No, I don’t believe this to be the case, but you have to admit, sometimes it seems that way doesn’t it?
In any complex political environment (or rather, in any large organisation), you need to get to the bottom of what your stakeholders are thinking. Unless you can get the truth from them, you’ll be shooting in the dark with your work, plans and proposals. You can’t even solve problems unless they tell you the full story behind their reservations or resistance.
Knowing this, when you’ve hit an issue or a problem, you rightly make the approach and ask the questions. Sometimes you’ll hit lucky, and the strength of your relationship will enable the insight to flow. Often though, especially with stakeholders you don’t know particularly well, you will struggle to get the input you need.
While you can likely gain a great deal more progress by carefully attending to each item on the Influencing Stakeholders Checklist, the question remains, why is it so hard to get stakeholders to really open up and tell you the truth?
Surely, it is in their best interests to help you to help them right? The problem you have is likely to be creating a ripple effect that will affect them at some point, so why don’t they help you right away?
Here are four really good reasons why not:
- Time. They simply don’t have the time to give you the lowdown on what’s happening. Most stakeholders are phenomenally busy spinning plates and they have to prioritise. Like it or not, what you are seeking may not be important to them. They may tell you straight, or more likely, they will simply ignore your emails or calls.
- Interest. You are naturally really keen to get the problem sorted out, but they may not share your interest in finding a solution. Even if it is hurting them, they will do a risk assessment and might decide not to bother with you and your problem. Rather than tell you straight, they’ll either ignore you or send out a few deflecting messages.
- History. Lack of openness and honesty can also be caused by the history of your relationship. If in the past you have had several battles with them, or they have formed the opinion that you are not to be trusted, getting straight answers is going to be really tough.
- Suspicions. Here’s the biggie. In so many cases, due in part to the complexity of organisational life, they may be wondering what your game is. What is it you are really trying to achieve? Whose side are you working for? If they did tell you the truth, what would you do with it? Trust is often in short supply in busy places.
The tough thing to recognise is that apart from the first one, you’re unlikely to get any straight talking. They won’t tell you of their suspicions, the way they don’t trust you, or that they find you boring.
Why? It’s not polite, it could make things more difficult, and it could consume even more of their valuable time. So, quite naturally, they’ll just hoodwink you and leave you exposed through lack of real insight. If you’re lucky, they may give you a few clues, but that’s it.
So, if you need to unlock key relationships so that you can get to the bottom of what is really going on, here is what you have to do:
The Gautrey Influence Blog
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- Prioritise the relationships you want to build. Think ahead rather than just enough to solve the problems you are currently beset with. Who do you need to have exceptionally open relationships with?
- Recognise the reality of these underlying causes. Do an honest assessment and think of ways you might be able to handle these proactively with each stakeholder.
- Notice the contribution you are making to their unwillingness to share insight and knowledge. What can you do to overcome this?
- Study carefully and complete each element of the Influencing Stakeholders Checklist.
- Work hard to increase the levels of trust in your relationships. Do this, not when you need it, but ahead of time. Trust building is an investment in your future.
- Establish, in your own mind at least, a vision of how you want the relationship to work in the future. What is your ideal state with each key stakeholder?
- Plan your approach to building each relationship. This should include an attempt to put the current need to one side and engage with them on the way your relationship is working, or not, as the case may be.
At the end of the day, the more you know, the more you’ll be able to do. The secret to success in large organisations isn’t being good at your job, it’s about knowing what is really going on. The only way you are going to know this is if you have a network of robust and open relationships that continually keep you up to speed.
The Gautrey Influence Blog
Ever felt overlooked, unheard, or stuck in office politics? You’re not alone. The Gautrey Influence Blog breaks down the real-world strategies behind leadership, influence, and power—giving you the tools to be heard, respected, and successful. Join 35,000+ professionals getting ahead the smart way—subscribe now..
💡 Benchmark your Influence: Take the Master of Influence Assessment (Free for Subscribers!)
👉 [Subscribe & Take the Assessment]