Partner Article

Beating office politics is key to successful leadership

Office politics is one of the main challenges facing leaders, according to research released today. Almost half of the top level leaders stated that they felt unable to address the issue within their organisation and around a quarter said it was the toughest challenge to overcome.

According to the research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Development Dimensions International (DDI), nearly half of the managers and leaders surveyed said that the respect of their colleagues was one of the greatest rewards of promotion.

Vanessa Robinson, CIPD’s Organisation and Resourcing Adviser said: “Leaders should encourage frequent, consistent and clear communications to eliminate any ambiguity, uncertainty and politics. Otherwise senior teams risk being riven by disagreement and shifting alliances, and operating in a way which rewards political manipulation. A leader does not operate in isolation. Support from colleagues and the organisation are essential if a leader is to be successful. We wouldn’t expect people to take on an unfamiliar technical role without the appropriate training and support. Yet all too often we’re happy to let people loose on important leadership roles without helping them to develop the necessary skills.”

Simon Mitchell, Director, DDI said: “The research demonstrates that leaders need much more than congratulations and a pat on the shoulder if they are to succeed and thrive. Organisations need leaders that make a difference. People are promoted in order to succeed, not to fail, but it seems that many leaders that succeed do so despite a lack of effective support from their companies. Simple things like helping newly promoted leaders anticipate what they need to do differently would make a huge difference to the effectiveness of those in transition.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .