Politics and Politicking
4. Political Strategies and Tactics
For
organizational politics to be effective, organizational leaders must
make appropriate use of specific political strategies and tactics.
Ethical behavior should be considered as an important requirement for
effective leadership. Mitchell (2005) buttressed that the organizational
managers should seek answers to these questions before they engage in a
particular influence act or political tactic:
- Is it right? This is based on an absolute principle of justice.
- Is it fair? – This is equally based on the absolute principles of justice.
- Who gets hurt? - This is based on the principles of the fewer the better
- What if the decisions are made public through the mass media? – This is based on the principle of disclosure
- What would you tell your relatives? This is based on the principle of reversibility.
- How does it smell? – This is based on the principle of common sense and intuition.