Part II - Building Great Teams

Mapping the Political Terrain

Listen to Audio

This is an excerpt from the book "Get Them On Your Side" by S Bacharach. I will summarise the notes from this book into two Gyan sessions.The first session in "Mapping the Political Terrain".

A good idea is not enough, you need political competence. Many people know what needs to be done, but few are able to leverage the energy and support of others in order to do it. The key to true empowerment is the development of the political competence. The person with political competence is situationally aware, he anticipates, and reacts to the interests, agendas, and intentions of others in the organization. In order to get results you have to identify the allies and resistors, you have to get the buy-in, you have to build coalitions, and you have to lead politically.

Political competence is the ability to understand what you can and cannot control, when to take action, anticipate who is going to resist your agenda, and determine whom you need on your side to push your agenda forward. It is about knowing how to map the political terrain, get others on your side, and lead coalitions. Being political, in its most attractive light, is being aware of interests of others, finding areas of common ground, bringing others on board, and leading them in pursuit of goals. Politics is part and parcel of making things happen in organizations.

Any idea you have for an organisation is based on your own unique interpretation of organisation - past, present & future.Other would perceive their way. There is no such thing as a common prism. Everyone is coming from a different place. For every initiative you launch, there will be pockets of resistance and criticism directed towards your idea and towards you personally. Political competence requires that you anticipate what they are going to say.

To map the political terrain, you need to analyze the goals and approaches of the stakeholders. A simple 2X2 model between goals and approaches can help in this process. The goals can be classified into :

1. Tinkering Goals : Incremental improvements in the status-quo. People in this category are risk-averse. Focus is on short term. They prefer doing things which have worked in the past, a little better and faster. 2. Overhauling Goals: What interests this set of people is not the rules and operations but the underlying motivation. They look for fundamental transformation, so they do dramatic retooling.

The approaches can be classified into: 1. Planning approach : People in this category believe that everything that affects us can be known and prepared for. They are most concerned with control. Planning approach is based on the optimistic assumption that future can be predicted and controlled. 2. Improvising approach : People in this category don't make concrete plans, but rather react as events unfold. They are prepared for fluid adaptation. They are concerned with autonomy and independence.

Analyzing the goals and approaches of others will help you decipher their agenda. The real conflict is not between those who resist change and those who advocate change. But it is over the agenda.

(1.1 - Tinkering, Planning) of the matrix can be named Traditionlist Agenda. The rhetoric of this agenda is that change should be regenerative - purpose is to integrate past successes into current reality.One will argue that once abandoned routines are best way to deal with uncertain environments. People with this nature would not stop the change initiative, but slow down the change process.

(1,2 -Tinkering, Improvising) of the matrix can be named Adjuster Agenda. Adjusters react to change only when necessary. The question for the manager pursuing an adjuster agenda is one of timing - when to move? They are reactionary responding to external factors. One needs to pursuade this type of people that it is time to cross the bridge. Highlight that the time is now for the initiative.

(2,1 -Overhauling,Planning) of the matrix can be named Developer Agenda. This person is committed to stay on top of things. They believe scientific or systematic method is essential for predicting and controlling impending change. They love change initiatives. They are proactive in the pursuit of agenda to which they feel ownership. Their conviction can give momentum to the initiative.

(2,2 - Overhauling, Improvising) of the matrix can be named Revolutionary Agenda. Their goal is to impose completely new set of ideas that will fundamentally transform the mission. They thrive on new ideas. These people can undermine your efforts. They will never be contend and can lead you over the top.

People differ in either goals or approaches. Once you identify your agenda belongs to what category, you can identify the agendas of others relative to yours. This will help in identifying the Allies and Resistors, so that you can create your coalition to push your agendas.

Why This Matters

Organizations don't fail because they lack good ideas-they fail because good ideas never gain sufficient support to be implemented effectively. Research shows that up to 70% of strategic initiatives fail not due to flawed strategy, but due to poor execution rooted in inadequate stakeholder alignment. When leaders lack political competence, they waste months developing perfect plans that die in their first meeting, they alienate potential allies through tone-deaf engagement, and they allow small pockets of resistance to derail transformative initiatives. In an era where speed and adaptability determine competitive advantage, the ability to rapidly build coalitions and mobilize support isn't optional-it's the difference between leading change and watching it happen around you.

