious of that
[…]. I don’t want to jeopardize […]. ( John, Manufacturing Equipment)
As noted above in John’s comment, in addition to mentioning how he is socially astute
(careful about how far he pushes the issue), he is also concerned about his credibility or
reputation. Having been with the institution for over 20 years, he does not want to
jeopardize his reputation, which would make it difficult for him to accomplish broader
objectives (both with regard to his sustainability role, as well as with his “day job”).
Apparent sincerity. Apparent sincerity (path “B”) within the theory of political skill is
defined as the ability to appear sincere and trustworthy to those around you. If one’s
co-workers believe the sustainability manager acts with integrity, they are more likely to be
JOCM influenced by them (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky,
33,1 Hochwarter, Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005). Furthermore, if they are authentic in their
passion for sustainability, and if the organization is authentic, change is more likely.
For example:
Actually, it sounds tedious but, I really do love my job. It is so fulfilling and I really feel like I am
making a difference in the world. So for me it isn’t work at all. (Catherine, Construction Cosmos)
190 Sustainability is part of who we are. It isn’t just something we do it is who we are. So the culture
drives the process every day. So much so that we don’t even realize it is happening anymore.
(Catherine, Construction Cosmos)
If [colleagues] don’t think that you are committed then they won’t be committed either. And, I can
give a fairly compassionate and realistic argument, people may not buy it all the time but that’s
okay because every time I do it, I make some headway […]. ( John, Manufacturing Equipment)
Several of the respondents also noted the importance sustainability in their personal lives,
adding to their authenticity. For some, their philosophical belief in sustainability was
present since childhood; for others, this value developed in recent years. Regardless of its
origins, for each respondent, sustainability resonated personally as a core value:
I got interested in sustainability as a topic because I grew up in Portland, Oregon which a very
environmentally minded type of country. Growing in an environmentally minded region, it was
really an eye opener for me when I moved to North East Ohio when I was done with medical school.
I realized that not every region was like Portland, Oregon and it got me thinking of sustainability as
a cause. (Angel, Healthcare Systems)
My grand-dad had a farm and my dad was always working there and I was working there
and so, I don’t know if that’s why I feel that way. Reusing things just seemed natural to me.
( John, Manufacturing Equipment)
Part of being in a world which is focused primarily on the conservation aspect of things is the
development of a mostly environmental perspective. So in other words graduate school gave me a
good base on the building environment and ways to make things more sustainable. Land use and
environment issues were a tremendous part of my education. (Mary, Powerplant Inc.)
It’s in our code of ethics. The founder of Landscape Solutions was a true conservationist. We are
essentially the de facto steward for our customer’s landscape and we’ve always espoused
conservation. We’ve always worked with our business model for tree preservation. We want to
maintain people’s trees. So, it’s been part of the culture and the process. We pitched this idea across
the street and formally started our road to sustainability in 2007. (Martin, Landscape Solutions)
Personally, I take a lot of pride in working for this company. I am committed to leaving the
landscape better than before […] lightening our ecological load. I am concerned about pollution,
climate change, and lost natural resources. I think our employees are […] our customers are also
[…] and, I think, personally, it’s meaningful to be connected about something you care about.
Professionally, once we really make these things work, it’s going to be a positive shift. So, I see a
benefit personally and professionally. (Martin, Landscape Solutions)

Influence on the change process. As noted in the work of Brouer et al. (2015), political skill is
necessary in order to select the proper influence tactics to get things done in a change initiative:
I’ve been blown away by the commitment, the amount of work that has been done or continues to
get done […]. Again, this is influence not authority […] Just by the fact by the progress we’ve made
and the changes that have resulted are a testament to that […]. (Martin, Landscape Solutions)
It really requires a lot of thinking outside of the box but, I and the land use planner were able to get
that through in 1.5 years. It was very well received. From this point the city manager had targeted
me and the land use manager. She said, “Wow these are bright people and they understand the
public process. (Mary, Powerplant Inc.)
 So I wouldn’t say I necessarily convince people; I think it is important to lead by example. Sustainability
The bottom line for me is to leave the world a little bit better than when I came into it so that is the change agents
way I live my life. (Mary, Powerplant Inc.)
In all of these examples, the sustainability managers used political skill and the relevant
components of political skill, to build a strong reputation over the long term. They gained
buy-in from their co-workers, leveraged their social capital and valuable networks, exhibited
authenticity in their passion for sustainability, and utilized the proper interpersonal 191
influence skills and persuasion to change the minds and behaviors of others.

