The recent leadership elections within Fine Gael and the Olympic Council of Ireland presented two absorbing races with the public privy to the various twists and turns in both. But, in business organisations, power struggles are not so visible, nor are they usually decided on the basis of explicit votes cast. The victors seem to emerge through some mysterious behind-the-scenes process.
Even competitions fought in public are only the final phase. The real action was probably played out beforehand in private. Somewhere along the line, organisational politics was likely to have exerted a pivotal influence.
Anyone who has ever worked in an organisation knows politics are an inherent part of life. Yet this is rarely openly acknowledged, perhaps because most of us consider politics entail something undesirable, even unethical. Prof Henry Mintzberg of McGill University defines corporate politics as use of power that is illegitimate, or the legitimate use of power toward illegitimate ends.
Political moves are manifested in "games" managers play. Like all games, they are defined by formats and rules, with winners and losers. The opposition is vertical from superiors or subordinates, or horizontal from peers or erstwhile "colleagues". The rewards are the promotion of self-interest.
Typical political games have been described by Mintzberg and others, notably Victor Murray and Jeffrey Gandz in a book Games Executives Play: Politics at Work. They include:
Sponsorship game: a subordinate, the acolyte, attaches himself to a powerful individual in a position to advance the subordinate's career. The acolyte ingratiates himself with the superior by flattering him, generally feeding his ego. This game is sometimes known as "brown nosing".
Favouritism in promotion: related to the sponsorship game, it assumes a political dimension when an undeserving crony is rewarded, not on merit but on the basis of the special relationship fostered with the individual deciding on the promotion.
Look good/impression management: expert players of this game seldom act unless it creates an effect, so they get noticed by those with power. These players overemphasise anything that makes them look good, and take credit for any noteworthy achievements.
Expropriation: a twist on the "look good" game is the tactic of taking someone else's idea or work and passing it off as one's own.
Backstabbing: impression managers and especially expropriators can be backstabbers too. Back stabbing is a ploy to discredit by underhand means such as innuendo or accusation. The drama played out in the backstabbing game was vividly described in an article entitled "Some Thoughts About Organisational Back stabbing: Or How Come Every Time I Get Stabbed in the Back My Fingerprints Are on the Knife?" by Jerry Harvey. The backstabber usually manoeuvres the victim into a position where he is seen to fail.
Sidestabbing: often accompanies backstabbing, says Harvey. Sidestabbers are messengers, professed sympathisers, who warn the potential victim that a backstabber is about to strike. But they swear the potential victim to confidentiality, supposedly to protect themselves as well as the potential victim. This pre-empts any preventative action to confront the potential backstabber and ward off the evil act.
Lording: this game is played by those with legitimate power to achieve illegitimate ends when they adopt a "don't care" attitude in the face of their blatantly unfair, dishonest or incompetent behaviour. In other words, they know they can get away with it, because they have disposed of any real opposition through various political means. They have a "loyal" following of henchmen who are beholden to them, or bystanders too intimidated to effect a challenge.
Frontstabbing: a full frontal assault often accompanies lording. In other words, someone with power will not hesitate openly to humiliate or destroy those who are a threat, especially if the victim has legitimate claims.
Expertise game: people hoard their essential knowledge or skills, drip feeding them into the system at moments when it is likely to be highly visible, proving how indispensable they are. These players resist any attempt to share their expertise, or to make it explicit in such a way that others can use and further develop it.
Of course, the games are not mutually exclusive. Corporate politicians can play several at the same time. For example, someone clawing their way to the top might play the Sponsorship game with a key superior, Backstabbing with peers, Lording with subordinates, and the Expertise game all around.
So what to do if you are not a consummate politician? At the very least, awareness that politics influence life in the workplace is necessary for survival. It was summed up by Machiavelli in 16th century Italy. He wrote: "The gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self destruction rather than self preservation." Is 21st century Ireland any different?
Dr Eleanor O'Higgins is a lecturer in strategic management and business ethics at the Smurfit Business School, UCD.
