Politics Part Two
post # 292 — January 25, 2007 — a Careers post
Yesterday’s blogpost was about the politics one encounters as a consultant or internal advisor.
However, the truth may be that you can never get away from office politics, no matter where you work.
There are many people who tell you that you need to be careful what you say, who you say it to, and how your message might be perceived (or misperceived).
The advice they would give is to act on a first presumption of suspicion or distrust — that it’s the only realistic way to behave. Unless you’ve built a strong, trustworthy relationship with a person, you should assume (they say) that whatever you say will be rebroadcast (and potentially misbroadcast) to a wide variety of people.
Naturally, this would also mean that you should be very careful with emails and voice mails — you never know who some people will forward your message to, or blind copy.
They would advise you to “strategize†what you say at meetings and when.
How do you out there feel about this? I’m torn. On the one hand, I think it terrible to be this paranoid.
I also believe that starting with a lack of trust is likely to breed mistrust. Playing office politics may only serve to worsen office politics. And if you’re not very skilled at it, it might be a disaster to try.
On the other hand, CAN you be a non-participant? I’d readily confess that some of my worst career events came from not being very attuned to (or skilled) at office politics. (I wish I picked up on unsaid things faster!)
Tell me, please, is it it really this bad out there? Is office politics a key part of everyone’s life (not just the advisor’s)? If so, where do you go to get better at it? Is there a reading list?
Clarke Ching said:
Hi David (and your many zillions of readers),
I’ve been pondering your question a lot recently (for a book I’m writing) and I remembered an interesting artcile by Fred Luthens of the University of Nebraska. It’s called “Successful vs Effective Real Managers”. It was one of the half-dozen useful things that still sticks in my mind from my MBA.
It starts, “What do successful managers – those who have been promoted relatively quickly – have in common with effective managers – those who have satisfied, committed subordinates and high performing units? Surprisingly, the answer seems to be that they have very little in common. Successful managers in what we define as “real organizations” – large and small mainstream organisations, mostly in the mushrooming service industry in middle America – are not engaged in the same day-to-day activities as effective managers in these organisations …”
In short, the successful managers spent more of their time socialising, politicking, and networking, than the effective managers. The effective managers spent more of their time doing “human oriented activities — communicating and human resource managementâ€.
The SHOCKER is that the study found that less than 10% of the managers were BOTH SUCCESSFUL AND EFFECTIVE.
That’s right: 10 percent.
Contrast this quote from a successful manager:
“I find that the way to get ahead around here is to be friendly with the right people, both inside and outside the firm. They get tired of always talking shop, so I find a common interest — with some it’s sports, with others it’s our kids — and interact with them on that level. The other formal stuff around the office is important but I really work at this informal side and have found it pays off when promotion time rolls aroundâ€
… with this from a typical effective manager:
“Both how much and how well things get done around here, as well as keeping my people loyal and happy, has to do with keeping them informed and involved. If I make a change in procedure or the guys upstairs give us a new process or piece of equipment to work with, I get my people’s input and give them the full story before I lay it on them. Then I make sure they have the proper training and give them feedback on how they are doing. When they screw up, I let them know about it, but when they do a good job, I let them know about that too.â€
You can see the problem here: It’s not necessary to be effective to be successful. Luthans recommends that organisations change their performance management systems to ensure that effective managers are promoted, but he also warns that it may be virtually impossible to do so.
So, his recommendation isn’t a lotta use then.
I think the key lies in figuring out how to do what the 10 percenters do it – they do what the effective managers do and then add in some politicking and networking on top of it. I bet that because they’re effective also that they they start with more trust when they do their politicking and networking too, which makes it easier.
That doesn’t answer your question though, does it? I’m not great a politicking … in fact, I’m pretty aweful at it. I’d love to learn how to do it better. The two books I’ve found most inspirational are crucial conversations and trust based selling.
I’ll be watching the comments here enthusiastically!
posted on January 25, 2007