YOUR VLERICK GUIDEBOOK FOR STAYING AHEAD OF THE …/media/Corporate/Images...Ask a few trusted peers to describe your leadership style in a few words and look for the golden thread

YOUR VLERICK GUIDEBOOK FOR STAYING AHEAD OF THE (POLITICAL) GAME HOW TO NAVIGATE OFFICE POLITICS

WHY POLITICS MATTER

Politics are not good or bad: they are a fact of business. And they’re at play in every type of company − a start-up, a mid-sized firm, or a large multinational organisation.

But all too often, politics have a negative connotation. Some see office politics as a necessary evil; some welcome the opportunity to show their political skills. Others simply refuse to play ‘the game’.

But it’s not a winning or losing game. Being politically savvy doesn’t mean that you win at the expense of someone else. It’s not about being false or self-centred either. Or playing favourites, let alone back-stabbing. On the contrary: we argue that remaining authentic is of vital importance.

A ZERO-SUM GAME?

WHY POLITICS MATTER

So, how can you play the political game without crossing over to ‘the dark side’? And why is it so important to do so? Making the effort to understand and navigate your business’ political landscape has a large impact on your business performance and, ultimately, your career success.

The key to success is to be able to navigate the political landscape constructively whilst remaining true to your ‘authentic’ self, without getting caught up in power struggles or games. This is not an easy challenge, especially if you are humble or modest by nature. However, there are ‘moments of truth’ in your career when you’re going to have to step out of the shadow and use your skills, beha-viours and qualities to successfully navigate the political landscape.

IT SIMPLY MATTERS.

WHY POLITICS MATTER

Think about it: not having a strategy for dealing with politics might harm not only your own performance but that of your team and your business as well. Being politically savvy can help you build effective relationships and networks, strengthen your professional reputa-tion and, ultimately, help you progress your career and business.

WHY POLITICS MATTER

The discomfort with political games makes sense. A lot of managers have developed their careers on the basis of their technical, analytical or functional expertise. But moving towards more strategic, organisational challenges requires a (mind)shift.

Tackling these challenges successfully calls not only on your functional, technical or analytical skills but on your interpersonal and social skills too. Suddenly, interacting with all sorts of stakeholders, building coalitions with them and securing the resources you need are no longer mere distractions from the ‘real work’ but critical to your company’s success.

SO, WHAT’S HOLDING YOU BACK?

WHY POLITICS MATTER

• You understand more fully what is happening at the workplace.

• You build self-confidence by becoming more familiar with office politics.

• You expand and intensify your relationships with relevant stake-holders. Your ability to navigate the political landscape makes you better connected both inside and outside the organisation.

• You strengthen your professional image and reputation.

• You are better equipped to deal with difficult people and conversations.

• You gain influence.

• You avoid getting stuck in power games and struggles.

BENEFITS FOR YOURSELF

WHY POLITICS MATTER

• You gain access to the resources you and your people need − including the scarce resources (financial, material, human, …) needed to boost the team’s or business unit’s performance.

• You create impact for your people/team in the organisation. They profit directly from your success in branding yourself, your team, your unit, …

• You make sure the contributions of others (e.g. peers and team members) are rewarded and acknowledged. For example, your greater influence can come in handy when a team member’s promotion is at stake.

BENEFITS FOR OTHERS

WHY POLITICS MATTER

TIPS AND TACTICS

The question that remains is: How can I become politically savvy whilst remaining sincere? Without crossing over to ‘the dark side’?

This guide gives you some key tips and tactics for becoming (constructively) politically savvy and making it work for you.

We’ve divided the tactics into two types:

1. Tactics focused on developing yourself.

2. Tactics focused on building your relationships.

POLITICALLY SAVVY TACTICS

TIPS AND TACTICS

1Observe the political landscape. A good starting point for gaining greater insight into the office politics at play in your company is to observe your co-workers’ behaviour. Politically savvy leaders are often very perceptive. Getting a grasp on office politics (e.g. who has influence, who can damage your career, etc.) is difficult, because it’s tacit − not explicit − knowledge. Observing the political behaviours of others can be highly instructive.

Make sure you understand the implicit rules of the game before jumping in!

HOW TO DEVELOP YOURSELF

TIPS AND TACTICS

1Observe the political landscape. Another good strategy is to identify a few people in or out-side your organisation who you regard as role models in political behaviour (e.g. a member of your board, a business leader in a different sector). Observe their behaviour: With whom do they network? And how do they approach it? This will give you many insights into how you can become more politically savvy yourself.


• Observe office politics at play before stepping in!

• Observe a ‘politically savvy’ role model and learn from his/her behaviour. Pay particular attention to the people they network with − this can give you good insights into who holds the (informal) power in and outside the organisation.

