Unseen & Unsaid: The Hidden Power Struggles That Shape Your Company (and What to Do About Them)
Unseen & Unsaid: The Hidden Power Struggles That Shape Your Company (and What to Do About Them)
The Unfiltered Leader
No spin. No fluff. Just what actually works.
Most leadership consultants say you should focus intensively on "building alignment." Reality is, that's a fast track to ignoring the power struggles already destroying your company. Here's what you actually need to do: stop pretending workplace politics don't exist and start naming the silent battles that are bleeding talent, stifling innovation, and turning your best people into passive-aggressive time bombs. Here's the download...
The Numbers Don't Lie
The data is brutal. 82% of middle managers feel invisible and frustrated¹, while 72% of CEOs experience crushing loneliness². Meanwhile, 86% of executives think they've built trust, but only 60% of employees actually feel trusted³. That's a power struggle masked as "professional courtesy" not a communication problem.
Leaders call it professionalism, but the numbers prove otherwise ... silence is costing billions.
In the UK, this dysfunction costs companies an average of £8,100 per employee annually in lost productivity⁴. Globally, organisations with high psychological safety see turnover drop to just 3%⁵, while those trapped in silent power games haemorrhage talent at 27% higher rates⁶.
Your "Professional Culture" is Killing Performance
Here's the uncomfortable truth: every polite smile hiding frustration, every "let's take this offline" that never gets taken online, every executive decision made in isolation, aren't signs of a mature workplace. They're symptoms of a company too scared to have real conversations.
The strongest companies don't avoid power struggles; they weaponise them. When Asahi Glass Company's CEO Takuya Shimamura openly shared his failures and fears, productivity jumped 40% within six months⁷. When KONE Corporation engaged all 60,000 employees in naming power dynamics, innovation metrics doubled⁸.
Three Battle-Tested Actions You Need:
1. Run monthly "Power Audits"
Ask every team: "What decision are you pretending to have influence over?" Surface the gaps between perceived and actual authority.
2. Institute "Failure Fridays"
Leaders share one screw-up and what they learned. Middle managers get permission to surface frustrations without career suicide.
3. Kill the shadow meetings
Ban post-meeting conversations about "what we really think." Force real discussions into the actual room where decisions get made.
Here's the brief
Hidden power struggles are diagnostic tools showing where your organisation is haemorrhaging effectiveness. The companies dominating 2025 won't be the ones with the politest cultures; they'll be the ones brave enough to name tensions before they metastasise into talent exodus and strategic blindness. Stop managing around power dynamics. Start managing through them.
What's the power struggle everyone in your company knows about but nobody's naming?
The Numbers
82% of middle managers feel invisible and frustrated¹
72% of CEOs experience loneliness that impacts decision-making²
86% of executives believe they trust employees, but only 60% actually feel trusted³
£8,100 average annual cost per UK employee due to power struggle dysfunction⁴
27% higher turnover in organisations with unaddressed power dynamics⁶
3% turnover rate in companies with high psychological safety⁵
40% productivity increase when leaders openly share failures and fears⁷
Only 12% of CEOs have access to formal coaching support²
51% of middle managers' time spent on individual contributor work instead of actual management¹
References:
Fast Company, "82% of middle managers feel invisible—here's why," 2024
The Inner Boardroom, "The Hidden Cost of Isolation," 2024
Your Thought Partner, "6 Steps to Build Trust with Employees," 2024
Achievers, "Building Trust in the Workplace," 2024
NSC, "Psychological Safety Case Study: Corporate Lending Firm," 2024
Catalyst Point, "Elevate Your Leadership Through Self-Awareness," 2024
Howspace, "Organisational Change Examples and Best Practices," 2024
Whatfix, "Change Management Examples," 2024
