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Consider this – politics is not a dirty word. Yet this word brings up negative feelings, emotions and sometimes fear. Many try to ignore office politics when it happens, pretending it does not exist. But like it or not, it’s here to stay. Politics (good and bad) is an established fact of organizational life. Embrace what’s good about it!
Laugh (at least inside) when someone proclaims in all seriousness, “There are no politics here. We don’t allow it!” Allowed or not, the statement is ludicrous. Whenever there are two or more people collaborating for any reason, you’re witnessing and engaging in politics. So accept the reality. Move away from thinking negatively.
Re-frame your thinking to the constructive, affirming side of politics. That’s the first step.
The second step: build relationships
The secret of positive politics is building relationships. No coded handshakes, passwords or clubs. It’s all about managing stakeholders and the networks you influence. (And, those of influence). Some see this as manipulative, but great consultants learn and embrace the skill.
The third step: evaluate your network
Think of your organization as a giant social media network – LinkedIn or Face book. Take a look at your connections. How many do you have? Even more important: how many of your connections are decision makers? It is not about the number of followers but all about who you can tap into when you need career advice or to sell your next big idea?
Business Leaders are political masters; they understand themselves, their teams, and their environments. Watch any successful leader and you’ll see a great politician – a relationship builder.
There’s an art to building relationships. It’s about intention. Each time you go out of your way to meet someone new, it should not be about you but about the advice you can offer. Think about your connections today.
Although political savvy is a crucial leadership skill, too few organizations build on it. While organizations invest heavily in leadership development and executive coaching, too little time is spent teaching politics and power. Despite this, power and politics is deeply and broadly embedded into nearly every competency framework.
Take a look at Lominger or Emotional Quotient. In the Lominger competency framework, Political Savvy lists at number 48 on the 67 competency list. “A savvy manager can navigate complex political situations effectively and quietly.”
Quietly? What does that mean: don’t tell anyone?
In Goleman’s book, Working With Emotional Intelligence political awareness is touted. “The ability to read political realities is vital to the behind the scenes networking and coalition building that allows someone to wield influence, no matter what the professional role. Mediocre performers lack such social acumen…”
If mediocre performers lack social acumen, is it because we don’t talk about building savvy? I think it is.
Action Step
Instead of shouting your dislike of politics and dismissing its power, ensure that everyone in your realm is equipped to understand and embrace it. The pitfalls of being unaware of politics create a significant impact on talent retention and engagement.
The answer: Build a savvy work force; retain savvy talent to drive stellar performance.
Look at the facts and face the truth. The discussion on boardroom diversity will not work unless organizations stop the haemorrhaging of women leaving businesses while at the management level, never reaching the the executive suite. The truth is most organizations struggle mightily to retain talented mid-career women. The New York Times reports that even Norway (poster country for board diversity) faces these same challenges, too few women in line for the C suite.
While researching MNC’s across Asia Pacific recently, I heard business leaders vehemently state, ‘We have a robust pipeline of women in the workforce – slight pause – in middle-management.’ Probing further into this ‘percentages and pipeline’ beyond management, the number of women mysteriously and significantly dwindle.
Given this drop- off rate, disparity in the boardroom will clearly continue to be an issue unless organizations rethink how to address a looming problem.
The recent frenetic talk of women in board rooms is often built on the hope that it will lift women to the top, and having women in senior roles will trickle down to the others.
But such a board focus and subsequent ‘trickle-down theory’ undermines the real issues, stalling progress. There are fundamental issues at stake, some more obvious than others, that need addressing.
Sally Krawcheck, President of Global Wealth and Investment Management at Bank of America, has it right: ‘ Hang on to women in their 30’s.’ If nothing else ensues, this should be the primary focus for the next decade. At midlife, women re-evaluate purpose, an introspective time and a critical period for leadership development.
The real cost to organizations is losing talented women at this pivotal juncture. While significant energy, resources, and research have focused on board diversity, women continue to be stuck in the middle, and fewer numbers rising to the top.
What’s the hold up? The dearth of women in executive roles is attributed to lack of networks, experience, and role models, but the big hurdle to overcome is bias and mindsets.
