This document discusses political dilemmas faced by politicians and business leaders. It explores how their mental models differ from others and whether corporate politics is similar to government politics. It examines the role of coaches in helping leaders make ethical decisions while navigating expediency. It also discusses developing political awareness and authenticity. Key points addressed include managing political situations, developing authentic leadership, and questions coaches can ask clients to thoughtfully navigate politics.

1. An exploration of the political dilemma
Professor David Clutterbuck

2. Some issues we’ll cover
• What is a political dilemma?
• How do the mental models of politicians differ from others’?
• Is politics (small p) in the top teams of corporations really that different
from Politics (big P) in government and opposition?
• The coach as power behind the throne — if all power corrupts, do coaches
become corrupted by association?
• What role can coaches play in helping politicians and business leaders be
self-honest and make ethical decisions?
• What lessons and pitfalls are there for coaches in the concept of
expediency?
• What are the challenges for supervisors, working with coaches whose
clients work in a political environment?

3. Some stakes in the ground
• The story of coaching begins in political leadership:
– Athene
– Machiavelli
– Fenelon
• Coaching and mentoring as mass movements have become an
instrument of social manipulation
• Formal coaching and mentoring of politicians is a relatively
recent phenomenon

4. Politics is:
• Power to influence
• The art of expediency

5. By implication, politics is:
• Driven mainly by expediency and short term agendas
• A means for the organised few to control the
disorganised masses
• Reliant on common narratives (convenient fictions)
between the controllers and the controlled (Homo
Deus)
• A magnet for the sociopath as well as the idealist
(sometimes it’s hard to distinguish them!)

6. Mental models
• Entrepreneurs tend to be motivated by potential
gains
• Politicians focus on avoiding damage or loss

7. The expediency challenge
• Is it always wrong to take decisions based on short-
term gains?
• The values we apply in the short term may be
different from those we apply in the longer term
• What is the responsibility of the coach in this
context?

8. Political dilemmas for politicians
• Popularism appeals to people’s fears and frustrations
(the sense of powerlessness)
• Motivating people around positive aspirations is
harder. It requires imagination, creativity and a
relative absence of fear
• Is it any different in corporate politics?

9. Political dilemmas for executives
• When do you give people bad news?
• Communicate complexity and people don’t
understand; simplify and they misunderstand
• Every executive appointment is a political
appointment
• Effective change makers bide their time until they
have the necessary networks to influence and act
collaboratively

10. Chat room
• What political dilemmas have you encountered with
leaders, who you have coached?

11. Parliamentary business government
• Should we have top teams in opposition?

12. Core characteristics of great leaders and
great coaches
• Compassion
• Curiosity
• Courage
• Connection

13. The secure leader
• They don’t feel the need to control.
• They recognise that trying to manage a large team is an impossible and fruitless task.
Rather, they aim to support team members in managing themselves.
• They don’t expect to be keep informed about everything, or to re-route information
between members of the team.
• They protecting the team from distractions from outside
• They ensure that everyone understands and is aligned with the overarching team
goals.
• Their self-security makes them open to (and welcoming of) feedback from team
members.
• They have a “growth mindset” – focused equally on their own development and that
of the team.
• They care – both about the team goals, but also about each of the team members as
individuals. They make time for human interaction.
• They are aware that they, too, are a work in progress and they are fully comfortable
with that perception.

14. A minefield for the coach
• How can you avoid colluding with expedient,
potential unethical behaviour?
• Is it OK for a coach to act like a “seconder” in
supporting a corporate client in a political battle?
• How would you feel about coaching a leader, whose
views you strongly disagreed with? (How would you
manage the internal conflicts?)

15. Your views?

16. Political v politically aware/adept
• Leaders need political awareness to achieve desired
outcomes while remaining authentic
• ”Thinking politically, acting with integrity”

17. Politically awareness in corporations
• What is and isn’t possible within current resources and organisational
climate
• What rules it is necessary to adhere to strictly and which rules it is
acceptable to work round, and in what circumstances
• Prevailing attitudes and myths
• Both formal and informal decision-making processes
• What types of experience carry greatest “cred” in terms of being listened
to and being considered promotable
• Which networks, groups and individuals have significant influence
• Which behaviours attract positive and negative comment
• How the organisation reacts to and deals with mistakes
• What issues top management prefers to avoid
• How to gain access to decision-makers and budget-holders

18. Helping a leader reconnect with their
authentic self
• How succinctly can I describe my personal values and
how they contribute to my identity as a coach?
• When do I most live up to those values and my
aspired identity? (What is happening within me and
around me?)
• When do I least live up to them? What is happening
within me and around me?)
• How do I calibrate how authentic I am being?

19. Developing authenticity
• Knowing yourself – having a clear sense of your own identity,
values, strengths and weaknesses and your own evolving life story
• Being yourself – trying to be as congruent as possible with each of
these elements of yourself
• Honesty in self-management, which involves:
– Recognising and acknowledging when you do not live up to your ideal
self
– Reflecting upon what causes you to behave more or less closely to
your ideal self
– Listening to other people’s perspectives on you and your behaviour
(it’s hard to be authentic in isolation)
– Being appropriately forgiving of yourself

20. Managing politics: some helpful questions
• Who are the key players in this situation?
• What are their overt and covert motivations?
• What will make them consider you/your team as a key part of their
strategy?
• What resources and skills do you have that they will find useful in
achieving their objectives?
• What have you done/could you do to make them aware of
you/your team as a politically strategic resource?
• What core values do you want to uphold, regardless of pressures
from others?
• How can you establish boundaries around values without creating
enemies?
• What resources do you have and what can you do, to get advance
warning of politically motivated change?

21. Managing politics: more helpful questions…
• What resources can you muster to block damaging, politically
motivated change?
• When would be the best time to have those resources in place? (When
would be too late?)
• How much in credit is your "favour bank"?
• How clear are you about the intent (purpose) of your boss? Your boss'
boss? Key colleagues?
• How can you ensure you are aware of the undercurrents in the
organisation?
• What principles will you not let go of?
• Who are your champions and supporters? How are you keeping them
motivated to support you?

22. Your thoughts and ideas

23. Thanks for taking part!
David Clutterbuck
David Clutterbuck Partnership
Woodlands, Tollgate, Maidenhead, Berks, UK, SL6 4LJ
Mobile: +44 (0) 7710 170019
Twitter: Mentor2mentors
E-mail: david@davidclutterbuckpartnership.com
Website: www.davidclutterbuckpartnership.com