Day 23 · Act IV — Lead the Organisation
Power, Politics and Stakeholder Dynamics
Coalitions · Incentives · Organisational influence
~30 minutes
Politics is simply how organisations decide; ignore it at your peril.
The Core Idea
Many leaders treat organisational politics as distasteful. But politics — the negotiation of interests and power — is how decisions actually get made.
Ethical political skill means understanding power, building coalitions, and aligning incentives toward good outcomes.
The Mental Model
Sources of Power (French & Raven)
Legitimate, reward, coercive, expert and referent power — later extended with informational power.
At work: A respected engineer without title uses expert and referent power to shift a roadmap decision.
The Case Study
Lyndon Johnson and the Civil Rights Act
DocumentedPresident Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after intense legislative negotiation, documented in Robert Caro's biographies.
Interpretation: deep knowledge of individual incentives turned political skill toward historic reform.
Cinema & Story
Selma (2014)
Movements win by understanding where pressure creates leverage.
The Reading Room
Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't
Jeffrey Pfeffer
A candid, research-based view of how power works in organisations.
Further reading: The Prince — Niccolò Machiavelli
The Journal · Portfolio output: Power and coalition map
The Field Experiment · within 24 hours
Have one coffee with an informal influencer you rarely speak to.
The Evening Review
Use power to widen the circle, not guard it.