On Political Capital: Part 1

You don’t have any when you join an organization

When you first join an organization, you don’t have any political capital at all. You may have positional authority, but that’s about it. When you move from one organization to another, you may have a solid reputation, but this is closer to having good credit than having any capital.

Build this up slowly

It takes time to accumulate political capital. Start by setting up your team’s environment and processes to nurture mutual respect and trust. Your team will be more open to trying something new when you first arrive. Have a consistent message and repeat it over time. Build trust slowly. When you build trust, you build political capital.

If you can get ahead of the curve, you should have some time to understand how other parts of the organization work (and don’t work). Observe how groups operate and then sketch out some ideas. Look for opportunities to give other groups a hand. Think about how you can personally help out. When an opportunity presents itself, volunteer to help. Make the first move and set the tone of your cross-functional relationships.

Integrity is key to political capital

There’s a fine line between building political capital and being political — it’s called “integrity”. Don’t cross this line. People see when you have integrity. They see when your actions line up with your words, when what you say is really how you feel. When you have integrity, people are more willing to trust you. When you have integrity, you build political capital in a healthy way.

Invest your political capital

Political capital can be used to push change forward. It can break logjams between functional groups. It enables discussion when no one is willing to talk or listen — but you have to use it.

Don’t hoard your political capital. Use it to do great things within your organization. Use it to lead change, to enable change. When you invest your political capital in change that matters — change that is aligned with the organization’s goals — you get that political capital back (and more) when those changes are realized.

More on political capital in the next post…