Political Dilemmas at Work: How to Maintain Your Integrity and Further Your Career

Chapter Eight

TURF WARS

Two powerful people are fighting to win control of your function—and you are caught in the middle.

 

 

 

 

In any organization, there are powerful people. Most seek to acquire more power and influence. As one person’s power grows, someone else loses power. People compete to acquire more resources, more control—and anything else they can get their hands on—to become more influential. It is natural to seek more territory, and the motivation for some people may be authentic and have integrity.

The arrival of the matrix structure means we see turf wars more often. Many of us now have two—or more—bosses, which makes this dilemma more likely. If our bosses are competing with each other, we may be placed in a difficult position. Who should we favor? If we back one boss wholeheartedly, what happens if they lose? This political dilemma is a frequent side effect of deliberate organizational design. We have to learn quickly to make the right decisions if we are to be successful and survive the turf wars.

The Turf Wars Dilemma

I’m in a very delicate position at the moment. I’ve worked for Jack, the vice president of Operations for a number of years, and we’ve done some great work together. My results have been very strong, and I’m now in control of around 150 people whose work is critical to the organization. Our job is to tightly control all of the processes within Operations that have anything to do with money. Because there’s more than a billion a year flowing ...