This presentation is a summary of Chapter 6 of the book Corporate Bravery. You can learn more about how this chapter fits into the overall approach to eliminating fear-based decision making by visiting www.corporatebravery.com

1. Corporate Politics
Turning a Negative Into a Positive
@murriner
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http://www.corporatebravery.com

2. The political process is Important
Definition: The total complex of relations between people living in
society

3. My Personal Experience
My oldest child, Peter uses his age,
strength and powers of manipulation
to extract what he wants from his
younger twin sisters.
This is a picture from our western
road trip stop at Bryce Canyon. It is
clear Peter has not quite captured
the real meaning of successful
sibling politics.

4. If Politics is Necessary, How Does It Go So Wrong?
In life & business trying to achieve outcomes depends on the actions of other people. You
must find ways to influence and convince others to act in a manner that
achieves the desired outcome.
Yet somehow when we apply the label of politics to this process it makes us feel dirty. We are
inundated with bad experiences from this process - a ‘do-nothing’ congress, attack ads, that
manager in the other department that seems intent on torpedoing your success.

5. The Broader Environment
• Over 25 years our political
system has managed a near
perfect ideological divide
• Our institutions have gotten
more and more divisive
• We only see issues in black
& white with no possibility
of a middle ground

6. Sense of Ownership Exacerbates Bad
Politics
• We are programmed to feel
ownership over our teams,
departments & divisions
• But ownership creates fear of
losing something & unintended
consequences of holding tight
to that sense of power
• This creates a virtual fear cycle
related to politics that isn’t
healthy

7. How Fear Confuses Corporate
Politics
When presented with an opposing viewpoint in
daily business life there is an opportunity to
square off into opposing sides, getting caught
up into the political vortex.

8. How Fear Confuses Corporate
Politics
Because we lack the training
and aptitude in conflict
management....
Our inclination is to oppose,
discredit and attack
This leads others to respond
with defend, retrench & attack
Our teams repeat this pattern
until we have created or
reiterated mistrust, fear,
divisions and ultimately a
dysfunctional
organization.

9. How Do We Get Out of This Cycle?
It starts with TRUST
Trust is a huge part of our success yet we spend almost no time intentionally
building it or developing it.
As leaders we are so focused on the day to day that we do not allow time for
people to build relationships. It will not happen in the normal course of
our lives.

10. Create Opportunities for Trust to Blossom
Invest in Relationships
Peers Business Partners
(Suppliers, Labor, etc)
Government
Agencies Customers

11. Clear Communication Is Key
• Confusion creates fear - you must be clear communicators
• The struggle for resources creates the need for politics, so you must have
clarity in your resource allocation processes
• Internally your mission, strategies & actions must be aligned to avoid
confusing decision making

12. Move from Ownership to Stewardship
If we move from ownership to stewardship people are more likely to work
together

13. How does Stewardship Differ?
• Stewardship sees all parts of the organization as an important part of the
whole that need to be supported towards better performance.
• Stewards will view their people not as head count but as people who have
aspirations and will work with them to develop them to improved
performance.

14. “In any organization, there are various factions intent on advancing their
own interests--product, marketing, communications, sales--which may or
may not align. And here is where balance is essential.
If any one function wins, we all lose. It’s the balance of these competing
forces and the ability to keep them in this juxtaposed tension that really
leads to great, great things being created and being done.”
Balance is Essential