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Leadership Myth #4 - Great Leaders are Expert at Playing Politics

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: The issue of when and how to play politics makes an interesting study. While we all want to avoid the Machiavellian type of behavior associated with manipulative politics, like it or not we are in a sea of political thought every day. We better get used to it and learn how to navigate well in it.

Leadership Myth #4 - Great Leaders are Expert at Playing Politics

Do great leaders play politics? Is that a good thing to do? Is it morally right? Is it smart?

We are surrounded by politics at all times. How we deal with political situations has a huge impact on the quality of our lives. Webster defines politics in an organizational setting as: "scheming and maneuvering within a group." Immediately, the word is given a negative connotation. If we are practicing politics, something bad is happening. We can all identify with the negative aspects of politics. We have encountered Machiavellian individuals who would take credit for the work of others or somehow undermine others' efforts in order to enhance themselves. You can undoubtedly picture a highly political individual in your mind as you read this page. What gives rise to political thought?

All of us have a set of wants, needs, and desires. For example, most of us would like to get our hands on more money, thinking it would allow fewer problems in our lives. Most of us wish the world would slow down so we could relax once in a while and enjoy the ride. None of us like to feel we have been taken advantage of in any kind of interchange, whether it be a co-worker goofing off while we toil away, or our boss forgetting the raise we were promised. In short, most of us want more of the "good stuff" in life, and we want to be assured we are not disadvantaged by someone else hogging more than his or her share.

You have a vested interest in getting your share in life: what you have worked for and are entitled to receive. Since we all feel that way, there is a constant agenda going on in everyone's mind relative to ensuring this equity. It makes no difference if you are on death row or the CEO of a multinational organization, you have political thoughts daily.

It is impossible for the needs of all people to be optimized at once, which creates tension between individuals and groups. How we deal with this tension is called politics. There is a continual dialog going on in our subconscious or conscious minds about how we can influence the rest of the world to come around more to our way of thinking. In today's parlance this is often called WOO - short for Winning Others Over. We all engage in WOO most of the time. There is nothing wrong with doing this. It is human nature. We navigate our sailboat sea of politics.

The ethical dilemmas around politics surface when people get greedy. They want more than their fair share of the "good stuff" and work to figure out ways to enhance their portion at the expense of others. You need to be alert for these people and protect your interests at all times. Sometimes they are easy to spot like the one-eyed pirate trying to cut off your head with a broad sword. Other times, they are so crafty that their damage seems almost painless, as if you are being sliced up by a razor-sharp foil. The end result is the same.

Conducting yourself in an ethical manner, yet still being politically astute, can do wonders for your sanity and your pocketbook.Great leaders understand the nature of politics and participate in political thought, but they are not caught up in trying to improperly manipulate others in a selfish attempt to gain an excessive share of the goodies. Instead they operate from a set of rules regarding politics that keep them out of trouble most of the time.

Agreat leader's set of rules for political survival:

1. Act in ways consistent with your values and sense of spiritual rightness. You know what is right. Often people rationalize and do wrong things in order to get ahead. These actions tend to backfire by reducing trust.

2. Know who butters your bread and act that way. Some people seem to forget their boss' power to influence the quality of their life. This does not mean you need to be a "yes man" or a "suck up." Rather, just don't go around intentionally undermining the boss, even if you think she is wrong. You could end up dead right.

3. Make 20 positive remarks for every negative one. It is amazing how many people have that ratio exactly backward. They gripe and bitch all day long. Then they wonder why nobody likes to be near them. Test this out on yourself. Make a mental note (maybe keep a 3x5" card and make hash marks) of each positive and negative statement that comes out of your mouth. You may be surprised. If you don't like your ratio, change it.

4. Do not grandstand. Practice humility and avoid taking cheap shots. Putting people down often feels satisfying at the moment (like they got what was coming to them), but in the long run, you cannot afford to make an enemy if it can be avoided, which is always possible with effort.

5. Try to understand the intentions and motivations of others. It isn't enough to observe people's behaviors. You need to dig deeper to reach the true meaning in their actions. Only then can you understand what is happening.

6. Follow up on everything. Try to achieve a reputation for being 100% reliable at doing what you promise. Show initiative and be alert for opportunities to demonstrate your reliability.

7. Do the dirty work cheerfully. Every job has unpleasant or boring aspects. Do these quickly and efficiently without complaint. You are not too good for the menial jobs.

8. Agree to disagree. Arguments at work can persist for months while people dig in further to buttress their positions and undermine the other side. Life is too short for this pettiness. After three legitimate attempts to convince one another, it is best to say, "It looks like we are not going to agree on this matter. Rather than arguing about it, let's agree to disagree. We still respect each other and can work well together. We just have this one area where we see things differently." It is amazing how much time and acrimony can be eliminated with these few words.

