We can use political leadership dynamics to understand and model leadership in private sector organizations. A paper written for my master's-level project management course.

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The Politics of Leadership
Teresa J. Rothaar
Wilmington University

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The Politics of Leadership
Bryson and Kelley argue that leadership issues in private sector organizations mirror
those found in the world of politics. To better understand private sector leadership, they write,
one should view organizations as political systems. The authors examined biographies of
successful politicians and discovered that they shared four prerequisites to political success:
1. They were members in good standing of their home organizational unit and top-level
networks.
2. Their views were mainstream, not overtly extremist.
3. Their home unit positions were secure; they were in “safe” districts.
4. They had the seniority and experience to understand how things work at higher
political levels.
The article points out that the last two do not necessarily apply in the private sector.
Political stars usually climb the government ladder one rung at a time, being elected to offices of
increasing importance and responsibility as they gain experience. All House Representatives, for
example, are on the same level when they are first elected to the House. In the private sector, it is
possible, even common, for an individual to be hired by an organization as a president, vice
president, or even C-level executive, even if they have no experience in the organization’s
particular industry. However, in general, employees hired into upper management have
experience in similar positions at other companies. Further, the more complex an organization or
industry, the more likely it is that private sector leaders will rise through the ranks the way most
politicians do, one step at a time.
Additionally, politicians can position themselves in “safe” districts, where they are
repeatedly reelected with no consideration as to job performance; even though voters love to
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rally around the notion of “throwing the bums out,” Congressional reelection rates never drop
below 85% (Stossel, 2014). In the private sector, it’s much more difficult to cultivate a “safe”
environment where poor job performance is overlooked or rewarded. A series of disastrous
decisions got former JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson booted after only 17 months on the job
(Bhasin, 2013). As Bryson and Kelley point out, unlike the voter pool, which could contain tens
of thousands (and in a presidential election) millions of potential votes, in a private organization,
one “vote” from the majority stockholder is all that is needed to hire or fire an executive.
Bryson and Kelley also identify a fifth variable—personality and skill—that they argue is
the most important overall when considering leadership stability and change. Voters will elect
leaders they like on a personal level. Perhaps the most famous example of this in the political
arena occurred in the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon election. It is widely believed that Kennedy won
only because of the televised debate he had with Nixon, the first time a presidential debate was
broadcast on television. Nixon, recovering from an illness so serious that he had been
hospitalized, was sweaty and appeared nervous before the cameras; Kennedy simply came off as
being more likable to viewers. Were the debate broadcast only on radio, Nixon may have won
the election (Webley, 2010). Since, as pointed out earlier, private sector leaders’ positions are
dependent on the whims of far fewer “voters,” it can be argued that it is even more important that
they be likable, at least to the people who decide whether they get to keep their jobs.
Notably, just as televised debates changed the world of politics, and made likability
critical to getting elected to high office, some researchers argue that technology is making
likability more important to rising up the ranks in the private sector. As Nixon discovered,
likability is more difficult to pull off on television than on radio. The advent of inexpensive
videoconferencing technology is making telephone conference calls obsolete, and a 2008 study
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found that videoconference viewers judge speakers more on personal likability than on the
content of what they are saying. It is also more difficult to come off as likeable on a video than in
person; job applicants interviewed on video receive lower likability scores, and are less likely to
be hired, than those interviewed in person (Shellenbarger, 2014).

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References
Bhasin, K. (2013, May 2). J.C. Penney Pricing Disaster Destroyed Employee Morale. The
Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/jcpenney-pricing-
disaster-morale_n_3196037.html
Bryson, J. & Kelley, G. (1978). A Political Perspective on Leadership Emergence, Stability, and
Change in Organizational Networks. The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 3, No. 4,
713-723. http://www.jstor.org/stable/257927
Shellenbarger, S. (2014, March 25). Why Likability Matters More at Work. The Wall Street
Journal. Retrieved from
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303725404579461351615271292
Stossel, J. (2014, October 29). 2014 midterms: Why the 'bums' (in Congress) won't be thrown
out this year. Fox News. Retrieved from
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/10/29/2014-midterms-why-bums-in-congress-wont-
be-thrown-out-this-year/
Webley, K. (2010, September 23). How the Nixon-Kennedy Debate Changed the World. Time.
Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2021078,00.html
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References
Bhasin, K. (2013, May 2). J.C. Penney Pricing Disaster Destroyed Employee Morale. The
Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/jcpenney-pricing-
disaster-morale_n_3196037.html
Bryson, J. & Kelley, G. (1978). A Political Perspective on Leadership Emergence, Stability, and
Change in Organizational Networks. The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 3, No. 4,
713-723. http://www.jstor.org/stable/257927
Shellenbarger, S. (2014, March 25). Why Likability Matters More at Work. The Wall Street
Journal. Retrieved from
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303725404579461351615271292
Stossel, J. (2014, October 29). 2014 midterms: Why the 'bums' (in Congress) won't be thrown
out this year. Fox News. Retrieved from
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/10/29/2014-midterms-why-bums-in-congress-wont-
be-thrown-out-this-year/
Webley, K. (2010, September 23). How the Nixon-Kennedy Debate Changed the World. Time.
Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2021078,00.html
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