Turf and Other Corporate Power Plays
In today’s corporate environment, a manager’s “turf” is the sum total of all the resources and personnel he or she controls. Unfortunately, managers are often more concerned with protecting their own piece of turf than with strengthening the organization as a whole. The results of turf power plays can be devastating: fiefdoms proliferate, communications break down, needed information is stockpiled rather than shared, and manipulation and mistrust among co-workers spreads. Ultimately, the practice of turf building and protection creates barriers to the growth of the business and the people in it – the turf builders included.
It is possible to rise above the turf game and acquire power based on performance and results. Turf and Other Corporate Power Plays tells the story of Larry Michaelson and his 12-year corporate climb from the ranks of manager-trainee to Chief Marketing Officer. Larry learns all the manipulations and games intended to protect turf... like stockpiling and using information harmful or embarrassing to adversaries, using dictatorial managing tactics, and setting up co-workers for failure. He also learns, sometimes the hard way, how these same tactics can undermine a manager’s career.
Through periodic discussions with his retired friend and mentor, Bill Werth, Larry discovers how to use the tools necessary for actively avoiding involvement in corporate politics. Werth also shows Larry how managers can build a power base built on the kind of personal performance that gets results, visibility, recognition, and credibility.
Through Larry’s interactions with his peers, his subordinates, his managers and his mentor, the reader learns:
• How to select the most appropriate influence strategy given a particular set of organizational circumstances;
• Ways to avoid being manipulated by others while strengthening your own power base;
• Strategies for creating a network of supporters throughout an organization who will help you accomplish your goals;
• Techniques for determining who really makes things happen in an organization – regardless of what the official organization chart says.