Case Studies in Executive Coaching: Dealing with politics and one's power base

 

You are working with an ambitious manager. He has hired you because he wants to know how to move some of his ideas for his unit forward.

 

His complaint is that he has lots of great ideas, but he is having trouble getting the ear of his two managers. Both of them have 10 reports each, and this manager’s department represents maybe 1% of their total budget.

 

At the same time, you sense that this manager is perceived as a “loose cannon” due to his enthusiasm and desire to push forward new ideas in an organization that is conservative and bureaucratic by nature.

 

Questions:

 

1. Can you help this manager be more successful, or is your advice that he needs to be patient and cope with the fact that his unit simply lacks the political clout needed to be as visible and powerful as he would like?

 

2. Assuming the manager wanted you to speak to his two managers, what would you ask during your time with those managers?