Politically competent leaders

Political compe­tence is the missing “black box” of leadership success, that mysterious thing no one wants to talk about. It is the one competence we all need, and yet the one we never develop. Effective leadership may well depend singularly on this hidden competence according to Sam Bacharach.

Leadership is not the ability to generate a good idea – we believe there is an abundance of good ideas. Today the most crucial problem is how to turn a good idea into action. It is easy to be told that you need to change how you deal with your customer; change how you measure results; change how you focus on your marketing mix. But, it is difficult to know how to put these ideas in place to make things happen. Many people know what needs to be done, but few can leverage the energy and support of others to do it. The difference between successful leaders who implement ideas and those who fail to make things happen may be a question of their political compe­tence. Successful leaders not only push an idea, but also understand the opposition, get people on their side, and make things happen.

Once the ability to make things happen was largely a function of your talent or position. The higher your position, the easier it was to make things happen. Power may be seen as getting people to do something in spite of their resis­tance. This is the traditional notion of power and authority. Some would maintain that if you have the authority, the knowledge, or the resources to make you powerful, you would be able to push your agenda. But, frequently powerful people fail.

Political Competence

Steps

The question is not only of power, but also of political com­petence. Power without political competence may achieve some short-term success, but it is likely to consign you to long-term failure. Political competence may facilitate the success of those who are not obviously powerful or in high po­sitions. The key to making things happen is not simply a matter of more power, more input, or deci­sion-making authority. The key to true leadership is the development of political competence. Bacharach was discerned three political com­petence steps:

Map the political terrain: Today, the real conflict is not between those who resist change and those who advocate change. Conflict is over the change agenda. No one will come out openly to support the status quo and oppose change, they are more likely to procrasti­nate and ask for more consultation. Therefore, political competence demands that you develop the skill to analyse and understand the agendas of others in order to anticipate how they will react to your efforts.

Get the right people on your side: Without a coalition, you are a lone ranger, and the risk is much greater than any likely reward. With a coalition, you improve the chanc­es of implementing your proposal successfully, of surviving unintend­ed consequences of your initiative, and of enhancing your position for pursuing future opportunities. The ability to build coalitions in organ­isations today is not only a skill; it is an absolute necessity for survival and success.

When you shift into coalition state of mind, you see the action you are seeking; it is the begin­ning of a multi-step campaign whose success is predicated on the assumption that you can get others to join you. Coalitions are a proactive mechanism to enhance participation.

Make things happen: Even after you have the right people on board, get their buy-in, and estab­lish a coalition, you haven’t finished yet; you have more to do. Politically competent leaders know that while they may initiate a vision or a goal, they can only make things happen with the assistance of others. It is not enough to mobilise your coali­tion; you need to sustain it. Putting your ideas in place is a matter of solidifying your support, working out differences, and networking and diffusing your ideas. Even if you have a commitment, you need to make sure that your coalition has a clear sense of common purpose so that differences will not tear your coalition apart.

Three Resulting Roles

Most change efforts fail because leaders neglect one of the three elements of political competence. Mastering only part of the process will lead, at best, to partial success or reduced to role play.

Political analyst: When you have only mapped your political terrain, but failed to build a coalition, you can be described as a political an­alyst – being able to anticipate the reaction of others and understand their agendas, but cannot win oth­ers to your side. Political analysts will not or cannot go through the dialogue and interaction necessary to build a coalition. They may try to make things happen, but they think that by simply identifying the interests of individuals and key units, they have done enough. They don’t realise that mapping is only the first step to making things happen.

Consensus builder: Consensus builders are folks who do their political mapping, understand the terrain of allies and resistors, and spend time building coalitions of support. The problem is, that is where they stop. They never seem to get past that stage. They cannot mobilise their supporters in a way that makes things happen. Consen­sus builders have strong process capabilities. They can prolong meetings into marathon sessions with their monologues.

Politically competent leader: Po­litically competent leaders reduce the risk of acting on inadequate or incomplete information by getting as many people as possible on their side. The process of identi­fying allies and resistors and then moving on to negotiate with them by discussing one issue versus mul­tiple issues, establishing credibility and justifying action – assures that political leaders create a dialogue that will force much valuable information to the surface. Political competent leaders make better decisions and take action based on much more information than a leader who just forges ahead with his idea without getting people on his side. The coalition-building process reduces the risk of making a decision based on one-sided information. Building a coalition is a search process for the optimal solution.

The act of building a coalition, getting people together, solidifying and expanding the coalition, makes the politically competent leader less vulnerable to criticism. When critics attack, the coalition makes it easier for the politically competent leader to deflect criticism and move ahead with his plans.

Politically competent leaders are often rewarded for their efforts. They are widely praised, and they build tremendous political goodwill, allowing them to take on future projects with greater confidence. Politically competent leaders are protected from criticism and recrimination, while the polit­ical analyst and consensus builder are not well positioned. Politically competent leaders need to leverage the halo effect to expand their coalition of support and to prepare for the next project.

Political competence, like other core competencies, is composed of skills that are teachable and learn­able. It is the defining capability that will lead to long-term success and ensure leadership continuity.

Personal credibility

This leadership continuity ultimately brings about credibility – a universally admired leadership quality – for the politically compe­tent leader. Followers must believe that the word of the leader can be trusted, that they are personally excited and enthusiastic about the direction in which the organisation is headed and that they have the knowledge and skill to lead. James Kouzes and Barry Posner call this the first law of leadership: “If we do not believe the messenger, you will not believe the message.”

At the core of personal credi­bility are one’s core beliefs. People expect their leaders to stand up for something and to have the courage of their conviction. If leaders are not clear about what they believe in, they are much more likely to change their position with every fad or opinion poll. Hence, the first milestone on the journey to leadership credibility is clarity of personal values.

BY CAPT SAM ADDAIH