Business cartoon showing six businesspeople in a meeting. Businesswoman says, "What if we don't ... [+]
If you think that the word “politics” is a problem and everything about it is connected to conflict, think again. Politics is an engine of growth no matter if it’s playing out in the public or private sector. Politics was yesterday. It is today. It will be tomorrow.
“Politicks is the science of good sense, applied to public affairs, and, as those are forever changing, what is wisdom to-day would be folly and perhaps, ruin to-morrow,” according to Fisher Ames, “British Alliance”, in the Boston Repertory, November 1806 via the Online Etymology Dictionary. “Politicks is not a science so properly as a business. It cannot have fixed principles, from which a wise man would never swerve, unless the inconstancy of men's view of interest and the capriciousness of the tempers could be fixed.”
The happy life described by Aristotle, was one in which man by nature lived in accordance with virtue. He believed in the role that politics and community must play in bringing about the virtuous life.
What’s the big idea here?
Today, there’s a tendency to separate politics from the systems it’s advocating for. The reality is that embracing political know how actually makes it easier to navigate disruption and succeed in business.
When you understand the politics of people and the politics of business you understand the use of power to build relationships and produce results. Well informed points of view drive growth.
A politically savvy leader:
· Knows what matters in order to add value.
· Knows history and imbues it effectively.
· Knows the facts and how to speak to them.
Steve Eisman, of Neuberger Berman is well known for having shorted CDO’s (collateralized debt obligations) and as a result profiting from the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble. In a recent interview on Bloomberg TV commenting on the deficit, he said, “The people who have been complaining about the deficit — and I like to call them the ‘oy, the deficit people,’ because that’s what they sound like — have been literally saying ‘oy, the deficit for 40 years.”
Imbued with a sense of history you can tailor your message to meet the moment.
“Most people have all the facts,” says Eisman, “It’s a question of how to interpret the facts. People think I had some sort of unbelievable edge about the subprime mortgage sector. I had the same facts everyone else had. I just looked at them differently.”
This is where we are now.
We usually have all the facts. If we’re not distracted by a skewed version of the politics of a situation, we’ll be able to utilize facts and get big things done.
People may be uncomfortable with the certainly of your conviction. That’s ok. Sharing facts that may be difficult for people to hear is leading from a position of authority. Saying things other than what you’re hearing in the general stratosphere will help you get out of the pack. This is key because the pack can feel like a melding of minds rather than the facilitating of ideas.
To nurture this part of yourself get into conversations that educate you and strengthen your self-awareness.
When you do this:
· You meet the moment.
· You build trust.
· You embrace disruption with confidence.
Eisman says, “Don’t speculate on speculating.” Leaders are best served to brush up on what they don’t know in order to maintain a position of authority and a fast-changing world.
Who you voted for, may vote for or what you believe to be true about future elections has little to do with politics in business. What you understand about the dynamics of power creates depth and decisiveness and gives people a reason to follow your lead.
Our history is rich in problems. We worked through many of those problems. This should help us remember the problems we face today are not the end of the world.
Let’s learn what we need to learn about the past in order to improve our conversations about what’s possible in the present. Do so understanding the politics of it all.
