Corporate Policy – The Elephant in the Room

Corporate politics is everywhere. They inflict every company. In fact, it would be hard to find a senior manager who has avoided the fray entirely.

Depending on how far up the corporate ladder you get, you’ll feel the heat the higher you go. Executives and professionals talk about it all the time, especially at cocktail parties, but rarely in formal discussions or meetings. If it comes up in a formal setting, it’s likely to be mentioned as “We need to revitalize the culture.”

And if you’re running a new business at a large company that’s developing or trying to develop a product or solution that’s detrimental to the core business, chances are you’re drowning in corporate politics.

That was certainly my personal experience running a business group creating new computers and devices for people living at the bottom of the pyramid. Any product we create would fit Clayton Christensen’s definition of disruptive innovation: that is, compared to the PC, it would be more affordable (cheaper), easier to use (addressing computer/technological literacy issues), and have unique value. which does not exist on PCs today. .

How did it turn out for me? Not good. I went in wide-eyed, having seen the policy in action before and successfully navigated through it to get things done. I knew it would be a difficult task given what we were doing, but I was still surprised by the intensity of driving a disruptive business.

In fact, I came up with a way to describe corporate policy that I frequently discussed with my team, peers, and respective bosses:

There are “good” policies and there are “bad” policies. Good policies are when someone needs to work on the system (eg, culture, personalities, organizational silos) to achieve business objectives that are GOOD for the company (eg, generate new revenue, growth, profits, and satisfied customers). ). Bad politics is when someone uses the same system to look good.

The moral of the story is obviously to practice good politics and avoid bad ones. Looking back, the problem with this approach, and why it caught me off guard, is that you can do the best job, exercise your best networking skills, and create great things for your company, but by ignoring what I call the negative politicians, You will probably end up on the short end of the stick and you and the business you are running will suffer for it.

So my main advice is… know your enemy better than they know themselves. I really hate using the word enemy, as my philosophy of “people” tends to be more on the side of trust. But these people see YOU as the enemy; as competition for whatever that future lucrative position or promotion may be. (And a hint: they’re right in a way. As you move up in the company, there are fewer positions for everyone. Everything becomes more competitive.)

Let me introduce you to five characteristics of negative politicians that I have observed over the years. They effectively:

Self promotion. They go out of their way internally to promote themselves under the auspices of promoting their business or product. If they blog or post internal articles about something related to your business group, you’ll see subliminal hints of self-promotion.

Manage. They often have negative information about their business for their bosses and selectively misrepresent things to make them positive.

Use information as power. They may use confidential business information (or what they consider to be confidential) about a part of the business they are involved in to enhance credibility. For example, in a meeting with other top managers, they will divulge some decisions or strategies that they know will captivate their audience.

Become “friends” with the powers that be. They tend to actively network with the key movers and shakers within the company. If the executive suite also tends to get political, you can bet they’ve found ways to endear themselves to the company’s top dogs.

Spread misinformation about possible “competitors”. They quietly spread rumors and/or misinformation about someone who may threaten their career or against the business that person runs.

If reading these five traits makes your stomach churn, either in principle or because you’ve seen them in action, the next question you’re probably asking is how do I stay away from these people?

Short answer: you can’t. Long answer: learn to work in “company of wolves,” regardless of whether the intensity of politics is low or high. And I think you can do this without sinking to their level.

I am by no means the expert on how best to navigate these waters, but I have learned from past mistakes and have done a lot of thinking on the subject.

I have five recommendations that I would give to those who are currently or who hope to eventually be in this situation:

Keep your ear to the ground, always. Be vigilant and keep a mental list of those who consistently act the way I described above. By increasing your network of trust, you discover misinformation and can make corrections.

Do not speak ill of them to anyone. Talking down people is what negative politicians do, and you’ll likely hear it eventually. Information circulates with remarkable ease in a company. The saying “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it” applies here.

Don’t alienate them, even if they screw you over. The other adage that I have ALWAYS found to be true is “never burn bridges” no matter what. I have never burned a bridge. Those who have, have been bitten hard.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Don’t avoid negative politicians. Network with them. Kind words and praise go a long way. I find that those who are insecure and have self-esteem issues tend to be the most political, so look for ways to help them and/or increase their sense of self-worth. But don’t make it up. Be sincere in everything you say or do.

Use some of your principled tactics. Do some self-promotion in a way that ALSO promotes others. Connect with the powers that be in a way that shows your value to the company. Don’t avoid them at social functions… look them up. Read “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi for great tactics on how to do this.

Another reference for you: Dan King, Director of Meaningful Careers, wrote an excellent article called “Winning at Organizational Politics Without Losing Your Soul” which provides additional information and reasons not to bury your head in the sand. As he states in his article, politics is a game. “Play or don’t play, the game continues!”

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