FROM KNOWLEDGE TO ACTION:

TIPS AND TACTICS

2Mind your ‘mind-set’. A key step in becoming politically savvy is letting go of the negative connotation of politics. A lot of managers have a very negative view of office politics. They feel like imposters − uncomfortable, inauthentic, insincere − when they engage in politics. Some even wait for their true intentions to be exposed.

But top managers usually welcome feedback and interaction from all levels of the organisation!


TIPS AND TACTICS

2Mind your ‘mind-set’. Your perception of politics defi-nes how you approach it: try to define politics as neutral. If you can view office politics as simply part of doing business, you will be able to recognise, understand and adapt to the political lands-cape much more effectively. And even use it to the advantage of your personal and organisational objectives.


• Create a neutral definition of politics.

• Question your reactions.

• Give yourself a legitimate reason to reach out.

• Become more comfortable with conflict and power.


TIPS AND TACTICS

3Actively look for feedback. Did you know that the odds that you will reach new goals increase by up to 60% when you share them with others, such as trusted colleagues? By sharing your goal to become more politically savvy, you remove a major hurdle − ‘discomfort’ − since your immediate environment is now expecting you to experiment and behave differently. But there’s more: you’ve given yourself access to a great source of feedback. Feedback on how your newly adopted skills come across, for example.


• Find a sparring partner within or outside your company to challen-ge you on your politically savvy skills. Ask him/her to regularly give you feedback on your ‘political’ behaviour.

• Start small… Experiment with some of your newly adopted behaviours on a small scale. This will create a safe learning environment and help you build the self-confidence you’ll need in the future.


TIPS AND TACTICS

4Build an authentic leadership image. Let’s be clear: we’re not saying you should create a false or super-ficial image of yourself in order to effectively navigate the political landscape. Instead, this is about knowing how you come across and using this knowledge to play out your strengths. It’s about highligh-ting authentic characteristics of yourself − which you commonly use when interacting with family and friends, for example − which are not yet recognised in your professional environment.


TIPS AND TACTICS

4Build an authentic leadership image. Most of all, decide what image of yourself you want to portray and act consistently. What is your vision? How do you want to be remembered? Research has shown that there is a correlation between the image you convey as a leader and the perception of your leadership skills.

In general, there are 3 STEPS you can take to build an authentic leadership image:

STEP 1 Get a better understanding of how you are currently being perceived.

STEP 2 Create a clear image of how you would like to be perceived.

STEP 3 Analyse the gaps and find ways to highlight the characteristics that are not yet being perceived.

There are many ways to do this: for example, invest in media/speech training, work with a presentation/vocal/personal coach, join a network (e.g. Toastmasters), …


TIPS AND TACTICS

4Build an authentic leadership image.


• Seek feedback on how you come across today. Ask a few trusted peers to describe your leadership style in a few words and look for the golden thread.

• Think about the leadership image you want to portray. Define 3-5 authentic characteristics that are important to you. Compare these to how your environment sees you − is there a perfect fit or a gap?

• Close the gap by closely monitoring yourself in social interactions. Are you leaving the right impression of yourself? What could you do differently?


TIPS AND TACTICS

1Invest in a peer coalition of support. Build connections with peers in every part of your company. Often neglected and underestimated, your peers are very important to your success. Research has shown that not having your peers in your corner has a negative impact on your development opportunities. Giving them credit for success, involving them in strategic projects and decisions, informally networking with them − these are all important focus points for bonding with your peers. You will need their support in the future!

HOW TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS

• Bond with your peers: formally (e.g. involving them in impor-tant projects) and informally (e.g. during team/company events).

• Give your peers credit for their success. They will return the favour at some point!


TIPS AND TACTICS

2Get your boss or board on board! Managing up, or getting your supervisor or board on your side, is crucial to your success and that of your people. Challenge yourself to shift some of the time spent with direct reports (be careful not to go overboard) to invest in managing your boss or board. This is mutually beneficial. Don’t make the mistake of thinking they are not interested in what you have to say!


TIPS AND TACTICS

2Get your boss or board on board! But be careful to develop beneficial, sincere relationships with them. This is not about sweet-talking your way to the top. Be proactive. Sharing information with them, consulting them with regard to important projects, asking their advice … are all often highly valued.

This way, they know what is going on, and they do not have blind spots in their decision- making processes. And, at the same time, you are building rapport and trust. A win-win!


TIPS AND TACTICS

2Get your boss or board on board!


• Spend time with people higher in rank than you (e.g. GM, board of directors).

• Pro-actively share information with them to help them in their decision-making processes.

