POLITICAL SAVVY 101 with Pat Hughes Trillium Leadership

POLITICAL SAVVY 101 with Pat Hughes Trillium Leadership Consulting Seattle, WA www. trilliumleadership. com

Learning Objectives Learn four competencies of political savvy Identify personal strengths and weaknesses in political savvy Identify skills and activities to increase your personal political savvy competence

Discuss with a partner What comes to mind when you hear the term “political”? What are examples of positive and negative political behaviors you have experienced?

What is Political Savvy (PQ)? Political Savvy is using skills, behaviors and qualities to be effective in organizational and social dynamics. Key skills: 1) Self and Social Awareness 2) Interpersonal Influence 3) Have a Strong Network 4) Be Authentic and Sincere in Your Actions

Political Savvy Bill Gentry from Center for Creative Leadership with Portia Mount, Boss Mom Blog and CCL

Finding the right balance • Unskilled (too little) • Overused Skill (too much) • Skilled (just right)

Unskilled 1. Dismisses politics; sees self as apolitical 2. Says and does things that cause political/relational problems 3. May not deal with upper management effectively 4. May be impatient with political process 5. May be too direct and not consider impact on others 6. May not predict consequences of actions 7. Don’t navigate smoothly through political waters 8. Unwilling to use the work of others (“not invented here” syndrome)

Overused Skill 1. May be viewed as excessively political 2. May not be trusted 3. May tell others what they want to hear rather than what is true 4. May overstate what they know 5. May be seen as manipulative or scheming 6. May read motivations into situations (“It’s just my face” syndrome)

Causes of under/over skilled 1. Don’t read others or their interests well 2. Excessively direct or blunt 3. Misunderstands what political savvy is 4. No patience with process 5. Poor interpersonal skills 6. Poor negotiator 7. Seen as too biased (not neutral) or too action oriented 8. Egocentric / ethnocentric

Skilled 1) Self and Other Awareness 2) Interpersonal Influence 3) Build a Strong Network 4) Be Authentic and Sincere

Political Skill Survey

Increase Your PQ Ø Identify 1 -2 specific skills of Political Savvy which can help you leverage your position more strategically Ø Do the activities Ø Build new habits

Build Unlikely Alliances

Practice Reading the Environment

Political Savvy Summary “I could get my job done if there just Recognize political complexity is a fact were no politics in Monitor self and social awareness – read people my workplace…” and the environment Build interpersonal influence & relationships Network and mingle strategically Be sincere and authentic

Let’s Hear it for PQ Thank you! Pat Hughes Trillium Leadership Consulting Seattle, WA www. trilliumleadership. com