The adniinistrative role in both nursing service and education demands many political interfaces that eticonipass conflicts, negotiations, power struggles and on-going conipetition for scarce resources. However, the skill required to deal effectively with those situations is a function of both career and organizational experiences. The niodelpresented in this article is intended to provide nurse administrators with a framework for politically astute planning and decision makitig and avoidance of judgment faux pas.