Politics for Nerds
Oh, you're not political are you?
A lot of engineers pride themselves on not being political. This is a mistake. As a wise man once said
Just because you are not interested in politics, it does not mean that politics is not interested in you.
If you’re a leader of any stripe, being political is critically important to your well-being, the well-being of your team and of the org as a whole. Yes, politics has a dirty name but just like the atom, or money, it is a tool that can be wielded for good or evil.
In fact I would say that if indeed you’re in charge of a bunch of non-political engineers who just want to do a good job, then being non-political yourself is letting them down. It’s your job as their leader to negotiate working conditions and resources for the team. This job is, by definition, political.
In this series of posts I will cover the following
- What is politics?
- Why being non-political is a mistake
- Helpful and unhelpful politics
- The Ladder of Power
- Storytelling
- Wielding Power Well - upwards and downwards.
- Offensive and Defensive Strategies
- Forming Alliances
- Emotional Judo
Expect one post a week on this topic.
The rest of the series is for Founder Members only. This is dark knowledge, for serious people only. Upgrade your membership to Founder if your haven’t already. See you there.
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