The politics of leadership: play or get left behind in this invisible game

9 Oct

When the real work isn’t the work itself

Every product and transformation leader knows the official job description. Define the strategy, develop the teams, and deliver the outcomes. But anyone who has sat at the executive table also knows the unspoken truth. That the real work is often not the work itself

It’s navigating the people and politics around the work. It’s seeing the invisible rules of power and influence. It’s understanding the alliances that either make or break a deal. It’s controlling the optics that shape how you’re seen. It’s engaging with the subtle exchanges of reciprocity that determine whether your initiative gets air cover or stalls in steering committees

It’s navigating the people and politics around the work

The Turnaround Toolkit for GMs was designed to help product and transformation leaders like you to cut through the noise and build a skill that really matters. A skill that you’re rarely ever taught: how to navigate the people and politics that come with your jobs

In a world where the technological landscape rapidly changes on us every day, and in an economy where restructures are expected to remain a constant in our organisations for some time, this skill that you’ve never been taught has never become more important. Looking back across the last 20 articles, four key themes have stood out

Seeing power and the invisible game

Politics begins with people’s perceptions of each other. To lead effectively, you must see the forces at play that others miss. The unwritten rules, the legacy power structures, the hidden agendas, and the subtle shifts that restructures create. You need to read the room, and the organisational system, with clarity

Building alliances and political capital

Influence is built, not automatically granted. Coalitions, reciprocity, and political capital are the currencies of leadership. You need to invest in your relationships, balance out the give and take, and create networks of trust that outlast titles and restructures

Protecting boundaries and focus

Your boundaries are your power. Product and transformation leaders who can say no with authority, manage timing with precision, and secure executive sponsorship without being dependent on it protect both their priorities and their credibility. You need to know how to hold the line without losing allies

Shaping the optics and your reputation

Leadership is as much about how you’re seen as what you deliver. Listening, reputation, quiet wins, and optics all shape your political brand. You need to manage perception with integrity and ensure your influence is both authentic and enduring

Why this matters now, more than ever

In today’s organisations, politics isn’t a distraction from the work. It is the work:

matrix structures mean that it is rare to have all the people you need to deliver your product, platform, project, program, or portfolio directly reporting to you (think of the traditional matrixed project team, or the modern day chapter structure of certain agile organisational designs)
transformation agendas cut across silos and these situations require influence more than authority to get the job done
executive visibility is shaped as much by optics and narratives as it is by outcomes
restructures and shifting priorities have a tendency to rewrite the rules overnight

For C-Suite executives and their direct reports (including General Managers, Head Of’s, and Directors) the ability to navigate the people and politics that come with their jobs is no longer optional. It’s the difference between stalled initiatives and sustained impact

Politics is relational, not positional

Titles matter less than trust. Influence flows through networks, not through the reporting lines that are drawn between boxes on an org chart

Don’t be the Chief Product Officer who assumes their title will guarantee buy in from the board but learns the hard way. The product and transformation leaders who thrive are the ones who invest in their relationships before they need them

Politics is narrative

Facts matter, but stories travel faster. Product and transformation leaders who shape the narrative shape the outcome

Don’t be the General Manager in Transformation who faces fierce resistance because they framed an AI transformation program as a cost cutting exercise. The same initiative framed as one that frees up capacity for growth and AI innovation would gain more traction in this economic and technological climate

Politics is practice

Being politically savvy isn’t innate to most people. But it is a skill that you can learn, refine, and apply. Step by step, conversation by conversation

Don’t be the Head of Product who discovered the hard way that constantly saying no without reasons would erode their goodwill. Saying no once is easy, but doing it constantly to protect your team’s energy and focus requires deliberate practice. It requires you to map the political landscape, time your decisions, and rehearse how you will decline requests without closing doors and spending your political capital unwisely

From articles to action

Reading about organisational politics is one thing. Applying it in the heat of executive life is another. That’s where coaching comes in

In my work with product and transformation leaders who hold Director, Head Of, General Manager, and C-Level roles, we take the concepts covered in this Turnaround Toolkit for GMs and translate them into live strategies for their specific contexts. We:

map the political landscape to understand their stakeholders and build coalitions that endure
frame their initiatives so they align with the appropriate organisational priorities
build strategies and scripts that enable them to say no in ways that protects their focus, energy, and relationships
leverage support and sponsorship to accelerate their goals
figure out how to use reciprocity and reputation as currencies to expand their influence
develop and empower their teams to become autonomous and high performing

and much much more. We work through how they can navigate the people and politics that come with their jobs to succeed in both life and at work

Do you want to be the:

Head of Delivery who learns how to map hidden agendas before a program kick off, avoiding weeks of rework?
Director of Product who knows how to say no to pet projects from peers without damaging your relationship with them?
Chief Transformation Officer who reframes their initiative to align with the CEOs narrative to secure sponsorship that sticks?
General Manager in Strategy who builds reciprocity by backing a peer’s priority, then knowing when to call in a favour when your own initiative hits resistance?
Change Director who builds a strong team known for their ability to execute and convert the most resistant audiences into staunch supports?

Product and transformation leaders who lean into the people and politics side of their jobs don’t just survive the turbulent times inside their organisations, they define their futures

Your next step

If you’re a product and transformation leader at the Director, Head Of, General Manager, or C-Suite level you already know the assignments just keep getting bigger and bigger, whilst your authority and influence just keeps getting blurrier and blurrier. You know the leaders who win aren’t just technically and operationally excellent. They’re politically fluent and that could be you. Let’s work on this together. Here are two ways

Executive Coaching

Feel like:

everything you’ve read in the Turnaround Toolkit for GMs so far resonates and you need help moving from theory to practice, articles to action?
you’ve committed to, but are under prepared to, step into a much bigger or more complex role than the one you currently hold today? You want a trusted partner to help you with the transition period; to help you navigate the people and politics well because you really only have one chance to get it right with such big stakes?
you’ve been tapped on the shoulder to turn around a multi-year, multi-million-dollar investment program that’s gone awry and you need an independent sounding board to help you navigate the people and politics of the rescue mission because everyone else around you is either too invested, has ulterior motives, is too close to the issues to see clearly, or hasn’t experienced this before so can’t offer anything of value?

I invite you to work directly with me to problem solve for your specific situation in a confidential setting. This is for you if you want to develop and execute on a game plan that is 100% tailored to you

Leadership Team Coaching

Feel like:

the dynamics within your leadership team could be improved so that you work more effectively together?
your recently formed leadership team needs to get to know each other to start trusting and collaborating with each other?
everyone on your leadership team has a different agenda and you constantly need to do battle with the people who are meant to have your back before you face the rest of the organisation?
your leaders have been promoted because of their technical excellence, have risen too fast through the ranks, and have never been taught the leadership and relationship skills they need to navigate the people and politics sides of their jobs well?

I invite you and your leadership team to work directly with me to problem solve for your specific situation in a confidential setting. This is for you if you want to develop and execute on a game plan that is 100% tailored to you

Let's Talk

Lai-Ling Su