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Capitalizing on Your Political Savvy 147

so that when it’s time for the real “show” to go on, you can be con-
fident that you’ll all be on the same message and you won’t have any
awkward surprises, like Sarah, who we met at the beginning of the
chapter.
This sort of prep work plays out every day at all levels of the
organization. The next time you’re in a meeting and everyone read-
ily embraces a new idea, ask around. Chances are the person leading
the meeting held a series of pre-meetings to ensure she had ferreted
out any obstacles or critical issues, discussed them openly with the
people who raised them, and worked to build consensus before the
idea was discussed publicly. They probably had just such a meeting
with you.
I’ve spoken with several women who, like Sarah, were frustrated
and demoralized after having presented a brilliant idea and not received
the attention or recognition it and they deserved. They didn’t prac-
tice politics by selling their idea and bringing people on board indi-
vidually. You can do this one-on-one coalition building while
walking between meetings, over lunch, on an airplane, on the golf
course, or even in the gym! But trust that just as so-called back-
room politics move cities and nations, they also impact everyday
business situations.
Anne Altman, managing director, U.S. Federal IBM Corporation,
told me that before she even considers trying to get people to buy into
a new idea or proposal, she needs to understand that the company
supports her at many levels. She believes you need to build support
person by person before presenting to the larger organization. “This
requires a considerable investment of your time up front,” Anne says.
But she has found firsthand that it’s the only way to really get things
done.
She gives this example from her own experience:
Several years ago, Anne decided to launch a major change effort
to assess and adjust her organization’s compensation plan. This was