Political Frame

Political Frame

Politics, especially within companies, is often viewed as in a negative light and seen as underhanded and coercive behavior.  However, the Political Frame is focused on viewing sources of power and authority and the role coalitions play within an organization.  In its most basic sense, power can be viewed as decision making authority, while it may seem obvious that such power would rest with the head of an organization, other parties and coalitions may hold significant power as well.  The CEO of a major automaker can certainly make many decisions within the organization, but they likely still need to negotiate with unions, investors, or even senior executives to achieve their goals.  In this sense, the Political Frame is concerned with which parties and coalitions hold elements of power and how they exert that power (Bolman & Deal, 2021).

Reflection

Although the idea of seemingly illegitimate authorities have considerable influence over an organization might make some people uneasy, it is not always harmful.  Organizations naturally contain competition, and all organizations have politics at play, but an ethical leader can use those politics to achieve moral goals.  Leaders that understand the Political Frame can navigate organizational intricacies and interoffice politics to build coalitions and gather support for their ideas to achieve better outcomes for themselves and their teams.  However, leaders also need to understand how to approach conflict and how to ethically use their power,