Tag: politics

decision making, Management, transformation

Stuck in their projects? Why managers should learn about politics

There is a paradox in business: many of those who are supposed to lead it sometimes admit their inability to move forward with their innovation or transformation projects. And this is not just true of middle managers. I often hear people say, “There’s nothing I can do at my level”. Coming from senior executives, this admission is surprising. The reason is often that these leaders have not recognized the political dimension of their role. By political dimension, we mean the ability to influence the group to move in a particular direction, in this case, to move stalled projects forward. This ability rarely rests on formal authority; it must be built. A useful historical example is how Lyndon Johnson managed to dominate the US Senate before becoming President of the United States.

(more…)
entrepreneurship, innovation, Society

The True Source of Social Change; and it’s not Politics

The world is changing profoundly, rapidly, and in every dimension. But where is this change coming from? What’s causing it? For many, the answer is simple: the world is changing because of political action. Great leaders take a problem and act to solve it. But when we look at history and the evolution of the world, another reality emerges: social change is rooted in everyday life. Change that is not wanted and organized by politicians, but often only sanctioned – or slowed down – by them.

(more…)
innovation, Management

Managers: You’ve got more power than you think

We live in an age which idealizes managers, yet never have these managers felt so powerless. Whatever their level in the hierarchy, they are confronted with increasing pressure in terms of control, reporting, senseless procedures, all resulting in a loss of autonomy which is immensely frustrating. As one of them was telling me recently “I have a superb company car, a personal assistant, a huge office in a very nice location in a great city, I am paid handsomely, feeling like Zeus on the tope of the Olympus, and yet when I want to buy a copier I need to ask the head office, and it’s not getting better. I am losing autonomy as time passes. All I’m doing more and more is filling Excel sheets.”

(more…)