Organization Politics and Executive Coaching:How to Navigate When You Don't Play Politics

Organizations are complex entities.  They have specific cultures and rules. Navigating the different channels: working up, down and across the organization while executing on strategic goals, makes successful leadership difficult.

Who are the influencers and who are the least powerful? How does an executive learn organizational savviness while remaining as positive as possible? How do you motivate your team and align with the senior management? What if you see yourself as” not being political”? What do you do then?

Executive coaching is a process that enables the executive to understand themselves, the team, the organization and the rules that are in play. It is a concrete process that results in deliberate behavior changes. By learning which behaviors work in what situations, the leader learns what success looks like.

Everyone is political. I am going to repeat that statement, everyone is political. Just as making no decision is making a decision (to do nothing), claiming not to be political is being political. And that has consequences. A good coach will work with the leader to understand themselves and all the aspects of the organization as they relate to the leader and the goals that are necessary for success. Being political does not mean betraying your values but rather understanding how to succeed in an environment and what the rules are. According to Ephraim Schacter, “executive coaches help senior leaders deliberately chose behaviors to optimize organizational results.” In other words, be political.