Business success equals delivery of value! Value is created and delivered to the company’s stakeholders by executing the corporate mission realizing thus the purpose of the organization!
Extensive multi-national research shows that leaders follow various ways in their effort to accomplish their mission. However, most of them are not successful in the long term –in many cases not even in the medium term.
Why?
- Simply because they do not follow, or do not manage to apply, the only proven to be successful formula for success which dictates that strategy and structure should come after alignment and engagement are achieved around the corporate purpose and mission in a culture that is based on corporate values.
- Even when they try to apply it, they fail to achieve and integrate alignment and engagement!
- One of the common reasons is because they fail to reign over organizational politics!
In modern times, politics is about making the impossible possible –about dealing with misaligned complexities and diversities and negotiating until compromise achieves alignment –hopefully without jeopardizing the values and mission of the company (…city, country, nation…).
The politics for turf, promotion, getting the deal, keeping the deal and staying as far away from ‘problems’ as possible, often dominates the attention and time of managers and consumes their energy!
Managing politics is not easy. Prof Dr Andrew Kakabadse’s(1) and Tribal Leadership(2) research show that following a number of steps helps steer through varying political agendas and achieve alignment and engagement:
- Map the diverse agendas – identifying the influencing players and making reasonable efforts to engage them in dialogue;
- Bring all stakeholders close – being fair to all; treating them as equals;
- Shift mindset – being sensitive to each person’s sensitivities; building close relationships, especially in triads(2);
- Be economical with information –following a golden median;
- Network legitimately – seeking support from influential and revered supporters;
- Be ruthless though respectful -to those who cannot blend in the team being incapable to align themselves even after interrogating and debating exhaustively the issues and after the majority of the top team has been aligned;
- Know yourself – being authentic and consistent and behaving with modesty and humility even when extra-ordinary cases demand inconsistency!
Typical is the example of Whirlpools(3) code of ethics
with the following values: respect, integrity, diversity & inclusion, teamwork and spirit of winning. In this company, induction, managerial verbal and body language and performance management revolve around these values. Company people are expected to think and act on the basis of not only the “what” (must be achieved) but simultaneously on the “how”. Even the ones who are good at results but do not speak, live and …demonstrate the values are expelled by the “system”!
It is, therefore, of paramount importance that organizational politics is not disregarded and shied away, but are dealt with discreetly with due attention to the sensitivities of each individual player until alignment and engagement are achieved –even if people who cannot blend in are obliged to leave. Once again, values and culture are the foundations for dealing with politics and building alignment and engagement.
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(1) The Successful Formula – How Smart Leaders Deliver Outstanding value, Andrew Kakabadse, ISBN: 978-1-4729-1684-6
(2) http://www.slideshare.net/lior_caspi/tribal-leadership-slideshare (slides 18-20)
(3) http://emea.whirlpoolcareers.com/Culture/Vision,-Mission-and-Values.aspx
24 October 2015