Tour · about one minute

What this is and how it works.

The Navigator is a private coach for workplace politics. It analyzes situations through the lens of highly regarded thought leaders in the field of organizational politics and leadership. The tour below shows how it works.

NAVIGATOR

There's a meeting Thursday to settle the reorg and I'm not on the invite. My team's work is half the agenda.

Where you stand The empty seat is information. Someone drew that room to make a decision easy, and your absence makes one option cheaper to choose. Elena controls the invite; Marcus controls the budget line the choice turns on, and he hasn't seen your numbers. The moves

Don't ask for a seat. Give Elena a reason to need you there: you have the cost analysis the decision depends on.
Brief Marcus before Thursday. Whoever frames the numbers first frames the meeting.

NAVIGATOR

Write the note to Elena. I can't look like I'm inviting myself.

To Elena · Subject Before Thursday: the cost pictureCopy

Elena, ahead of Thursday's session: my team just finished the cost analysis on both options under discussion. A few of the numbers change the picture, and the group should have them in the room rather than after. I can walk them through in ten minutes or send them ahead, whichever serves the agenda better.

Why this works: it offers the meeting something it needs instead of asking for inclusion, and it leaves Elena a graceful way to add you.

NAVIGATOR

Situations

Keep my team whole through the reorg

Objective: the reorg lands with the team intact, and the decision is made with me in the room.

Elena

VP Engineering

Decides: numbers before the story

Landmine: surprises in front of the room

Marcus

CFO

Cares about: cost, and the precedent it sets

History: backed you on the tooling budget

NAVIGATOR

I'm in. Elena asked me to open Thursday with the numbers.

Better than a seat: you now set the frame the decision starts from. Keep it to the numbers and one recommendation. Let Marcus raise the cost point himself; it lands harder as his.

Record update · Elena: neutral to supportive · Apply

Know where you stand before you walk in.

The situations are yours. The counsel draws on the best thinking in the field. Everything you put in stays in your account.

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