Without the sex and the dragons! Or is it?
Yes I am a fan of the series and believe it or not this was actually a sentence I’ve ended up saying today in the office.
And why do I say that? Well, simply because organisations are made of people, and people are eager for power (not all of us, but enough of us). It’s all about the political games and who wants to be in power. And one can’t succeed alone, so he needs to find some allies
Normally those allies will be someone who has similar views or a common enemy. Ideally those allies will either support the one to power or be someone who already has some power. It’s all about the influences and Chinese whispering. One by one you must get rid of the enemies (or someone who doesn’t support your views).
If the wind changes, and sometimes it does, one must seek for new allies and try to clear out any evidences to someone who’s no longer in favour. Seems too unrealistic and distant from the office reality? Look again.
Everyone needs to find a common ground and someone they relate to, but there’ll always be that one which you’ll recognize as a climber. You know they are there. Some master the art of understanding the power maps and having a clear view on who’s going to be next in the throne. How many times do you have the feeling that you can’t explain why a certain decision was made, but somehow it feels too political?
We could argue that political games are bad for organisations as it undermines those who are not good at those games but do a good job. Also, if you can’t trust your colleagues because you never know when they’ll do something against you to get up in the ladder, how can you do any team work? On the other hand, we need to recognise that being “political” and teaming up for survival is part of human nature. Companies need to acknowledge this and try to use it in it’s own favour. It’s up to each line manager to understand who does the work and who may be taking the credits for it. It’s all about emotional intelligence and recognise those characteristics. Yes you’ll always need ambition, and in the end that’s how companies grow, but if the balance isn’t correct, if all the Starks are being killed and few of the good ones are left, probably the corporate will end up suffering and good employees may not want to work for you any more. Organisations will always need a good leader that can guide and motivate the ones below, and need to be able who’s the lead and who are the followers that most fit the overall strategy. If the king doesn’t survive long enough and strategy keeps on changing there’s few chances that the company will survive.
Related articles
Any examples you would like to share from your experience?
FYI, you're TBB 