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In a consultation with a rising academic Dean, I once again heard the concern about one dreaded aspect of the job, “I don’t like politics.”
Let’s face it, leadership is inherently political because it involves the management and navigation of relationships, dynamics of influence, and emotional processes within organizations and systems. When viewed through the Bowen Family Systems Theory (BFST) lens, the politics of leadership takes on new dimensions of understanding and complexity.
At its core, BFST suggests that organizations, like families, are emotional systems where individuals are interconnected through complex relationship networks. Leaders must navigate these emotional systems while maintaining their differentiation of self, the capacity to remain clear-headed and principle-driven despite emotional pressures from the system.
Effective leaders must recognize when they’re being pulled into triangles and resist the automatic tendency to take sides or become emotional saviors for others.
Leaders who understand systems thinking recognize that triangulation is not just about individual relationships but reflects broader systemic anxiety. The political skill lies in maintaining relationships with all parties while avoiding becoming emotionally entangled in their conflicts.
Organizations, like families, develop characteristic levels of chronic anxiety. This anxiety often manifests in political behaviors such as coalition-forming, scapegoating, and distance-taking. Leaders who understand BFST recognize these behaviors not as personal attacks but as systemic responses to anxiety.
The political challenge for leaders is to manage their own anxiety while helping the organization develop better ways of handling systemic stress. This might involve staying connected with various factions without reacting emotionally to their demands or accusations.
The concept of differentiation of self is BFST’s most valuable contribution to understanding leadership politics. Well-differentiated leaders can:
These capabilities are essential political skills, allowing leaders to navigate competing demands without losing their ethical compass or emotional stability.
Organizations often mirror family emotional processes, including patterns of conflict, distance, and over/under-functioning. Leaders must recognize these patterns to navigate organizational politics effectively. For example, just as parents might triangulate children into their conflicts, department heads might triangulate employees into their power struggles.
Understanding these patterns helps leaders avoid being pulled into dysfunctional relationship systems while working to create healthier organizational dynamics.
Perhaps the most challenging political aspect of leadership is managing change. BFST teaches that systems naturally resist change to maintain homeostasis. Leaders who push for change often face significant political resistance, not because their ideas are wrong, but because change threatens the system’s emotional equilibrium.
Successful leaders recognize that sustainable change requires working with the emotional system rather than against it. This means pacing change initiatives, maintaining key relationships, and helping the system develop new ways of managing anxiety.
The politics of leadership, viewed through BFST, is less about “power plays” and more about understanding and working with emotional systems. Effective leaders recognize that political challenges often reflect systemic anxiety rather than personal opposition.
By maintaining their differentiation while staying connected to all parts of the system, leaders can navigate political waters while promoting organizational health and growth.
Israel Galindo is Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning at Columbia Theological Seminary. He directs the Pastoral Excellence Programs of the Center for Lifelong Learning.
