Do you understand the politics around your role? Can you respond confidently when someone makes a move against your interests? No? Well, you're not alone. I'm starting to think that the most significant factor contributing to failing to deliver in a large organisation, is the inability to understand and manage the politics. Lack of leadership skills doesn't come close. A couple of days ago I was talking to Kate. She is an ambitious and talented senior project manager. Hard working and with a reputation for making things happen and getting things done that reaches far across the senior management community in her bank. Despite this track-record, she keeps getting surprises. Project get knocked off course because of the political manoeuvring by powerful people. No amount of technical capability can help her to prepare for these moves. Yet she hasn't got a clue how things are working. Not only is this causing her grief now, she is also beginning to realise it could be career limiting. At a high level, my FOUR key suggestions to overcome this problem were:: Read More

When it comes to becoming influential, you need to go through a number of steps. Firstly, it will pay huge dividends if you get crystal clear on what you are aiming to influence. This includes moving from a hard goal, to a soft goal, and then backing it up with evidence criteria. With that clear, it become much easier to identify who the key stakeholders are – those who have the power and interest to help or hinder your progress. Without doing this, most people seem to focus on the stakeholders who Read More

Petty politicking in the workplace breeds disharmony and damages the culture of an organisation. If you don't want to join in and are looking for a more positive and constructive way to turn these incidents around, try this seven step process. Read More

When you have to engage with someone, and you have a difficult message to deliver, a decision needs to be made about how direct and assertive you can be. Put another way, you need to decide how tactful and diplomatic you have to be to avoid causing offense. Unfortunately, this decision is often an automatic one based on our own personal preferences. Direct and assertive people like people to be very direct when speaking. That is how their world operates. However, others are more sensitive and like to work with a great degree of harmony. That is Read More

The purpose of case studies is to stimulate thinking and discussion. There are rarely right and wrong answers. Ultimately, a case study is presented to help you to learn how to use the process and apply it to your own Read More

Here is an opportunity to put theory into practice. Below you will find a brief outline of the situation facing a former client, Jim. Once you have digested the points below, please complete the exercise. This is best done with colleagues so Read More