9. Don't beat dead horses. Forget the discussions that go on an on, especially in e-mail exchanges where they can be re-read by other people. Make your point once. If you think it was misunderstood, make it again. After that, move on. Repetition is a rat hole. Sometimes you can observe a group in heated discussion for a full hour. It sounds like an argument, but they are really in violent agreement.

10. Be aggressive, but don't be a pest. There is a fine line between high initiative and being intrusive. Learn to read the body language all around you and back off before you go too far.

11. Recognize that administrators (and other support people) have real power. This is because:

• The administrative person holds the key to the boss' calendar. If you are a favored person because of past dealings, you can gain access when others might be bumped. Don't abuse this advantage, but cherish it and reinforce the person for any favors.

• Support people have knowledge of sidebar conversations with the boss. They will overhear things and have useful clues. Integrity will prevent them from giving you information outright, but if you have mastered the art of reading body language, you can know a great deal about inner workings at the office.

• If support people like you, they will put in a good word for you when it counts the most. The boss, Alice, might say to her assistant, "I think Pete is being really anal about these maintenance reviews. He keeps bugging me about them." The assistant might say, "He really does show a lot of passion for doing things right. If we had more people like Pete we would be sitting pretty." The real payoff is that the next time you are in the area, this assistant will pull you aside and tell you, "Alice is starting to get annoyed by your intensity on the maintenance reviews. Keep up the work, but tone down the volume a little." That kind of sidebar information is priceless.

• Support people know the published agenda as well as all the unpublished ones. If you are appreciated, they will share the inside scoop inadvertently without loss of integrity. Take them to lunch every once in a while as a "thank you" for their help. Do not pump them for information, but just try to uncover how you can help their situation.

• One word of caution, these support people are extremely sensitive about their positional power. Do not butter them up with false praise or lavish gifts, etc. It will backfire. Do not ask them to share information that could compromise their trust with the boss. Trust is a top priority for them, and if you are asking for gossip, you will turn them off immediately. Instead, realize the pressure cooker they are in and be helpful where possible. Just sharing an empathetic ear will help, but reinforcing their actions sincerely and appropriately will get you on the right road.

12. Keep an active social life with work associates. This is not mandatory, but the better the relationship outside work, the more information will naturally flow in the conversation. Information is power. You also have some political pull as a result of outside friendships. The basis for political power is that people do things for people they like.

13. Always be considerate and gracious. Try to avoid snapping at people. It is not always helpful to wear your emotions on your sleeve. The best rule here is the "golden" rule. Put yourself in the other person's place and ask how you would like to be treated.

14. Foster peers and others as political allies.

• Treat your peers and superiors with the same respect and integrity as people in your group. Often that is a challenge because you compete with them for critical resources. The best advice is to always use the golden rule.

• Find ways to help peers in ways they recognize. Visualize yourself walking around the office with a bundle of olive branches strapped to your back. Each day see how many olive branches you can give away to people who would squabble with you.

• Whenever possible, be a vocal supporter of other people's positions in meetings. If you act like an ally, it is more difficult for them to view you as an adversary. If you think of them as the enemy, they will reciprocate.

• Go the extra mile to help people solve their problems. Sometimes that means taking problem people off their hands to make a fresh start in your organization. It might mean the loan of equipment or other tangible assets. Be bountiful with your assistance.

• Foster great relationships with the key lieutenants of your peers. They have high influence and will help your cause if they see you as a friend.

• Bond with peers whenever possible in social settings. Get to know their families and their hobbies, etc. The closer you are as friends, the more they will help you at work.

• You will negotiate often with peers for resources. Establish a track record of being fair and looking for the win-win opportunities. Never try to win at the other person's expense. This tactic will always boomerang and you will lose in the end.

• Be visible with your concessions. Demonstrate that you deal with fairness.

• Resist the temptation to "blow in" a peer when a mistake is made. It may feel good at the time, but you have made an enemy. You can never afford an enemy if it can be avoided (and it almost always can.) Some people go around creating enemies to satisfy their ego, their lust for conquest, or just to have fun. They don't last very long. If a peer makes a mistake, it's a great opportunity to help them regain equilibrium, not a time to twist the knife. Kindness pays off.

• Do not engage in e-mail battles. If a peer is less than kind in an e-mail, respond to it with courtesy and maturity. Getting into a food fight over some issue has no place in the adult world, yet we see it all the time. Be bigger than that.

• Don't belittle, berate, or embarrass people, even if they do things to deserve it. This is a test of your own maturity.

• When you make a mistake or create a political faux pas, admit it immediately and ask for forgiveness. Don't try to hide your blunders.

This long list of "dos" and "don'ts" is mostly common sense. The point is that your reputation (which is your most precious asset) is on the line in every interaction. Do everything possible to enhance it.Great leaders do the things on this list instinctively, which allows them to sail with the political wind and navigate around storms most of the time.

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Article Tags: administration, charisma, ego, intelligence, Leadership, Myths, peers, politics, trust



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