≡ Golden Rules
Managing Political/Stakeholder/Reputational Risk: Golden Rules
Basic Principles
1. Trust and respect take a long time to grow but can be destroyed in a moment. Rebuilding them then can be extraordinarily difficult, or in some cases impossible.
2. Good engagement often involves more listening than talking. You will often learn things you need to understand and adapt to.
3. Think through in advance the cultural sensitivities in any engagement: take local advice, and whenever possible use the local language.
4.Do not think every meeting has to have a definitive outcome. Every meeting does though need careful preparation and follow-up.
5. Avoid surprises - even something positive can play badly if it is unexpected.6. Build relationships before you need them - do not wait until you have a problem before getting to know people. This means spending time on relationships that may never end up being needed; this is not wasted time
7. Always approach a discussion with an eye to what your interlocutor has on his/her mind as well as what you want to talk about.
8. Use consultants or intermediaries judiciously: influential people usually prefer to deal directly with decision-makers.
9. Your values are an essential component of who you are. Never be tempted to water down any part of them to make things easier with political figures – even if it means there are some important people you just cannot deal with.
10. Wherever possible, present yourself as part of a win-win outcome rather than focusing on what you want in a way that makes you seem part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Consider how you can help the other person achieve his/her objectives.
11. Do not understate your own hand: think how your organisation adds value; secure recognition for this and leverage from it.
12. There will be red lines you cannot cross and goals you must achieve. Provided you are realistic in establishing these and reasonable in setting them out, people will respect them even if they do not agree. But not if you look for arguments just to show you can be tough, or if you bluff and then cave in.
Politics
13. Governments can have a big impact on your ability to achieve your goals: dedicate commensurate time/resource to developing relationships with them.
14. There is a constant need to refresh relationships as governments and officials change. This can at times seem tiresome. Stick at it.
15. Understand and manage the complex interplay between politics at the national, regional and local level.
16. Government often doesn’t know much about your area of work but don’t underestimate their appetite for well-targeted information. Take time to educate them about the organisation. Be imaginative in how you do it, and use brief, clear “leave behinds” whenever possible.
17. Equally, take time to understand what makes them tick: their drivers are different from yours, but not incomprehensible. Do not glibly dismiss political motivations as “irrational”.
18. Always remember that (in most jurisdictions) governments at all levels depend on public endorsement and support.
19. Be pro-active and engaged across the political spectrum: it’s possible to do this without taking sides and you need to have relationships with the next government as well as the current one.
20. Don’t make assumptions about how governments and other stakeholders will behave or politics will develop. Make considered judgements based on evidence and sound analysis.
Processes
21. Build in the assessment and management of political/stakeholder/reputational issues from the earliest stages of strategy, planning or project development, and then keep the information flowing in both directions.
22. Map decision-makers and influencers. In doing so, do not map only those you know already, but explicitly ask who else you should know, however hard it may be to get to know them.
23. In seeking to influence a process, think through how you manage those who already agree with you, those who will never agree with you, and the key group - often overlooked, and usually by far the biggest group - in the middle.
24. While everything that can usefully be measured should be, there are some very important things – like trust - that cannot readily be measured. Proxy indicators can be misleading.
25. Business associations can often be useful in amplifying your points. Pick the ones that have real influence and work hard to ensure their collective view reflects your own priorities.
Skills
26. This area of work doesn’t generally need big teams but it does require specialist skills. Recruit, mentor and recognise the value of these skills, professionalising this function just as you would any other. Enthusiastic amateurs can do more harm than good.
27. Senior executives need to recognise that stakeholder engagement is a core part of their role: stakeholders expect this. They should be trained to deliver this part of their responsibilities