A few years ago, the car someone drove said a lot about their politics. A Tesla owner probably cared about the environment and probably leaned left. Then Tesla’s founder became closely involved in national politics, and buying one started to send a very different signal.
That shift is how Wingspan Founder Christina Wing opens a recent piece she wrote for Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge, “How to Talk Politics at Work: Four Tactics for Leaders.” The article is an excerpt from Unspeakable: The Taboo Topics We Avoid and How to Talk About Them, Christina’s book on the conversations people tend to steer around.
Her point is that people’s politics are a lot harder to predict than they used to be, so leaders can’t get by on guesswork anymore. Misread an employee, a client, or a partner and trust takes a hit. Staying quiet doesn’t fix that. As she puts it:
“Avoiding political conversation doesn’t preserve neutrality. It preserves ignorance.”
From there she lays out four techniques she relies on when teaching, advising, and leading.
Set ground rules, then argue the other side
Christina thinks leaders should build their political IQ the same way they keep up on economics, finance, or technology. In her classes the goal is to learn, not to change anyone’s mind. The conversation stays on issues instead of politicians, nobody interrupts, and people are asked to listen instead of planning their comeback. Then she’ll split the room and have each half argue for one position. Making the case for something you don’t believe helps you figure out what you do believe. Talking about politics well is a skill, she says, and it gets better with practice.
Think before you share
Being willing to talk about politics doesn’t mean announcing your views everywhere. Especially in client-facing work, Christina encourages people to be deliberate about what they disclose. Her example is the political bumper sticker. It’s unlikely to change anyone’s vote and a lot more likely to get your car keyed in a parking lot. She wouldn’t ban them, but in most professional settings she sees more to lose than to gain from that kind of signaling.
Aim to understand the other person
Three of Christina’s closest friends hold political views that are the opposite of hers, and they’ve stayed close by treating those conversations as a chance to learn. She isn’t trying to prove anyone wrong, and she doesn’t say “I told you so” when the news goes her way. At work she suggests starting with where people agree. Finding shared ground first makes the disagreements feel much less threatening.
Don’t underestimate political risk
The last tactic is about strategy. Christina sees leaders underestimate political risk all the time, especially when they expand into new markets. Through her global advisory work she’s had clients in countries where criticizing the government can land you in jail, and she’s seen foreign companies try to set up in the U.S. without understanding basics like workers’ comp, safety rules, or leave policies. Her advice is to slow down, find the best local advisors you can, and tell them plainly that you want to understand what could go wrong.
Politics, she writes, is often the variable leaders forget to model, and it’s the one that ends up derailing promising opportunities.
Christina has written a book on these topics. You can learn more about Unspeakable at www.christinawing.com/book.
Link to the full article below.
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