Discussion and conclusion

The findings associated with this study were informed by and in line with previous research
on change agents in general; however, the narrative provided by our interview subjects
brings new light to the theory of political skill and the process or sequencing of events in the
model. Our findings highlight the role of reputation building to affect change. Reputation
softens the hard edge of behavioral demands and facilitates cooperation with the
sustainability initiatives, which are for the most part voluntarily adopted by employees
without any tangible threat from authoritative sources. Trust (an important component of
reputation) is the glue that binds the employees to the initiatives and our champions were
acutely aware of the challenge. Trust takes time to develop and change agents were patient
and socially astute in working with and persuading one division and one employee at a time.
Development of trust took various forms. In some divisions, trust was developed by
using one’s impression management and persuasion by appealing to the employee values
(waste management at Healthcare Systems). In other divisions, it was developed by showing
how the employees can gain value (as was the case with facilities management at Healthcare
Systems). In yet other divisions, trust was developed through apparent sincerity and not by
being labeled as an agent of the “president,” but by “moving into their circle” (Construction
Cosmos) and building confidence in the change agents’ ability to transform sustainable
stewardship into profitability (Healthcare Systems; Construction Cosmos).
As alluded to above, the notion of trust and persuasion are intertwined and not easily
illustrated in a variance model test through survey research. Our qualitative research helps to
illustrate this process. Specifically, our change agents routinely utilized inspirational appeals
that bridged the top management passion and employee apathy toward sustainable change in
order to build trust. Positive impression management is a core tenant of political skill (Brouer
et al., 2015; Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter,
Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005). Both Angel and Catherine refer to their CEO’s passion to
be sustainable and bring every employee on board. This inspirational appeal is “infectious”
(Construction Cosmos) and signals “commitment” (Healthcare Systems) from the top
management, which, in turn, helps employees to trust the change agents and adopt
sustainable change initiatives.
Respondents articulated a clear sequencing of events in their narrative, helping to inform
prior variance models and the theory of political skill and reputation. Change agents first
utilized political skill in the form of networking. Specifically, networking ability allows
agents to build coalitions within the organization to boost buy-in from divisions/employees,
as well as from top management. Given that the sustainability effort is an extra-role activity
that is neither mandated nor rewarded by authorities, green champions’ ability to build
coalitions through non-coercive strategies (and positive impression management) is seen as
absolutely essential to the success of the sustainability change effort. (Again, note that
positive impression management and interpersonal influence was a key component of
Brouer et al.’s, 2015, variance model research.) Next, respondents were astute to tailor their
appeals to their receiver’s particular motivations (helping to illustrate social astuteness).
JOCM For instance, when they found sustainability champions who were passionate about making
33,1 a difference, the agents used inspirational appeals (waste management at Healthcare
Systems); however, when the divisions had people with strongly entrenched resistance to
new initiatives, the green champions used rational appeals to showcase the economic value
of the initiatives to reason with them (Healthcare Systems; Nature Conservatory).
An unbounded sincerity and passion toward sustainable change helped our respondents to
192 present themselves as genuine and authentic (e.g. apparent sincerity), which, in turn, helped
them to gain credibility (and a reputation long term).
It is reasonable to argue that reputation and political skill can converge to leapfrog
change. One study of reputation and political skill found that reputation mediated the
political skill–performance relationship (Liu et al., 2007). That is, persons high in political
skill are more likely to portray themselves as trustworthy, results driven and high in
integrity, thus leading to higher success rates. Hence, future research in the area of
sustainability change agents should explore the linkages between these three constructs.
In addition, Ferris et al. (2003) note, in their summary of the literatures with regard to
reputation, that one’s collective identity is based on the observations of secondary sources.
The current research and propositions are based on the self-reported behaviors of
sustainability change agents. Future research should explore the reputation of change
agents as reported by key constituents. However, it should be noted that self-reports and
peer-reports of reputation are significantly related (Hochwarter et al., 2007). Finally, some
might argue that efforts by change agents are self-serving, with these individuals motivated
by upwardly mobile opportunities. However, our insights into their attitudes and behaviors
seemed to indicate that they had truly internalized the values of sustainability and had
“drank the Kool-Aid.” Furthermore, those high in political skill are able to mask ulterior
motives (Ferris, Davidson and Perrewe, 2005; Ferris, Treadway, Kolodinsky, Hochwarter,
Kacmar, Douglas and Frink, 2005) leading to success of initiatives without the repercussions
of appearing disingenuous. In fact, future research might indicate that their apparent
sincerity and “deep acting” might reinforce their passion for sustainability.
In conclusion, our findings demonstrate the importance of time and the development of
strong relationships between change agents, employees and organizational stakeholders.
These relationships need to be carefully crafted to support the creation of reputation and
trust toward behavioral change. A change agent who is well versed in political skill and
possess an understanding of how best to deploy such skills will be best suited to champion
sustainability initiatives within organizations.

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Appendix. Green champions – interview guide Sustainability
change agents

195

Corresponding author
Vickie Coleman Gallagher can be contacted at: v.c.gallagher@csuohio.edu

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