Not everyone sees the world in the same way, more of a truth in leadership. Ask about great leaders across cultures, and it generates lists of interesting people; infamous, notorious, good, bad and different. Leadership is often in the eye of the beholder, and very different across cultures. We thus need to fundamentally broaden our view of what defines leadership.
Most view leadership through a cultural filter, but inside an organizations this frame of reference needs to expand, as leaders come in all shapes, sizes and colours.
Widening this view requires a focus on bias awareness. Bias impacts every aspect of the employee life cycle from selection to promotion to redundancy. To ensure talented women thrive and move towards the executive suite, consider these three steps:
- Focus on mid-career talent
- Expand leadership definitions
- Embed bias awareness
Researchers contend that women in Asia are moving into management positions in greater numbers. While true for some countries, others lag far behind. In those countries, moving from management to leadership or decision-making roles is hindered by workplace bias, family obligations and being stuck in dead-end roles. Women in Asia today face challenges that require a different perspective and new way of thinking in order to ensure percentages change positively in the executive suite.
Let’s look at how some Asian countries are doing.
Malaysia outranks Japan and Korea in terms of gender equality, but falls far well below in representation of women in business. Since 1995 the number of women in the workforce has increased 3.4%. If present numbers continue to decline, Malaysia will not reach its 2020 goal of becoming a developed nation. Adding to this challenge, over a half a million Malaysians exited the country between 2007 and 2009, and far too few have returned, or are interested in returning.
A UN report states, “Women are crucial to the nation’s economic engine to further propel Malaysia up the value chain [and] further the nation’s development efforts.”
Similar to Malaysia, Japan needs women in the workforce to support long term growth and economic stability. Kathy Matsui of Goldman Sachs states, “Increased female participation implies higher income and consumption growth which we estimate could lift trend GDP growth by 0.3 pp to 1.5% from 1.2% and boost per-capita income by 5.8% over the next 20 years.”
The issue facing Japan, in addition to the recent natural and nuclear disasters, is an aging population and declining birth rate. There is a genuine economic need for women’s participation in the workforce to support growth.
In Korea, the number of women in the work force hovers around 47%. The government is trying to drive change by recruiting more women, creating a Presidential Commission, and reviving Gender Equality initiatives. While advances have been made in terms of ‘family-friendly’ policies and the creation of the Ministry of Gender Equality, pay inequity and internal conflicts remain at many Korean firms. Most Korean women prefer to work for U.S. multinationals with equal opportunity policies rather than Korean firms with traditional mindset and values.
China seems to fare much better, allowing more promotional opportunities and protecting women’s rights. China has a higher percentage of women’s employment than other countries (which makes sense given its size). Yet, looking into the statistics in China, the vast majority of women remain in administrative positions, seldom conducive to getting inside the executive suite.
According to Grant Thornton research, Vietnam and Thailand have a higher percentage of women in senior management positions, but ironically 10% of these roles are in Human Resources, often dead-end stations.
In many Asian societies – China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore – women are still expected to fulfil traditional roles, including child and elder care. Confucian values remain strong in Chinese families, holding women to higher expectations, although this varies across countries. While the numbers of women in the workforce may be increasing, stereotypes, bias, and perceptions have remained the same.
Given the strong family values, increasing women’s roles in business requires balancing family obligations and organizational commitments.
Interviewing women across Asia, most senior executive women mentioned, “family support and having access to outside help — is critical – otherwise we couldn’t do what we do…”
In addition to family support, flexible work schedules fills the gap. Cicso, HP, Microsoft and other high-tech organizations provide telecommuting as a solution, but this option comes with a stark reality; working from home is not viewed as real work, so mindsets need to shift.
While many organizations across Asia claim to have a pipeline of talented women, few have made a dent in the executive ranks. Moving from middle management to leadership is never easy. To do so,organizations must ensure that women remain engaged with real opportunities to reach the executive suite. Understanding and appreciating the cultural norms of each country and finding a strategy that builds an inclusive workforce allows for innovative thinking and provides a competitive advantage – and ultimately benefits everyone.
