Working with Politicians
Practically all government is politics - anything you do has political implications … unless you keep on studying political behavior and problems relating to the political institutions functioning in the country and at least some other countries, I think, you can never make a first-rate civil servant … many of the grievances of the civil servant about the functioning of our political system arise from too idealistic a view of public affairs and in non-recognition of the fact that after all politics is concerned with power. – L.P. Singh, former Union Home Secretary
How to deal with politicians? This is a frequently-asked question among young civil servants. It emanates from the origin of bureaucracies - to remove patronage. The unintended effect is that bureaucracies have ended up distrusting both patronage and politics!
Some common ways of dealing with politics are - do just what you are told, make a minimum number of decisions because you are hardly ever penalized for not deciding, and make band-aid decisions to get by in a posting.
Developing the know-how to improve communication skills in the relationship with politicians is an alternative, effective way to get results and build up trust with the political executive.
Typically, when civil servants meet politicians, there is a surge of thoughts and emotions based on what they have experienced earlier, or were told by others. As a result, a negative response starts even before the issue has been fully heard. One way to prevent this is to avoid becoming distracted by your thoughts and emotions, and begin to be more fully present: putting your phone on silent, asking follow-up questions ("Can you tell me more about…"), or mirror their words with phrases ("If I'm hearing you correctly…" and, "So you're frustrated that…."). To avoid this distraction, avoid attaching emotions to your positive or negative thoughts. Refocus your thoughts to stick to what's concrete and real.
Non-verbal communication signals an early warning sign of the way a conversation is progressing. Some non-verbal communication cues to be on the lookout for include crossing of arms, turning away from you, or their eyes keep wandering when speaking.
If there is disagreement, try not to focus on who's "right" and who's "wrong." Try to formulate the difference as "you two vs. the problem" (win-win) rather than a fight that only one can win. One way to generate a win-win situation is suggested by MIT Professor Bish Sanyal. Let us see how this applies to India.
Specifically, one must be ready to reach an agreement between different points of view or be ready to make compromises. The act of compromise becomes a learning process because one learns about the opposite and multiple sides of a problem. This requires a flexible mind - what some may call unprincipled, but by necessity it must be a non-egotistical mind.
A flexible mind is, however, not a mind without any ethical boundaries. On the contrary, it is a mind that learns about its ethical boundaries only in the process of compromise, not a priori based on principles etched on stones. In other words, civil servants do not operate without any rules or principles; they simply acknowledge that principles underlying governance interventions cannot be static but must be developed for the occasion as one faces new situations and uncertainties that test one’s ethical judgement.
One way is to start seeing problems as conflicts of interest, not conflicts of principles. Take the example of conflict around the new pension scheme (NPS). If the arguments remain at the level of principles, it is very difficult to find a common ground. For public policy, one must transform principles to interests (who is paying for what, and so on) to start a discussion. In other words, civil servants must define the issues at hand to make tradeoffs possible.
Civil servants must be aware that to have legitimacy, a compromise must be transparent to the constituencies whose interests are being compromised. Never destroy the opposite side just because they are at the receiving end because it will take away your autonomy for future disagreements.
Finally, if things get too tense the best option is to call a “time-out”. This will prevent things from devolving to name-calling, sarcasm, or responding with a condescending tone of voice - which only escalates conflicts.
Learning to respect and listen leads to a better understanding of one another. This is heightened when civil servants are dealing with politicians. Here, communication is a form of action. The added advantage is that civil servants come out as authentic, and authentic people have a greater sense of well-being, are more satisfied with life, and stay highly engaged in their jobs throughout their life.
