5 Dealing with internal politics

After examining survey results from over 750 participants of leadership programmes across the globe, Gentry (2016) identified the issue of internal politics as one of several key challenges for leaders. Sometimes referred to as office or workplace politics, this is an unavoidable challenge for many, relating to the actions and behaviours of those competing for status or power in the workplace.

Figure 8 Internal politics

Office politics exist for a range of reasons:

• Individuals and teams are often competing for limited resources and use a range of tactics to influence those in charge of the finances.
• Some individuals are seeking promotion and want to be viewed as better than their colleagues.
• People are committed to their project or department and want to promote it at every opportunity, particularly in front of senior managers.
• People with strong moral or ethical views will seek to share those views and can be dismissive of those who don’t agree.
• Different personality types also play a part – with those who are more confident and vocal sometimes frustrating others who prefer a quieter, more measured approach.

It can take up a lot of your time and energy, but when you are leading a team, you need to involve yourself in the political discourse of your organisation, as otherwise your team might miss out on much needed resources or profile.

So how do you deal with these issues with minimum expenditure of time and energy?

• Be a part of several networks, so you aren’t seen as taking sides. If senior managers need your help with something, prioritise that and make sure you are reliable.
• Don’t gossip and don’t rely on promises of confidentiality unless you know you can trust someone.
• Don’t be afraid to give timely, appropriate and constructive feedback to senior staff.
• Communicate clearly and authentically. Follow up important conversations with an email.
• Know what you are trying to achieve and be ready to articulate why that is best for the organisation.
• Listen – a better understanding of your organisation, will allow you to align your priorities with those of other departments. A collaborative approach is often viewed positively by senior managers.

Professor Jean Hartley explains the importance of mobilising people outside your own team to support your goals.

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JEAN HARTLEY:

Another challenge is mobilising people to support your leadership goals. In fact, there are some definitions of leadership which talk about leadership being about mobilising people's time, people's attention, people's resources to achieve particular outcomes. So, thinking about- who do you need to get on board- get the support for what it is you want to do? That obviously is going to include your team.

But there may be people wider in the organisation who need to understand what it is you're doing or whose work overlaps with yours or who need to understand, as they pass work on to you, what it is you will be doing with it. You may need to maintain the reputation of your part of the organisation, or help other people understand what it is that your team contributes to a wider purpose.

So, actually thinking about, if you like, not just mobilising your own team, but mapping out who are the stakeholders to what it is that you do, and how to encourage them to understand and support what it is you're doing. That may include members of the public. It may include customers and suppliers. So you may need to think quite broadly about who needs to know about your work.

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