For an introduction to charity governance via the framework of 10P’s see here. In this article Suneet Sharma explores a silent and important 11th P to the framework, politics and how it influences boards and charities.  

Power dynamics, pacing, information silos, deference to authority, the tension between the executive operational and strategic trustee teams… Politics is the permeable layer that intersects everything we do in charities and has particular significance in a governance context.

Politics is pronounced in the boardroom where dynamics are further distilled and play out even more tangibly. Whether as a trustee, governance professional or staff member paying attention to politics can serve you well and at the moments where you need something to land, political awareness can be the difference between it doing so and having to walk away.

Pay attention

Politics plays out whether you engage it or not. The key is awareness, knowing when to engage and when to not. In some instances, this can be called capital- how much currency you have to spend in a particular interaction or topic. It need not be this rigid but it’s worth asking the question for a particular matter- where is the best audience, when should the message be delivered and how. An awareness rather than manoeuvring or engineering is key.

Is this a matter for example, where the Board are keen to hear what you have to say, is the agenda full and the Board’s focus directed to other matters, where does this sit in the hierarchy of matters we are concerned about.

Even if a Board must hear you on a particular point, say engaging its duties and legal obligations, politics forms a framework that can help or hinder you in delivering this message.

That’s why the initial starting point is to pay attention, gather the information you need and consider the politics at play. Ignore it at your peril.

Politics permeates every P – consider it explicitly under each

1. Purpose is easily politicised by an overzealous Founder; this is where founder syndrome and mission drift lives.
   
   
2. Platform is where conflicts of interest are managed and politics can easily become a barrier to effective operation – before conflicts crystallise there is usually an opportunity for politics to intercede, whether by WhatsApp chats, corridor conversations or informal lobbying.
   
   
3. People is where the proliferation of power lives and internal groups develop and are maintained, which in some cases need to be actively and sensitively unpicked. This can be seen where boards have a silo of those who deal with finance, undermining the critical oversight function of the full board.
   
   
4. Policies are where politics are translated into standards. Where politics is at play can cause those standards could fail to accurately reflect the legal requirements or result in the taking on of disproportionate or inadvisable risk. Think of that time where convention overrode common sense. Policies are there to set rigorous practice not placate.   
   
   
5. Practice is where political dynamics can accentuate and stifle free and frank discussion and proper operations, sticking to what has worked before rather than exploring what is new or necessary.
   
   
6. Protection is where the priorities of the charity can be most easily viewed, ask yourself what do we protect, prioritise and why? Critically shooting the messenger lives here, where those internally self-interested protect themselves at the expense of others.  
   
   
7. Prudence is where politics can bite just as easily with high and delicate stakes. For example, a charity rescued from the brink of closure ignoring a later accumulated reserves position, undermining its charitable effectiveness. Or a board which suppresses bad news, particularly around finances or governance, can be in for a shock.  
   
   
8. Public accountability is where how you present yourselves lives and is an inherently political act. A charity focusing too much on internal operations which does not focus overtly on communicating its impact can hinder its profile significantly. Choosing what you report and not selectively can also be an issue here.
   
   
9. Performance is where politics can hinder or help the candid self-evaluation of effectiveness which at times can all too easily be ceded to perception issues. A warning sign to me was a Chair who once stated- no-one likes a bad report where realising the necessity of one where the situation demands it was important.  

So, what does good political navigation actually look like in practice?

This is a highly contextual question and not an easy one to answer. It starts with awareness and develops with gathering information. The key here is to be aware of dysfunction, common pitfalls and learn to navigate your way through the most difficult situations where politics is at play, that can serve you well in and outside the boardroom.

Things will not go perfectly, candid reflection, a willingness to name what you see, and keeping to the mission rather than any individual agenda as your compass are key.

I use a mini-framework for this approach, and most people move too quickly, so think SNAIL:

S- see: observe and information gather

N- name: name what you are seeing develop even if just to yourself

A- accrue/act: either accrue more information or if you have enough act carefully

I-inform: use what you discovered to inform yourself or others as necessary

L- learn: apply that information to learn about how to approach and manage the situation

Until you Act the cycle can continue as an information gathering process. The caveat is if there is something that requires instant action, such as a high level of conflict of interest or seriously fettered decision making. SNAIL is also not appropriate for safeguarding.

I applied this recently when a Chair was pressuring me to challenge the CEO on finances as governance professional, something which would have undermined the trustees holding them to account and compromised my independence.

I have also used it in a considered, patient approach with a Board that had moved from a previously low-reserves position into a defensively high-reserves one, as a result of past financial difficulties. Five SNAIL cycles of careful interactions with the Treasurer and Chair successfully moved them to a documented and defensible reserves position.

Let SNAIL be your compass through shifting political terrain; the 10 P’s are your map. Together they help you navigate the rocky territory of charity governance and its political dimension.

A Framework for Navigating Charity Politics

SNAIL

See · Name · Accrue or Act · Inform · Learn

Politics Pulls You In

each new instance lands you at S

Two Opposing Forces

politics pulls in. the spiral pulls out.

Why a Snail?

Because the natural pull in a political moment is to react. People pattern-match in seconds and act on instinct. The framework’s job is to make those seconds deliberate. Most of the time, deliberateness means slowing down. Sometimes — when the moment demands speed — it means running the steps together without skipping them.

Why a Spiral Outward?

Politics has gravitational pull. Each new instance — the heat, the deference, the manoeuvring — lands you at S in the centre. The spiral is your reliable counter-move: each step takes you further out, from reactive to deliberate, from heat to clarity. The next instance pulls you back to S. The spiral pulls you out again — and the more times you’ve done it, the quicker you emerge.

“Politics pulls you in.
The spiral pulls you out.”

S

SEE

Observe and gather information.

Watch what is unfolding before you decide it. Note who said what, who reacted, what was avoided.

Step 1 of 5

N

NAME

Name what you see — if only to yourself.

Putting language on a dynamic changes your relationship to it. You don’t need to say it aloud to act on it.

Step 2 of 5

A

ACCRUE /
ACT

Gather more, or move — if you have enough.

The judgment moment. Often the right move is to keep watching. Sometimes it is to step in.

Step 3 of 5

I

INFORM

Inform yourself — and others, as necessary.

Use what you have learned. Brief the chair. Update your own thinking. Decide who needs to know what.

Step 4 of 5

L

LEARN

Apply it — politics will pull you back.

Each cycle leaves you with more. The next political moment lands you at S again, but you start with what the last cycle taught you.

Step 5 of 5

… the next political instance pulls you back to See — with more in hand than last time

A Companion to “The Unspoken 11th P — Politics”

The 10 P’s are the map. SNAIL is the compass for the rocky terrain.

© Suneet Sharma · sharmaongovernance.co.uk · Guidance On Governance series