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

Consult Actively to Build Relationships and Influence

Anyone aiming for success should consult and network with his or her peers. Relationship and stakeholder management are essential tools for any success strategy; for the interim, they become tools for survival as much as success. Be prepared to overconsult with your new peer group.

This will be important because of the nature of your interim position. You are not an equal member of that group, and your peers will consult with you less than with their more permanent colleagues. Interims are often out of the loop because of this. It is unlikely that there will be a deliberate policy of exclusion, but it is human nature for them to continue to rely on trusted relationships rather than seeking you out for your opinion. You need to be proactive and get on with networking and relationship building. Don’t wait to be consulted, go and consult them first. Be proactive and continue to not only get the information that you need but also to strengthen the relationships further.

Similarly, power and influence is less tangible for an interim. To the peer group, the interim will always be the substitute, and the substitute is always the team player who is not quite good enough to be a starter. Especially if, as is usually the case, the peer group knows that a “pro” will be arriving shortly.

Within the peer group members, there will be power struggles and personal battles. The presence of the interim provides a perceived opportunity ...