“The best politics is right action.”-Gandhi
In today’s business climate it is impossible to avoid getting tangled into the office politics. Why? An organization is a social entity, where people gather to conduct business. Although, the role of the leader that runs that business is to unify actions of all who gather and participate to make it successful, it is difficult for an average leader to truly unify all agendas and to create one grand vision so powerful that everyone works to service that single purpose. It is the lack of leadership force that creates political ferment in an organization.
So, what are some of the reasons why people have different agendas to begin with? The following list will shed some light on the origins of the ferment. If this ferment is not dealt with early-on and not managed on an ongoing basis, an organization can become dysfunctional and can be torn asunder. A leader’s job is to recognize this ferment and to deal with it to unite the purpose of all and achieve the goal to which the organization is committed:
- Not bringing everyone together before making a major decision. The hallmark of a great leader is to have a vision and then to have the ability to infect everyone in their organization with that vision. A business or an organization is not a democracy, not by a long shot, yet, its leader has the responsibility to bring everyone together in ways that all agendas unite under their leadership. The command and control structure of an organization is what makes this aspect of a leader’s job particularly challenging. This is counterintuitive.
- Not having a studied vision. One of the main roles of a leader is to formulate a compelling vision for their business. Creating such a vision requires hard work. Once a vision is formulated, the next challenge is for the leader to socialize that vision across the organization. This is not always easy. Socializing a vision when there are different agendas to begin with takes special leadership. Without everyone coming on-board, moving ahead with a major decision can be foolhardy.
- Not inspiring and empowering others to act decisively. One of the key duties of a leader is to develop their followers by showing them how to move forward in uncertainty, take risks, and to learn from failures. Many leaders fail in their roles by micromanaging and paralyzing their organization. It is here when independent-minded activists start looking to form their own agendas and this is where the seed for political ferment is germinated.
- Not listening to diverse opinions as things evolve and then not uniting others to the original purpose in a way that dissent becomes the source of achieving clarity in the original vision. This is also one of the toughest challenges of leadership.
- Not making course corrections as things change. It is difficult, nay impossible, to foresee all possibilities at the onset of making a decision. As new surprises come to light or loom, a wise leader makes course corrections and informs everyone why. Without such an intervention politics can take over and soon agendas become diverse.
- Not acknowledging mistakes and soon. No one is perfect and great leaders know their limitations. When they have a new insight or a new learning from doing things differently than how they should have been done they immediately acknowledge their foibles and get on with the right course of action. Without such actions politics takes over and the organization suffers because of it.
- Not giving credit to those who excel in what they do. No leader is omniscient. They should have the willingness to surrender themselves to others when their own abilities do not serve them well in certain critical areas. When they are helped by the experts who bring new energy to the cause good leaders always acknowledge such help.
- Not knowing when to quit. Not all causes are just. Things change. Wrong assumptions derail an otherwise noble cause. A good leader always assesses their options in light of new knowledge and takes appropriate action to make course correction, including reversing the original decision and moving forward with a new one. This takes courage. Without it, politics can take over an otherwise well-functioning organization.
- Not being truthful. When things go south it is tempting to go into denial. When leaders go into denial their followers start diverging on their views of what is really going on. This sets the stage for a political revolt. A good leader goes out of their way to find the truth and to deal with it in a forceful way.
- Not being consistent. This is one of greatest reasons for politics to take over an organization. Unless everyone who is following a leader knows what to expect in typically encountered situations those around a leader get confused. It is this confusion that is a breeding ground for politics in an organization. Consistency over convenience is the mantra good leaders diligently follow.
The list above is by no means a complete prescription to avoid the office politics. In fact, a certain amount of politicking is healthy for a leader and its business. It keeps them vibrant and on their edge.