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Modern firms build their functions and structures as well upon team-based work. They use teams to fulfill organizational objectives in order to increase efficacy and productivity ([33] Kozlowski and Bell, 2003). Team leaders are central to meeting such objectives. For instance, the team leader must not only motivate individual team members but also lead the entire team effectively ([25] Hackman, 2002). Given that organizations are inherently political arenas ([44] Mintzberg, 1983), leaders should be politically skilled in order to effectively navigate the political work environment. Unfortunately, little is known about how team leader political skill affects team performance. In the existing literature, a study has empirically tested this relationship ([1] Ahearn et al. , 2004). Although [1] Ahearn et al. (2004) suggested that leader political skill has a positive effect on team performance in non-profit and public organizational contexts, they did not empirically examine the mediating process through which the positive effect occurs. Moreover, the existing research has primarily focused on a direct leadership-team performance linkage, without examining what role team process (i.e. team communication) could play in this linkage. Since team process is critical to team performance ([53] Stevens and Campion, 1994; [55] Sundstrom et al. , 1990), it is reasonable for us to examine the "black box" of the leader political skill-team performance linkage by exploring the specific role team communication may play in this relationship.
According to the political theory of leadership ([2] Ammeter et al. , 2002), the leader political skill-team communication-team performance linkage can be seen as the leader's social influence process on team outcomes. That is to say, leader political skills could influence team performance through the team communication process. Additionally, [2] Ammeter et al. (2002) suggested that some contextual issues (e.g. team structure characteristics) would affect the leader's social influence on team performance. These contextual issues may shape the performance standards and determine the process by which leaders acquire their roles and authority ([68] Zaccaro and Klimoski, 2001). The literature has indicated that task interdependence ([22] Guzzo and Shea, 1992) among team members is crucial for the understanding the reasons for the emergence of team-level phenomena. [47] Saavedra et al. (1993) also indicated that task interdependence has great implications for team performance. In this study, we consider...