Do you see work as a political event, manoeuvred by skillful diplomats to maintain the status quo and designed to mould you into their philosophies and practices? Caesar did. The words Shakespeare attributed to him were “Let me have men about me that are fat, sleek-headed men and such as sleep o’nights. Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. Such men are dangerous.” Many of you will nod wearily. It describes your plight perfectly.
The answer? “Greet ‘em and beat ‘em”. Your alternative is to quit, but good jobs are not that easy to find and there is a chance that you will walk straight into another political pot – one you don’t understand and whose foibles and frenetics are even worse. Sensible to equip yourself to win the battle scene you know. Follow these suggestions and you will.
Strategise first. We all rush to tactics when we should start by thinking. Weigh up your strengths, both what you offer and how you offer it. Every meeting with your boss, every WhatsApp, email, phone call is a statement of your strengths and weaknesses. Decide where you aim to reach in the organisation and by when. Measure, more accurately than you have done so far, the armour your opponents and your supporters have. Prepare a plan.
Equip yourself. To remain calm at all times. To read people thoroughly, without which you have little chance of success. To think faster than you do at present. To keep your objective always clearly before you. To resist smart responses by always being agreeable.
Check your pace. You always want to go faster than you can. If you do, you may arrive ‘dead on time’. But your objective is to arrive alive! A winning pace is not always fast. Next to calm, pace is the most important personally controlled tool you have. Don’t go so fast that you give yourself an excuse for failing – many people do.
Organise & rate your information sources. Know whose information is reliable, whose disruptive. Who can you trust? Take time to establish this. Friends and foes change places easily – they are in it for themselves, too.
Review your progress at least every six months. If you can do this with an intelligent and frank friend it will be more productive. Business and personal reviews are often obsessed with forecasts. Looking ahead is great but becomes useful if coupled with the lessons of the past. How you reached where you are is often the best clue to what to do next.
Assess your supporters, competitors and enemies. They are daily helping or hindering you. Keep a file on each of them. Visit it regularly and note where your relationship is with them.
Good Generals know their troops well – and the enemy’s troops even better. For all the data bandied about in politics, victories go to the committed. That is why morale is such a vital part of battle. At work the morale you have to vitalise is your own. You will need help to achieve that but only one person does it well enough to guarantee success. That is you.
Good morning
John Bittleston
If you’re not practising it already do tell us at [email protected].
22 July 2024
