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All human organisations are social and, therefore, political. Politics is about the use of power and influence to get what you want (implicitly in service of the group – see ‘Socialized Power Motivation’). Part of leadership is assessing and understanding who wants what, who they might be influencing to get what they want, what power they yield (see Chapters 5 and 6), who they are in conflict with, and how to balance leadership needs with potentially unaligned needs of others by use of power and influence.

‘Playing politics’ is not a complimentary attribution and in leadership you have to be careful with the use of your political power. If it is yielded in a way that is deemed unfair and/or self‐interested, your leadership function will, ultimately, be compromised. You are at risk of becoming surrounded by acolytes rather than supporters.

On the other hand, if you are too naïve and do not appreciate the currents of power that are ebbing and flowing around you, you run the risk of being undermined and losing credibility so that your ability to lead is dangerously compromised or you are even bypassed completely.