Execution in a Political Zone
The importance of “successful execution in achieving excellence” can never be over-stated. Some of most wonderful strategic initiatives fail to achieve success and get derailed due to poor execution. Possibility of failure in execution, as a thumb rule, is directly proportional to level of bickering within the organization- the level of bickering and its impact on execution may vary as we move from one organization to another.
It is very common to hear people saying” I don’t like politics and powerplays. I never play politics. Let others indulge in politics. I will always be away from politics”. Power and political processes are a fact of life in all organizations; it is important to develop and use the appropriate skills to deal with Power and Politics. Power is a positive force if it is used for positive purposes. Politics is always a struggle for power, disguised and modified by prudence, reason and moral pretext.
Power and Politics is important to many people and they use it for status, promotion and ruling. Such intentions are generally not associated with the organizational purposes and directed goals, thereby not benefiting the organization.
Management in many organizations pretends that politics or political games don't exist. Those who claim that organizations can exist without political games are naïve. Mature organizations do not deny the effects of power and politics on organizational commitment. In fact, they invest in carefully examining the relationship that exists between power, politics and success in execution of action plans so as to work towards enhancing organizational performance by factoring-in the power and political equations.
The ability of an organization to achieve its objectives is compromised (especially when innovation and change are involved), because power games and politics generally make people to overlook their commitment.
Organizations are known to have “inner monsters” that wield enormous power and flex muscles to divert, slow-down or even decimate some fine initiatives and plans. Being oblivious of these monsters or ignoring their presence does not count for anything. It is not uncommon to find many people wonder why some of their initiatives aimed towards organization benefit fail to take-off or make it to the finishing lines. The corporate guidelines on inner-management mostly fail to deter the monsters- they always practice”show me the man; I will show you the rule”.
Building power and using that power to advance collective goals is ingenious. Handling it correctly saves several execution-limiting moves.
CEOVista shares its experience of varied organizations by compiling a simple equation on what it takes to enable an executive and his team to execute successful execution- an equation for getting all plans and initiatives off-the-block and executed till the finish.
Success of Execution = IQ + EQ + CQ + PQ
IQ = Intelligence Quotient (of the leader and the team)
EQ = Emotional Quotient (of the leader and the team); Yes, it matters; don’t ignore it
CQ = Cultural Quotient (of the organization)
PQ=Political Quotient (of the organization); Yes, politics do matter
The execution-success equation needs to be understood in detail to realize why it is vital to build influence and gain credibility and authority. Your as well as your team’s IQ and EQ helps to prepare a set of reality check tools in the back pocket to gauge the political and cultural milieu and its vital influence on the probability of execution success. Attaining all the ingredients to the requisite levels works quite spectacularly thru the execution phase inspiring the team to attain greater levels success.