Despite excellent skills, expertise, and intentions, many employees or managers become victims of behind-the-scenes political forces. Blind to hidden agenda and the power relationships behind company decisions, they may not build support for their ideas, gain the credit they deserve, or achieve career objectives.This flagship two-day workshop adjusts attitudes about power and politics, confronts naiveté about organizational dynamics, and provides practical political skills for building organizational impact with integrity. The course uses online assessments, our best seller book, case studies, dynamic presentations, discussions, and practices to create insights and to protect you from:
- Being underestimated
- Having your ideas blocked
- Shrinking your visibility
- Losing out on promotions
Political blinds spots and lack of Savvy can result in:
- Inability to sell ideas
- Failure to receive appropriate credit for work
- Missing your organization’s hidden criteria for success
- Being sabotaged by others
- Being underestimated or pigeonholed
- Lacking a network of allies and advocates
- A negative image within your company
- Career stagnation or job loss
Learning Objectives
- Learn practical, non-manipulative strategies for entering the political arena while maintaining integrity, such as networking, promoting yourself, handling hidden agendas, selling ideas to stakeholders, managing the corporate “buzz,” avoiding sabotage and building your power base.
- Learn two primary Political Styles in organizations, what influences them, and how to avoid the dangers of adopting the extreme of either style.
- Defuse emotional upset you may have about politics as a fact of organizational life so that you will waste less time and energy. Instead, you’ll become “street smart” and strategic.
- Recognize any political tip-offs about which you may be naive.
- Learn how to present your ideas or challenge others’ ideas with appropriately firm vocabulary and adjust your language according to the power dynamics of the situation.
- Detect, prevent, and manage deception since even top leaders are vulnerable to distorted information, misrepresentation, and manipulation that can scorch company resources and reputations.
- Learn to recognize and handle sabotage in group situations by deftly managing resistance and challenges to your credibility or position.
Our goal isn’t to create political manipulators, but to ensure protection from low organizational impact or worse, sabotage. For good ideas and people to survive, building organizational savvy and political influence is essential. You can maintain your integrity and ethics while becoming more politically astute!
Hear what our clients have to say about the impact of our core Organizational Savvy workshops.
Preview the program modules to see the 2-Day Workshop flow.
1-Day or 1/2-Day Program Options
We also offer a 1-Day Clinic and 1/2-Day Briefing, condensed versions of our 2-day Flagship Workshop, Organizational Savvy. These shorter designs still achieve empowerment around ethical organizational politics, grounding in different Political Styles, and an overview to the 13 Savvy Skill Sets tapped on our Organizational Savvy Assessment. However, each program length differs in how many of the Skill Sets are actually taught and practiced in depth beyond the the awareness level.
Benefits to Your Organization
- As you raise your odds of career and project success through increased influence and impact, your company also receives payoffs from your new insights and organizational savvy.
- Participants gain a more positive attitude toward politics as a fact of organizational life. Reducing complaints and resentment about this reality increases energy and productivity.
- Functional areas are seen as strategic partners so that more project approvals occur.
- Participants become more empowered and willing to network for inter-team collaboration and cross- organizational learning.
- Helping people accept and manage organizational politics as a corporate fact of life reduces employee stress and attrition.
- The practice of ethical politics ensures a more positive company reputation.