Organization Politics: Winning the Alliance Game

Volume #12 - August 2000

Last week Americans learned the identity of the million dollar winner on CBS's hit show "Survivor." It provided a captivating psychological close-up of human interaction, and reminded me of psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. According to Maslow, only when lower-level needs - physiological well-being, safety and a sense of belonging - are met can we successfully meet higher-level self-esteem needs of competence, achievement, status and fulfillment.

As the show unfolded we watched 16 people, who were separated into two "tribes" and stranded on an island in the South China Sea, struggle to get their needs met. We witnessed the intensity of the pull and tug created when two different tribes or cultures merge and people's fragile sense of belonging gets uprooted. We also saw how people sometimes scrambled over each other and sometimes supported each other as they attempted to fulfill their need for a million dollars.

It wasn't too surprising to learn that the new millionaire was Richard, a corporate trainer who, from the beginning, approached his task of winning with a plan and a strategy. And it wasn't surprising to discover that his strategy had to do with alliance building.

The four people who made it to the semi-final round (Richard, Kelly, Rudy and Sue) aligned early in the game - they recognized that they could get closer to their goal working together than they could surviving alone.

Yet, many of my clients, who for the most part are women, tend to shy away from this kind of activity at work, viewing the alliance building of office politics as a negative. They tend to believe that if they just do their jobs well they will be rewarded. But as the Survivor show clearly demonstrated, performance alone doesn't ensure success. Kelly, the finalist competing with Richard for the votes from the other survivors, won the last five challenges, which demonstrated her knowledge, skills and strengths, but she didn't win the million dollars.

You need other people to succeed, and the more people who are on your side, the better. This doesn't mean, however, that you should buy into catty, backbiting office politics. But it does mean that you must learn how to read people and how to build trusting relationships. You need to demonstrate that you can be trusted as well as figure out whom you can trust.

The alliance of the semi-finalists almost fell apart when Kelly and Sue displayed their lack of integrity. Kelly's behavior and ambivalence about the "morality" of alliance building worked against her, while Richard (a 39-year-old homosexual) and Rudy (a 76-year-old ex-Navy SEAL), who had little in common, had faith that each would remain true to his word.

I found the show psychologically fascinating with a number of lessons that can be applied to the workplace.

Spend time planning and think strategically when developing your network and building relationships. This doesn't mean you are being callous or crafty. It simply means you are assessing your situation and building the kind of mutually beneficial relationships that will help you achieve your goals. Think in win/win terms.

Be selective, especially when creating a team that will influence your success. Team members don't need to be like you or similar to each other, but they do need to have complimentary skills and strengths, a dedication to the team's goals, and a passion for succeeding. Each member also needs to be trustworthy.

Be respectful, honest and forth. If you treat other people respectfully, they will respect you. Don't lie, but that doesn't mean you have to tell everything to everyone. Don't play people against each other. You can play fair and still play smart.

Stay focused on your goals, yet flexible in your planning and strategy. There will always be surprises along the way that you didn't anticipate, so you will need to be continually evaluating and possibly adjusting your strategy.

Pay attention to your own performance. Although you won't succeed on skills and knowledge alone, intelligence and performance count. If Richard hadn't been smart enough to create the alliance, he probably wouldn't have won. If Kelly hadn't performed well and won the immunity challenges, she most likely would not have made it to the final round.

Be clear about your boundaries, about what you will or won't do to achieve your goals. Stick with your value system; otherwise, you'll trip yourself up.

Control your emotions. Organizational politics can get nasty when people allow their emotions to rule their behavior. Regardless of what happens, deal with people and situations rationally and respectfully. Think before you speak. Your words can heighten your status or haunt you forever.

COACHING QUESTIONS ON ALLIANCES

1. What strategies do you need to develop to achieve your goals?
2. What kind of alliances does your strategy call for?
3. What characteristics are important to you in potential alliance partners?
4. What pitfalls might you encounter in your alliance? How can you prepare for them?
5. What do you need to do to remain true to yourself?

Copy © 2000 Virginia O'Brien All s Reserved

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