Navigating Organizational Politics
There's one skill everybody at work wishes they were better at, but you won't find it taught in MBA courses: office politics.
Political competence is the "ability
to understand what you can and cannot control, when to take action, who
is going to resist your agenda, and whom you need on your side. It's
about knowing how to map the political terrain and get others on your
side, as well as lead coalitions," according to Prof. Samuel B. Bacharach who wrote Getting Them On Your Side, 2005.
Many
individuals have good ideas that, if implemented, could yield positive
results for their companies. Sometimes these ideas fail because the
leaders who propose them cannot gain support from key people.
Defining Political Savvy
It's
naive to suggest that all office politics are destructive and
unethical. If you define politics in such a narrow and negative way,
you overlook the value of political awareness and skill. When political
astuteness is combined with ethics and integrity, it can produce
positive results for you, your team and your organization.
By
avoiding or denying its existence, you underestimate how political
behavior can destroy careers, a company's reputation and overall
performance. If you define politics in only negative terms, you are
naively under-political, which leaves you vulnerable to overly
political, self-serving individuals.
Three Phases of Political Competence
Political competence can be developed in an ethically sound way with this three-phase process:
1. Map Your Political Terrain
First,
identify all stakeholders-anyone who has an interest in, or who would
be affected by, your idea -- and how they will react. Some resistance is
inevitable. You must anticipate others' reactions, identify allies and
resisters, analyze their goals, and understand their agendas.
2. Get Others on Your Side
Build
your coalition -- a politically mobilized group committed to implementing
your idea because doing so will generate valued benefits.
How
do you win support? You need to be credible. You communicate
credibility by letting potential allies and resisters know about your
expertise, demonstrating personal integrity, and showing you have
access to important people and information. Through informal
conversations, meetings and office drop-ins, you need to explain your
position.
3. Make Things Happen
You must win
others' buy-in by making it clear there's a payoff for supporting your
effort and drawbacks for not joining your coalition. Show how
implementing your idea will ease their workload, increase their
visibility within the organization, or help them cut costs in their
unit.
Once you've persuaded people to join your coalition,
you've established a base that will legitimize your idea. Coalition
members will then use their networks to evangelize for you.
Mastering
only certain parts of the three identified phases will not yield
success. Some people sabotage themselves by failing to complete all
three phases when attempting to generate and implement change.
Reducing Risk through Politics
There
are risks with any course of action you take. You sometimes have
incomplete or inadequate information when making a decision. Building a
coalition through dialogue with its members pushes valuable information
to the surface.
You are open to criticism and politically
vulnerable whenever you make a decision. Politically competent leaders
reduce risk by getting as many people as possible on their side.
Building a coalition is a search process for the best solution.
Building
a coalition, bringing people together and solidifying/expanding your
base will leave you less vulnerable to criticism. It's more difficult
to attack a leader who has built a large base of support throughout the
organization.
My thanks to Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., Psy. D, Certified and Trained Business Coach and Psychologist, and the Coachville USA Team for their contribution of this article.
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Quotes to Inspire
LEADERSHIP/SUCCESS:
A successful man is one who can lay a firm
foundation
with the bricks others have thrown at him. -- David
Brinkley
MOTIVATION/INSPIRATION:
Reason can answer questions, but
imagination has to
ask them. -- Ralph Gerard |
