OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Political Frame Worksheet

The situation:

The situation I previously introduced concerned a team meeting that occurred before I
was employed at the company where a director created a very inappropriate situation for
one of my current team members, Amy, by declaring Miss Piggy as her spirit animal.
This was a cruel reference to Amy’s physical appearance. This meeting was brought to
my attention a few years after the fact when a Facebook post surfaced that referenced this
meeting and mentioned Amy by name. This post included several former employees, the
current director who made the comment as well as Amy. This was clearly a small piece in
a pattern of bad behavior by the director over several years.

My role within Local Market is as a Regional Manager of Customer Experience. My role

is responsible for the front end, the customer experience relationship, and all money that
passes through the stores in my region. Additionally, I have 4 specialists that report
directly to me and each manages one of the four districts in our region.

How the politics of the organization influenced the situation:

The political frame has roots in power, conflict, and competition among others things. In
my case the most prevalent influence is power. The director was the person in charge of
the entire team. As such, I believe she felt empowered to assign the team members their
so-called spirit animals. Although this was highly inappropriate, I believe she was of the
attitude that she is the boss and no one will question her.

The political culture of the organization I work in is very top-down. This type of
organizational politics hampers first-person leadership in my organization. Several
projects and initiatives have been introduced that are so difficult to execute that the buy-
in from team members was coerced by this director. Instead of listening to concerns, she
replies with, “we have to do it because the COO wants it”, there is no advocacy on the
part of the team. This director does not participate in coalition building, instead she
participates in power plays for self-interest.

Using politics for an alternative course of action in this case:

Although my organization is very top-down, it claims to have an open-door policy when

it comes to associate concerns. I have networked well within the organization. I have
created an atmosphere of trust and competency with those in my network while managing
positive impressions of my leadership skills. I could have leveraged my director's boss to
advocate in the situation.

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 I think I could have used the trust I cultivated to speak with the team members that posted
on Facebook and thought the situation was humorous. The former employees were part of
my network before they left, reaching out to them may have helped them understand how
hurtful bringing up the situation was to Amy.

Reflection of the situation:

Because I was not present during the initial incident I can’t change it. When I became
aware of the revival of the situation I could have played politics with the director. It is not
in my general personality to leverage unpleasant situations, however, in this case, I really
needed to set my agenda to advocate for my team member. The political terrain of the
situation would most likely have caused some retaliation for this action by the director.

Using the brain power and experience of my established network would have helped me
in this situation. Instead of controlling the narrative and trying to keep the transgressions
of the director quiet, I should have reached out to the people in my network for advice.
Additionally, I could have contacted those in the post and explained the magnitude of the
situation and the pain it was causing Amy. Given the same situation today I would
negotiate with the director for an apology to Amy and the removal of the harmful post
from social media.

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 Reference
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.