Corporate Policy – The Elephant in the Room

Corporate politics is everywhere. They affect all companies. In fact, it would be difficult to find a senior manager who has completely avoided the fray.

Depending on how much you move up the corporate ladder, you will feel the heat the higher you go. Executives and professionals talk about it all the time, especially during cocktails, but rarely in discussions or formal meetings. If it arises in a formal setting, it is likely to be phrased as “We need to revitalize the culture.”

And if you are running a new business at a large company that is developing or trying to develop a product or solution that is disruptive to the core business, you are likely drowning in corporate politics.

Surely that was my personal experience leading a business group that was creating new computers and devices for the people who lived at the base of the pyramid. Any product we created would match Clayton Christensen’s definition of a disruptive innovation: that is, compared to the PC, it would be more affordable (cheaper), easier to use (addressing computer / technology literacy issues), and would have value the only one that does not exist in today’s PCs. .

How did it turn out for me? Not good. I walked in with my eyes open, having seen politics in action before and having navigated through it successfully to get things done. I knew it would be hard work given what we were doing, but I was still amazed at the intensity of running a disruptive business.

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

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

The moral of the story is obviously to practice good politics and avoid bad. Looking back, the problem with this approach, and the reason it took me by surprise, is that you can do your best work, exercise your best networking skills, and create great things for your company, but by ignoring what I I call the negative politicians, you will. You will likely end up on the shorter end of the stick and you and the company you are managing will suffer.

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

Let me present 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 their business group, you’ll see subliminal signs of self-promotion.

Manage. They usually hide negative information about their business from their bosses and selectively turn things around to make them positive.

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

Become “friends” with the powers that be. They tend to actively engage with the main drivers and shakers within the company. If the executive suite tends to be political too, you can bet they’ve found ways to be liked by the best dogs in the company.

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

If reading these five characteristics makes your stomach clench, either in principle or because you’ve seen them in action, the next question you’ll probably ask yourself is how do I stay away from these people?

Short answer: you can’t. Long answer: learn to work in “the company of wolves”, no matter if the intensity of the policy is low or high. And I think you can do this without sinking to their level.

I am by no means the expert on the best way to navigate these waters, but I have learned from past mistakes and have thought a lot about the subject.

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

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

Do not tell anybody. Badmouthing people is what negative politicians do, and you will likely find out about it eventually. Information is transmitted with remarkable ease in a company. The adage “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it” applies here.

You don’t alienate them, even if they screw you. 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, were bitten hard.

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

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

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