Political Literacy
See the organisation you are actually working in.
"The ability to see how power and influence actually move through an organisation, and to make deliberate choices about how to engage with that system."
Politics is not the problem. Being blind to politics is the problem. This is the body of work built around that idea.
Political Literacy is a growing library of practical guides, essays and frameworks for understanding how power, influence and decisions actually move through organisations.
It is designed to help you read workplace situations more clearly, navigate the informal system without becoming performatively political, and make more deliberate choices about how you respond.
Start with what's happening
You do not need to read everything. Find the situation that sounds most like yours.
Every organisation runs on two systems
These situations can look unrelated. They usually are not. Every organisation operates on two systems at once: the official system (the org chart, stated processes, formal decision rights, job descriptions) and the real system (where decisions actually get made, whose relationships matter, what the unwritten rules are, who actually has influence).
Political literacy is the capacity to see and navigate both systems deliberately. Once you can read the real system, the situations above start to make more sense.
The Two Systems of Every Organisation → Map your System One →The Five Dimensions of Political Literacy
Political literacy is not a single skill. It is a set of five distinct capacities. Every resource in this hub develops at least one.
01
Reading the Room
The ability to accurately observe who holds power in a situation, how decisions are being made, and what the unspoken dynamics are. Most people see the official version of the room. Political literacy means seeing the real one.
02
Influencing Intentionally
The ability to shape outcomes through deliberate, values-consistent influence rather than reacting or hoping. Not manipulation. The legitimate use of relationships, timing, and framing to move things in the direction that matters.
03
Having the Relationships That Matter
The depth and breadth of professional relationships that provide access, information, and advocacy. Not networking for its own sake. Knowing who the people are whose support, counsel, or sponsorship actually makes a difference.
04
Landing as You Intend
The ability to communicate in ways that are received as intended, across different contexts, cultures, and power dynamics. What you say and how it lands are not the same thing. This dimension is about closing that gap.
05
Working from Solid Ground
The internal stability and self-awareness that makes effective political navigation possible without losing yourself in the process. You cannot read a complex system clearly if the system is also dysregulating you. This is the foundation the other four rest on.
Based on Ferris et al.'s Political Skill Inventory (2005) and Goleman's emotional intelligence framework.
How Politically Literate Are You?
Not sure where your political literacy is strongest, or where the gaps are? Take the 10-minute assessment to see where to focus.
Take the 10-minute assessment →Find your way in
Each area starts with one recommended read. Follow the thread from there, or open the full list.
Advancement and sponsorship
Stuck despite performing
Networks and sponsorship · 3-part reading path
Feedback and performance processes
Coded feedback
360 feedback · 5-part reading path
Reading the politics
Unsure where I stand
Exhaustion, exposure and exit
Worn down by the politics
When reading isn't enough
If you are dealing with a live political situation and need to decide what to do next, we can think it through privately.
A focused 90-minute session to work through one specific situation and leave with a clearer plan.
Explore the Situation Room →An eight-week engagement for a broader leadership or career pattern you want to understand and shift.
Explore Executive Coaching →Looking for something specific?
The full library stays complete as it grows. Browse everything, or search.
Frequently asked questions
What is political literacy at work?
Political literacy at work is the ability to see how power and influence actually move through an organisation, and to make deliberate, intentional choices about how you engage with that system. Every organisation runs on two systems simultaneously: the official one (the org chart, stated processes, formal authority) and the real one (where decisions actually get made, whose opinion actually carries weight, which alliances matter). Political literacy is the capacity to see both systems clearly and navigate them with agency.
What is the difference between formal and informal power at work?
Formal power comes from your title, your role, and your position in the organisational hierarchy. Informal power comes from relationships, access to information, control of resources, and social capital. In most organisations, informal power is where decisions are actually shaped: in the conversations that happen before the meeting, in the relationships that determine whose ideas get backed, and in the unwritten rules about who gets heard. People with high political literacy can read both structures simultaneously.
Who is political literacy coaching for?
Political literacy coaching is for technically excellent professionals who are finding that performance alone is not producing the outcomes they expect. This typically includes senior leaders and mid-career professionals who keep getting blindsided by decisions that seem to come from nowhere; women navigating organisations where the informal rules were written by and for someone else; and leaders moving between India and global headquarters who are navigating two political cultures simultaneously.
Is political literacy the same as playing politics?
No. Playing politics often implies manipulation, self-interest, and causing harm to others for personal gain. Political literacy is about reading the system you are operating in and making deliberate, values-consistent choices about how you engage with it. The ethic behind this work is closer to martial arts than to chess: you develop the skill not to attack, but so that you cannot be ambushed. Political literacy, practised this way, is about agency without aggression.