THE ROLE OF LEADER POLITICAL SKILL AND ETHICAL LEADERSHIP ON EMPLOYEE DEVIANCE BEHAVIOR

Political skill reflects capabilities to show social concern, to make interactions, and to give influence. Political skill is often associated with the leader figure. Leader political skill will determine the style and behavior of leaders, including ethical leadership. Ethical leadership is a leadership process that transfers ethical leader behavior on employee behavior through the mechanism of social learning, exchange and identity. Leaders who have political skill will be viewed to be more ethical than leaders who are lack of political skill. Leaders with political skill will demonstrate their ability to behave in a manner which is consistent with the existing ethical norms. Ethical leadership, in turn, will affect employees in various aspects, such as commitment, satisfaction on the leaders, trust, leaders'effectiveness, and organizational citizenship behavior; it also creates an ethical climate within the organization, which in turn, can reduce employee deviant behavior in the workplace (Kalshoven et al. 2011, Mayer et al., 2010). This study aims to examine the relationship between leader political skill, ethical leadership, ethical climate, and deviant behavior in the workplace. This study is conducted in the local government in Karanganyar, Indonesia. Data is analyzed by using Partial Least Square (PLS), a method which combines path regression and confirmatory factor analysis. Results show that leader political skill is positively and significantly related to ethical leadership which is positively and significantly related to the ethical climate. The ethical climate that is confirmed to mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and deviant behavior is also proved to be negatively and significantly related to employee deviant behavior.