Leadership Portfolio Political Tactics Are Essential for Research Paper

Leadership Portfolio

Political tactics are essential for quality leadership. It is important to be tactful in all situations, and to understand the confounding variables that can impact communication clarity. Politics refers to skillful communications and strategic decision-making. Compromises are critical to good politics. For example, we were working with a large team of over 25 people. Each person had a clearly defined role, but there came a time when egos started to clash. As the leader, I was able to skillfully deflect the attention from the personal ego clashes and help the team members refocus on their shared objectives and goals.

I have had other situations that did not flow as smoothly, and which required extra political sensitivity. Issues related to race and gender often come up and disturb the political order in meetings. Men tend to dominate discussions, leading to situations in which women do not offer enough input. A male-dominated discourse is unfair, and the group leader needs to take control and take charge, by actively seeking and requesting input from female members the team. This goes for shy members of the team, too. Not all team members will be pushy or vocal about their ideas, questions, suggestions, or concerns.

Power is one of the hugest impediments to the flow of communications. People with an authoritarian leadership style, who place a strong value on titles, will have a difficult time listening to others and refraining from interrupting.This has been my experience. I have found that it is important to be extremely tactful with aggressive people, defraying their inflated sense of importance by addressing the concerns of others in the group.

I always use ethical tactics when addressing people and when solving political crises in my organization. It is critical to remain ethical at all times, to create a culture of honesty and integrity. I would not respect any leader who bent the rules or who lied or cheated in order to get ahead. Sometimes we must be clever, and being sneaky is not necessarily unethical. However, gross ethical infractions are never necessary. Those who use them may get ahead briefly, but they will not last there. Leaders especially need to be ethical at all times.

8-4 Leadership Skill Building Exercise

Influence tactics help build confidence, even as they draw upon previous levels of self-esteem. To develop a portfolio of influence tactics, I have read classic books like How to Win Friends and Influence People, and modern books written by CEOs and world leaders. Influence is about knowing how to manage power wisely, and mastering the art of persuasion. It is about being courageous enough to make bold requests of others, but intelligent enough to….....