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

Build Your Own Political Capital and Personal Brand

When your key ally departs, the power of association that you enjoyed as a result of your relationship departs with them, and any adversaries you have made will know that your influence is weakened. If you have overinvested in a single source, then it will be a slow process and not easy to replace this level of political capital. Nevertheless, it must be done.

Unfortunately, things have changed. If you had built up more stakeholder relationships when your main stakeholder was in place, your networking activities could easily have been regarded positively as equally beneficial to both sides. Now that your stakeholder has gone, your efforts are likely to be viewed differently. Others may now view your belated attempts at relationship building as desperate acts of a politically vulnerable individual. You should expect more resistance and suspicion from others as you reach out to connect with them and rebuild your political capital.

It is highly likely that the strong bond between you and your ally was common knowledge around the organization. Indeed, you may have promoted the connection to capitalize on the association. So everyone already has a view on it. Global brands may sponsor huge sporting and artistic events to benefit from the association, and the same is true with organizational politics and the associations of your own personal brand.

By associating your personal brand strongly with that of another, you can gain ...