Perspectives on Politics

This questionnaire is designed to help you assess your approach to
organisational politics and how this may influence your leadership and
management style.

Read each of the 40 statements in turn and ask yourself, does this
describe my attitude to organisational politics?

If the statement describes your attitude more or less accurately, put a ‘5’
in the column to the right.

If the statement describes more or less the opposite of your view, put a
‘0’ in the column to the right.

If the statement describes your view to some extent, or you are unsure,
put a ‘3’ in the column to the right.
Column 1
1. It’s sad watching other
people waste time playing
politics
5. If you’re playing politics,
you’re not doing your job
9. You always have to
support your colleagues,
not do them down
13. I avoid friendships with
the political players
17. I don’t get involved in
political behaviour because
it is unethical
21. Teamwork is about
sharing and not hiding
information
25. People will treat me the
same way I treat them
29. Causing deliberate
damage to someone’s
reputation is unacceptable
to me
33. I would never
deliberately deceive a
colleague
37. Exploiting friends for
personal gain is
unacceptable
Total
Column 2
Column 3
Column 4
2. I know it goes on but
I’m not a political player
3. I will deceive others if that
will help me achieve my goals
6. You have to know
who the key political
players are, so you can
keep away from them
10. Personally, I avoid
being pulled into politics
and let others get on
with it
14. I think it’s important
to have a good
understanding of how
the politics work
18. Politics is a nasty
game and I’m above
all that
22. You have to be able
to read the political
signs and signals
26. Hands on
involvement in the
politics is unnecessary
30. It is important to be
able to judge how the
politics shape
management decisions
34. You don’t have to
play politics to get things
done
38. If others want to
spend time on politics,
that’s fine with me
Total
7. There ‘s no distinction
between politics and the job;
politics is the job
4. Politics happens an
you get involved, like it or
not
8. I defend my political
actions in the context of
organisational goals
11. Politics for me is a major
source of job satisfaction
31. Losing in the politics
game is fine if it gives you
scope for revenge
12. We have to accept
that being open and
honest doesn’t always
work
16. I try to play the
politics in ways that
enhance my reputation as
a manager
20. Deceiving other
people can sometimes be
in their best interest
24. I will do what is
necessary to achieve
what I think is right
28. You have to develop
alliances with power
brokers
32. Playing politics can
lead to both personal and
organisation advantage
35. It’s naive to think you
have to do everything by the
rules
39. Exploiting friends for
personal gain is a part of
organisational life
Total
36. You have to be a
skilled political player to
get things done
40. Using your network to
influence decisions is a
key skill
Total
15. Teamwork is dangerous if
it means someone else gets
the credit
19. Never give information
freely if that would give the
advantage to someone else
23. There’s not much point in
playing politics unless you
play to win
27. If you don’t play the
politics others will destroy you
Perspectives on Politics - Scoring

Simply add the scores for each column putting the totals in the boxes at the
bottom of the questionnaire. Then transfer your column totals to this table:
Column 1 score:
Column 2 score:
Column 3 score:
Column 4 score:
Puritan
Sports Commentator
Street Fighter
Political Entrepreneur

If you have a score of 35 or more in Column 1, you are a Puritan when it
comes to organisational politics. You don’t like politics, and you don’t get
involved because politics means ‘dirty tricks’. You believe that politics is
damaging and unethical.

If you have a score of 35 or more in Column 2, you are a Sports
Commentator when it comes to organisational politics. Like the Puritan, you
don’t get involved personally. But you believe that it is important to be able to
understand organisational politics.

If you have a score of 35 or more in Column 3, you are a Street Fighter when
it comes to organisational politics. You enjoy playing politics, you like
winning, and you don’t mind losing sometimes because you have a ‘rematch;
you believe that politics are enjoyable.

If you have a score of 35 or more in Colum 4, you are a Political
Entrepreneur when it comes to organisational politics. You accept the
inevitability of politics, and play the game in a way that enhances your
management reputation. You believe that politics are necessary to
accomplish personal and organisational objectives.
Perspectives on Politics - Analysis
This diagnostic plots your approach to organisational politics on two dimensions:

The first dimension concerns your involvement in politics. Do you believe that
politics are unethical, to be avoided, or politics are inevitable, to be managed?

The second dimension concerns you skill in managing organisational politics.
Do you believe that you a skilled or an unskilled political player?
Politically unskilled
Politically skilled
Avoid involvement
1. Puritan
2. Sports Commentator
Active involvement
3. Street Fighter
4. Political Entrepreneur
How do you feel about your scores on this questionnaire?



How do your scores accurately reflect your thinking and your approach to
organisational politics?
How comfortable are you with your current approach to organisational
politics?
What do you feel that you need to do to, in relation to organisational politics,
to become a more effective leader and manager?
Buchanan and Badham argue that the leader and change agent who is not politically
skilled will fail.




The Puritan is not a valid leadership and management perspective. It doesn’t
matter that you are not prepared to engage in political behaviour. Other
people are, and they will shut you down.
The Sports Commentator is not a valid leadership and management
perspective. Understanding the politics game is not enough on its own. You
have to become involved personally rather than standing aloof/outside.
The Street Fighter is not a valid leadership and management perspective.
Playing the politics game for personal pleasure has no organisational benefit
and will damage your reputation.
The Political Entrepreneur is a valid leadership and management perspective.
Using politics in a reflective way that contributes to organisational goals and
personal reputation is effective.
Based on the work of Dave Buchanan and Richard Badham - Power, Politics and
Organisational Change: Winning the Turf Game. Sage Publications : London : 1999.