Stop Avoiding Politics
12 hours ago
- #leadership
- #workplace-politics
- #engineering-culture
- Engineers often view workplace politics negatively, associating it with manipulation rather than necessary coordination.
- Politics is an inevitable part of organizational dynamics, involving relationships, influence, and informal power structures.
- Ignoring politics leads to bad decisions, as those who understand influence shape outcomes more than those who avoid it.
- Good politics involves strategic relationship-building, aligning technical decisions with stakeholder incentives, and effective communication.
- Technical leaders often excel at politics under different names like 'stakeholder management' or 'building alignment.'
- Refusing to engage in politics results in losing influence, while mastering it helps implement good ideas and protect teams.
- Practical good politics includes building relationships early, understanding incentives, managing up, creating win-win scenarios, and being visible.
- The alternative to good politics is not no politics but bad politics dominating by default, leading to poor outcomes and talent loss.