Harold asks --
"What efforts or personal behaviors would be most beneficial for one to
use to break the vicious circle whereby to have influence you need control
and to get control, you need influence? I know I should learn more about
politics, but I wanted to gain your knowledge as well."
Whether you like it or not, proving yourself in the current environment is
a pre-codition for being taken seriously when you suggest changes to it.
My hypothesis is that in the environment you are describing, you can only
gain credibility by excelling in the environment the current leadership
understands. then from that position of strength, you can offer ways to
change. When you offer ways to change at that time, you will be listened
to for two reasons. First, as one who excells in the current environment,
you no longer have a vested self-interest in change, so pushing for change
is more likely to be understood as motivated by a true desire to improve.
Second, by excelling, you will have gained credibility in the eyes of
leadership. Then they will listen to you.
--Rol Fessenden LL Bean, Inc. 76234.3636@compuserve.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>