Leadership in Practice

When the new CEO assumed the CEO role at a major technology company several years ago, he inherited a company fracturing along divisional lines, where product groups actively undermined each other to protect their territories. The Windows division had famously torpedoed promising mobile initiatives that threatened their dominance, while Office and their cloud platform pursued incompatible strategies. The CEO recognized that his vision of a cloud-first, mobile-first the company would face resistance not because it was wrong, but because it threatened established power structures and deeply held beliefs about what made the company successful. Rather than forcing his agenda top-down, the CEO demonstrated exceptional political competence by systematically mapping the terrain and building coalitions. He identified natural allies in the cloud platform team who shared his cloud vision. He engaged fence-sitters in Windows by showing how cloud services enhanced rather than cannibalized their platform. He addressed the concerns of Office traditionalists by demonstrating that cross-platform availability expanded rather than diminished their market. Most critically, he reframed the company's culture around a 'growth mindset,' making it psychologically safe for leaders to embrace change without admitting their previous strategies were failures. Within five years, the company's value increased substantially, not because the CEO had better ideas than his predecessors, but because he built the coalitions necessary to execute them. He understood that the team you build-and how you build it-ultimately defines what you can accomplish.

Leadership Framework

**The Political Terrain Navigation Framework**

**Step 1: Stakeholder Mapping (Goals × Approaches Matrix)** Before launching any initiative, create a comprehensive stakeholder map using the 2x2 matrix: Plot each key stakeholder based on whether they share your goals (yes/no) and whether they support your approaches (yes/no). This creates four quadrants: Champions (shared goals + shared approaches), Scouts (shared goals + different approaches), Opponents (different goals + different approaches), and Saboteurs (different goals + shared approaches). Update this map regularly as positions shift.

**Step 2: Coalition Architecture** Start with your Champions-secure their active, vocal support early. Then focus disproportionate energy on Scouts, as they represent your highest-ROI opportunity. Invite them into your planning process, genuinely incorporate their methodological concerns, and transform them into co-creators rather than critics. Document how their input shaped your approach. For Opponents, seek to understand their underlying interests-sometimes what appears as opposition to your goal is actually protection of a competing priority that could be addressed differently.

**Step 3: Resistance Anticipation** For each major stakeholder group, explicitly write out the three most likely criticisms they'll raise about your initiative-both substantive concerns about your idea and personal concerns about you or your motives. Prepare responses that acknowledge legitimate concerns while demonstrating you've thought beyond surface-level solutions. This preparation prevents you from becoming defensive when criticism emerges and allows you to respond with empathy and evidence.

**Step 4: Sequential Engagement Strategy** Don't treat all stakeholders equally or simultaneously. Engage Champions first to refine your message, then Scouts to broaden your coalition, then carefully selected Opponents to demonstrate openness and identify possible compromises. Each conversation should reference previous support you've gained, creating momentum and social proof. Time your wider organizational launch only after you've secured sufficient coalition strength to weather initial resistance.

**Step 5: Coalition Maintenance** Political terrain constantly shifts-allies leave, priorities change, new information emerges. Schedule regular check-ins with coalition members, share credit generously for early wins, and remain genuinely open to course corrections. The leader who builds a coalition and then ignores it will find support evaporating precisely when it's needed most.

**Critical Success Factor:** Political competence requires authentic relationship-building, not manipulation. Leaders who view this framework as a way to trick people into supporting bad ideas will ultimately fail. The goal is to genuinely understand diverse perspectives, find legitimate common ground, and build something stronger through collaboration than you could have achieved alone.

Leadership Takeaway

Starting tomorrow, before you pitch your next initiative, invest equal time in mapping the political terrain as you did in developing the idea itself. Identify three key stakeholders who share your goals but question your approach, and schedule conversations focused on listening rather than convincing. The quality of your ideas matters far less than your ability to build coalitions around them-and coalition-building is a skill you can develop systematically. Remember: you're not defined by the initiatives you propose, but by the teams you build to bring them to life.

"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." — Isaac Newton, reminding us that even history's greatest breakthroughs required building on the work and support of others

Ramu Kaka's Wisdom

The farmer who plants seeds without preparing the soil shouldn't be surprised when nothing grows. Similarly, the leader who launches initiatives without cultivating relationships shouldn't wonder why nothing takes root. Great ideas need fertile ground-and that ground is made of the people who'll help you succeed.

Reflection Questions

When was the last time a great idea of yours failed to gain traction—and how much of that failure was due to inadequate coalition-building rather than flaws in the idea itself?
Who are the three most influential stakeholders who share your goals but question your methods, and what would happen if you genuinely invited them to shape your approach rather than just support it?
If you were completely honest, do you spend more time perfecting your ideas in isolation or building relationships with the people who'll determine whether those ideas ever see daylight?

Comments

Previous: The Meritocracy Challenge Next: Talent Density Matters

Back to Part II - Building Great Teams