Workplace Politics · High-Stakes Decisions
Workplace Politics Coaching for Senior Leaders
Shirisha Nagendran is an Executive Coach specialising in political literacy at work and organisational power dynamics.
Organisations run on two systems. The formal one is visible to everyone. The informal one is where power actually moves, where reputations are shaped, and where careers get decided.
This coaching is for senior women who are navigating the second system, often without a map.
This is for you if
The situation doesn't add up on paper
You are performing. The results are there. And something is still off. These are the patterns that bring most people to this work.
- Your 360 feedback doesn't reflect your actual performance
- You sense shifting alliances or silent resistance, but cannot name the source
- Decisions are being made around you, not with you
- You are being evaluated in ways you cannot fully see
What the work addresses
The four pressure points most coaching ignores
Performance coaching assumes that doing the work better solves most problems. Political coaching starts from a different assumption: that the work you are doing may be entirely sound, and the problem is in the system around it.
Reading politically charged 360 feedback
Distinguishing developmental feedback from feedback that has been weaponised. Understanding who shaped the narrative, and what the feedback is actually telling you about your position in the organisation.
Mapping shifting alliances and resistance
Identifying who is neutral, who is opposed, and who is quietly watching. Reading the signals that most professionals miss because they are focused on performance, not the political landscape around it.
Regaining presence in key decisions
When decisions are being made without you, the problem is rarely competence. It is usually influence and proximity to where the informal system converges. The work is about getting you back into that space deliberately.
Understanding opaque evaluation
Senior women are frequently evaluated on criteria that are never made explicit. Naming those criteria, understanding who holds them, and deciding how to engage with them is core to this work.
The approach
Analytical, not advisory
This is not about telling you how organisations should work, or reassuring you that you are doing everything right. It is about reading the specific system you are in, naming what is actually happening, and helping you make deliberate choices about how you engage with it.
The work draws on 22 years of experience across corporate leadership and executive coaching, research in organisational behaviour and gender, and direct pattern recognition from working with senior women across the UK, US, and globally.
Who this is for
Senior women who are technically excellent and politically underprepared
Not because they lack intelligence or awareness, but because most organisations do not teach this. The informal system is learned through proximity, sponsorship, and access, none of which are distributed equally.
Political literacy is a learnable skill. This coaching is how you learn it in the context of the organisation you are actually navigating, not a generic framework.
Not ready to work together yet?
If you want to understand how these situations work before taking action:
Explore Political Literacy Hub →Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
What is workplace politics coaching?
Workplace politics coaching is executive coaching focused on the informal systems of power that run every organisation: who actually makes decisions, how influence moves, why some people get heard and others do not, and how to navigate that reality deliberately. Unlike standard coaching that focuses on your internal experience, workplace politics coaching focuses on the external system around you. Shirisha Nagendran is an ICF PCC Executive Coach specialising in this work.
Why do competent people get sidelined at work?
Competent people get sidelined when there is a gap between their technical performance and their political literacy. Most high performers are never taught to read the informal system running alongside the formal one: who actually holds influence, how decisions really get made, and what the unwritten rules are. That gap is not a reflection of intelligence or effort. It is the result of operating in a system that no one explicitly teaches you to read. Political literacy is the skill of closing that gap.
Is workplace politics always toxic or negative?
No. Workplace politics refers to the exercise of influence through informal means: relationships, timing, coalition-building, and understanding what the people around you actually care about. This is not inherently negative. It exists on a spectrum from constructive (building genuine relationships, advocating for your work) to destructive (manipulation, credit theft, sabotage). Political literacy is about understanding the full spectrum and choosing consciously where you operate on it.
Who is workplace politics coaching for?
This coaching is for senior leaders and mid-career professionals who are technically excellent but finding that performance alone is not producing the outcomes they expect. It is particularly useful for senior women navigating organisations where the informal rules were written for and by someone else, and for leaders moving between India and global headquarters who are navigating two different political cultures simultaneously.
Ready to understand your situation?
Work with Shirisha through a single session, a full political intelligence audit, or a sustained three-month engagement. The work starts where you are.