• “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion motivated by pride and vanity.”—Dale Carnegie
• “Being right is interesting but it’s often irrelevant.”—Kathleen Reardon
• “Politics is more difficult than physics.”—Albert Einstein

Do you let resentment or intimidation drain your energy? Do you cringe at incivility in meetings? Do you often “personalize” events? Do you tend to imagine that the importance of your goals is self-evident and that your goals are shared? When someone disagrees with you, do you tend to become defensive? Do you have trouble building alliances? Are you pretty predictable? Do you take things at face value? If most of your answers are “yes,” then you probably struggle with organizational politics and likely are not fully utilizing your power to achieve your goals.

The only way to avoid organizational politics is to work completely alone. Politics is a natural way for competitive people to behave (“politics” and “people” come from the same root, “polis”). The task of politics is to find solutions to complicated issues. The more complex your organization (and Academic Health Centers are perhaps the most complex in the world) and the scarcer the resources, the more legitimate, competing goals there are likely to be.

Thus, no matter how excellent their clinical and scientific skills, physicians and scientists who lack political skills will not reach their potential. This may be dispiriting to purists and to those who equate politics with con men or bullies. But it’s a mistake to dismiss organizational politics as “show business for ugly people.” Politics can be constructive if your objectives are in the institution’s interests as well as your own and if the efforts used to achieve those objectives have integrity.

The Challenge
Preferring the lab or the OR where they are “in charge”, many physicians and scientists tend to over-rely on their most trusted behaviors, e.g., hard-driving perfectionism, self-reliance, and analysis. Many are more comfortable achieving “competence” than “connectedness” and pride themselves more on individual than group accomplishment. Requiring a relationship-building perspective and excellence in listening and communicating, political skills thus often represent a stretch.

Political skills can be especially challenging for women to acquire. Compared to men, women are less likely to garner effective mentoring, to have VIPs in their networks and or to be included in informal gatherings, e.g., the golf course. Women also enjoy a narrower band of assertive behaviors in most cultures, and strong women make some men (and women) uncomfortable. Compared to men, how women dress and look carries more weight, and self-promotion feels less natural. So developing a style that works is both extra important and requires extra finesse. An internal challenge many women must work to overcome is the desire to please and to be liked. Remaining on the sidelines only compounds these disadvantages.

Political intuition starts with interest in people. Developing a political compass involves deep attentiveness to what others say and how they act. Since such openness accompanied by a penchant for observation is the hallmark of great clinicians and scientists, remember that you’re building on a foundation you already have.

Becoming a Student of People
So what does becoming a student of people entail? Political intelligence is a sensitivity to the social contexts that define an organization’s culture. Just as you keep up in your discipline, you need also to study the systems you work in and how influential people operate—what their strengths, weaknesses, and motivations are. Be inquisitive. Use every opportunity to learn more.

Given your priorities (you know what are your goals are, right?), with whom do you need to build alliances or links? What key stakeholders and players do you need to influence? To build interest in and support for shared goals, seek to understand the other’s needs and pressures. Few will tell you their agenda directly, so you must snorkel beneath the surface: What appear to be their goals? How do they approach implementing them? Do they offer nonverbal cues? In addition to body language, pay attention to what is not said.

Try to individualize your approach to and your communications with others. For instance, for this person, what constitutes the most persuasive data (research, expert opinion, personal examples)? Are they most likely to be influenced by appeal to what others think, by what is in line with their self-image, or by what will achieve the fastest results? Adapt your message and style.

Even great ideas don’t sell themselves, so become savvy about positioning them. Similarly, learn to “frame” issues to favor your goals. How you frame or define a situation can reorganize perceptions—for instance, you can refer to an “argument” or a “debate,” a “difficult negotiation” or an ”opportunity to find common ground.” In any case, take care not to become defensive, which is a recipe for anti-learning.

Overcoming Blind Spots and Myopia
“Facts” are really social interpretations based on what you expect and want the world to be like. Where you “sit” determines what you see and the events you see that you immediately assign a meaning to. It’s easy to forget that there might be many other possible interpretations of the same occurrence. Also everyone tends to over-rely on their area of expertise and their preferred learning style, thereby missing important perspectives. For example, individuals who prefer quantitative assessments often miss crucial information about peoples’ feelings, while those who attend best to observable data may miss the “big picture.” So it’s important to compensate for these blind spots and discipline-induced myopia by teaming and consulting with individuals who bring other strengths and offer other perspectives.

Political skills consolidate with practice, especially if you actively reflect about what results you’re achieving and what you’re learning. Bounce your observations and questions off trusted colleagues. Ask them and yourself:

• Where have my expectations been out of line?
• What additional information do I need?
• What interactions have I handled badly and what might I try differently next time?
• How can I become more persuasive?
• Also try to analyze your emotional reactions (e.g., what is disturbing me and why?), your failures (e.g., what clues did I miss?) and successes (e.g., what’s turning out particularly well and how can I increase my impact?). Create a file or journal titled “Lessons Learned” where you record missteps, questions, reflections and ideas for new approaches.

Take Home Messages
While this overview only skims the surface of these complex subjects, incorporating a few key practices can make a big difference:

• Know your priorities and what matters most to you. Identify those areas where you can achieve the most tangible progress, then work to build receptivity to shared goals.
• Learn about the systems you work in and the key players. Ask questions and listen to the answers, remaining alert to and curious about nonverbal cues. Seek clarifications.
• Become more flexible so that you’re continuously expanding your view of significant events.
• Get comfortable letting others know about your work and accomplishments and what you can do for them, connecting your ideas and interests to theirs. Anticipate disagreements.
• Get feedback from close colleagues on how you tend to solve problems. Try to expand your repertoire of approaches.
• Do not internalize negative politics! Discuss troubling events with sympathetic and politically savvy colleagues who can help you see the bigger picture.

If you could use personalized assistance in having more impact with integrity, consider hiring a coach. The ELAM Consultation Alliance is a compilation of vetted coaches [see: http://www.drexel.edu/elam/alliance/consultation2.html].

Janet Bickel, MA
Career Development and Executive Coach, Faculty Career and Diversity Consultant
Janetbickel@cox.net
www.janetbickel.com

Additional Reading:
1. Bolman LG, Deal T. Reframing organizations: artistry, choice and leadership. Jossey-Bass, 1997.
2. Egan G. Working the shadow side: a guide to positive behind-the-scenes management. Jossey-Bass, 1994.
3. Reardon K: It's All Politics: Winning in a World Where Hard Work and Talent Aren't Enough. Doubleday, 2005.