The New Power Base Selling: Master The Politics, Create Unexpected Value and Higher Margins, and Outsmart the Competition

Manage the Environment

Caroline Miller’s second motivation in Claire Thomas’s promotion is that she enhances her influence at the executive level of the company. At times, Foxes make success look effortless, simply because they maneuver so well behind the scenes. But another contributing factor to their apparently easy victories is often that they have shaped the environment to the extent that they know exactly which levers to pull in any situation.

Imagine that everyone in Caroline Miller’s company agrees that they need to introduce a new product; however, they cannot reach a consensus about what the product’s capabilities and specifications should be. In fact, there are two divergent points of view: one faction is headed by Chandler Johnson, the much-admired Vice President of Engineering who favors the introduction of a product that will be the most technologically advanced of its kind. It will seize the high end of the market and stake the company’s claim to an entirely new sector through innovation.

In the other camp is Marketing. Caroline Miller is as aggressive as anyone else about the company’s place in the industry, but she is not persuaded that the product Chandler Johnson’s Engineering division has in mind is the wisest choice. She is all for innovation and technological excellence; however, she feels that the market may not support the price that they would need to charge. She is also very concerned about the impact of long manufacturing lead times on customers.

The ...