• Tailor your pitch. Take their audience into account and use the right information to win their support. Familiarise yourself with their world and their concerns, and use this information to customise your message.

• Ask yourself the question: How can I make them look good? They will undoubtedly return the favour at some point in time!


TIPS AND TACTICS

3Build strategic relationships with key influencers. Connecting with the right persons in and outside the organisation is crucial to your success. When needed, this will give you access to the right resources, support and career opportunities.

A lot of business leaders commonly make the mistake of viewing building strategic relations − or, more simply,

networking − as collecting business cards. It’s artificial, time-consuming and uncomfortable, and it doesn’t add real value to your business. But we all do it on a daily basis, without calling it ‘networking’ − and it has greatly contributed to our success.


TIPS AND TACTICS

3Build strategic relationships with key influencers. The effectiveness with which you build relationships with your peers, shareholders, board of directors, employees, customers − and even your competitors − impacts the success of your company. We do not operate in a vacuum. On the con-trary, the world is growing more and more complex, and organisational boundaries are becoming more and more fluid. Tomorrow’s leaders will need the skills to build effective relationships even more than today.


• Pick the right people. Go up, down and sideways. Diversify! Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

• Invest in the relationship. If you want someone to help you, the best starting point is to actively look for ways to help and support them. Reciprocity is a social norm that never should be underestima-ted. Offer your help and expertise.

• Regularly (informally) invite your company’s key internal and external stakeholders to meetings.

• Invest in networks outside your own area of expertise.


TIPS AND TACTICS

4Network on different levels. Research conducted by Ibarra and Hunter has demonstrated that there are different ways that successful leaders build their networks. They identify 3 types of networks: • the OPERATIONAL network −

which helps you in your day-to-day activities,

• the PERSONAL network − which supports you in your personal and professional development, and

• the STRATEGIC network − which gives you access to new business ideas and partners.


• Manage your operational network. Maintain trust and relationships with the people that help you do your job. It directly influences your performance.

• Use your personal network to get feed-back on your personal growth (e.g. in the area of networking and political skills). Look for a role model in your personal network that can support you in adopting new (politically savvy) behaviours.

• Leverage your strategic network and maximise your potential as a business lea-der. This is not ‘extra work’ but rather an essential component of your ‘real work’.


TIPS AND TACTICS

HOW TO NAVIGATE IN OFFICE POLITICS

1 2Think before you speak. Politically skilled managers have impulse control. They tend to choose their organisational battles wisely and size up situations before deciding how to present ideas to others. Managers who actually consider whether or not to voice a thought or a feeling, and who are thoughtful about the timing and presentation of what they have to say, are less likely to derail their careers.

Manage up – to a point. Leaders need to be able to communicate skilfully with their bosses, higher ups and so on. But political skill also involves maintaining good relationships with people at all levels in the organisation. Centre for Crea-tive Leadership research shows that people who are especially skilled at ‘managing up’ tend to put so much energy into their bosses’ needs that they neglect leading their own teams.

IN A NUTSHELL:


3 4Practice influence. Effective influencers build stronger interpersonal relationships and have good rapport with others. Managers comfortable with their interpersonal power tend to have good judgment about when to assert themselves, which in turn results in more cooperative relationships. Skilled influencers are not always overtly political; they just play the political game fairly and effortlessly.

Hone your powers of perception. Socially astute managers tend to be perceptive observers of others and of social situations. They compre-hend social interaction, and in social settings they accurately interpret their own behaviour as well as that of others. They have strong powers of discernment and high self-awareness.


5 6Learn to network. Effective networking goes well beyond passing out business cards or schmoozing. Leaders who possess a strong networking ability build friendships and beneficial working relationships by garnering support, nego-tiating and managing conflict. Skilled networkers know when to call on others and are seen as willing to reciprocate.

Be sincere. Politically skilled individuals display high levels of integrity, authenticity, sincerity and genuineness. They are – or appear to be – honest, open and forthright, inspiring trust and confidence. So, to sharpen your political skills, be genuine with everyone in your orga-nisation. If you try too hard, your co-workers will see right through it.


" Office politics doesn’t always have to mean making yourself more visible − it can also help you put your team in the spotlight, and this can make it easier for you to negotiate on their behalf with top management. '

ALWAYS REMEMBER

MORE INFO?

PROFESSOR KATLEEN DE STOBBELEIRExpert in leadership, coaching and feedback [email protected]

MAAIKE VAN AMEIJDECoach in team and self [email protected]

WWW.VLERICK.COM

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YOUR VLERICK GUIDEBOOK FOR STAYING AHEAD OF THE …/media/Corporate/Images...Ask a few trusted peers to describe your leadership style in a few words and look for the golden thread