Fortune
July 14, 2011: 12:46 PM ET
Managers who hold themselves above the political fray at the office are doomed to fail. To be an effective boss, you must influence others.
By Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, contributors
Excerpts:
To be an effective boss, you must influence others -- people and groups over whom you have no formal control -- to get what your group needs and to work for what you believe is best and right. Your own people count on you to do this because they cannot do their work well otherwise. Your organization depends on voices like yours to keep it on the right track.
The best way to build influence is to create ongoing relationships for mutual advantage. There's no reason you cannot do this while holding yourself to high standards of openness, honesty, fairness, and respect.Most organizational conflicts are resolved through influence. The groups with bosses that have influence will get what they need. Those groups whose bosses lack influence will not.
"Playing politics" and wielding influence in a political environment aren't the same. Ironically, the way to cope with dysfunctional "politics" is to engage others, not avoid them. Hunkering down will only make you less influential and so less effective.
Engage those around you -- not to play political games but to build real bridges -- if you hope to accomplish the work that you believe needs doing.
[Don't] confuse[d] petty politics, the pursuit of personal aspirations and needs, with genuine disagreement about an important question. What's wrong, we wanted to know, with seeking allies and presenting a united front when real business issues are at stake? "Why weren't you," we asked, "the one talking to task force members and seeking allies before the meeting?
We never tell any manager to "be political" or to "play politics." We do tell them, however, that they must be willing and able to operate effectively in the political environment that exists in all organizations. Their success will depend on their ability to manage not just their own groups but the broader organizations within which they operate.
... conflict is inevitable and natural because of three features inherent in all modern organizations.
- Division of labor.
- Interdependence.
- Scarce resources.
Linda A. Hill, a professor at Harvard Business School, and Kent Lineback, a writer with 30 years of management experience, are co-authors of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader.
Access Content Source, Article, And Other Great Stuff: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/14/why-avoiding-office-conflict-is-not-an-option/
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