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

Discover the Hidden Agendas behind This Dilemma

Usually, the reality behind the firestarter dilemma is that you are working the wrong agenda. This may be because the agenda has changed and nobody has told you or that the real agenda was hidden from the start. Facing resistance when creating change in an organization should be expected, and you need to pay serious attention to the lack of support from your sponsor.

Learning about the real agenda helps you understand why the support that you expected is not evident as you push forward. Working in ignorance of the agenda may mean that you are doing the wrong things and being ineffective. If you rely on your assumptions about the agenda, you could end up wasting a great deal of time and goodwill. You may even create a few enemies along the way! So you need to put some focus on finding out more about what key stakeholders really want and what they expect you to do.

Before taking steps to find out more, you need to remember that agendas are hidden for a number of reasons, some of which can be legitimate. When change could affect the market, keeping the real objectives secret is prudent. Someone who is fearful of his staff’s reactions is also likely to be careful with disclosing his true intent. Naturally, there are those who withhold information out of personal interest, too!

Start out by considering the change that you have been asked to deliver. What are the implications for the key people around the business? Identify how ...