Political Dilemmas at Work: How to Maintain Your Integrity and Further Your Career

Chapter Fourteen

THE OUTSIDER

You are outside of the main power circles and find it difficult to influence the right people to get the job done.

 

 

 

 

Who is in the inner circle of the organization? Not necessarily on the board or the executive committee, but who is in the inner circle? Who are the people—regardless of status—who are the influencers, thought leaders, and shapers? The inner circle is an undefined matrix of relationships that don’t appear on any organizational chart, but these are still the people we need to know if we want to get something done. Better still, the inner circle is the place to be if we want to be influential.

But getting access to the inner circle is more difficult. The inner circle doesn’t have an office, so we can’t just go over and sign up. The inner circle is an elusive group that recruits carefully; membership is highly exclusive. So what do we do if we are outside the inner circle and we need their help? Where and how do we start to get connected? And what happens if geography also conspires against us, and we are working from outside the center of power. What do we do when we are the outsider?

The Outsider Dilemma

We’re based in Florida, and that’s a long way from where the action is. Being a remote team and a small start-up we get fewer resources, and we also get less recognition. We have to keep shouting sometimes just to remind the other guys that we are still out here—and doing a good job.

It seems that we ...