Most people cringe when they hear the word politics in the workplace. It brings to mind backroom deals, favoritism, turf wars, and decision-making that feels more about power than about progress. In the world of data, politics often gets blamed for blocking change — departments hoarding information, leaders fighting over priorities, and executives struggling to align. It’s no wonder so many professionals wish they could escape politics altogether.
But here’s the reality: Politics in organizations is simply how influence flows and how decisions get made. It’s not inherently bad. It’s just the human side of business. The problem isn’t that politics exists — it’s that we often don’t use it to advance the right things. When it comes to governing and managing data, politics can either be the friction that stalls progress or the engine that drives it forward. The difference lies in how we engage with it.
This article is about shifting our perspective and seeing politics as an asset, not an enemy. When we align the influence, priorities, and energy of office politics to support sound data governance, we create a force that can accelerate change. Let’s look at four ways organizations can leverage politics to make their data better managed, more trusted, and far more valuable.
Building Alliances Across the Organization
Office politics often revolve around alliances — who supports what, and how teams align their priorities. Too often, data initiatives get stuck because the data office operates as if it’s separate from the rest of the business. By leaning into alliances, data leaders can bridge that gap and bring influential voices from operations, finance, marketing, and other areas into the fold. Alliances give governance efforts reach and credibility.
Building these alliances starts by acknowledging that each stakeholder group already governs data informally. They have definitions, rules, and habits they use every day. When we show respect for the stewardship that’s already happening and invite stakeholders to strengthen it together, alliances form naturally. This approach transforms governance from “their project” into “our shared responsibility.”
The power of alliances shows up when executive leaders hear from their trusted peers — not just from the data team — that governance is worth supporting. When data initiatives ride on the strength of these relationships, they move faster, last longer, and deliver real business value. In this way, alliances in office politics become a multiplier for data governance success.
Leveraging Influence to Elevate Data Priorities
Influence is at the heart of politics. Certain leaders and teams have the ear of decision-makers; others set the tone for how things get done. Data initiatives often fail because they are pitched as purely technical or operational issues, when in reality, they require political influence to be treated as strategic priorities.
To use influence for good, data leaders must identify and collaborate with champions who can carry the message forward. These influencers don’t have to be executives; they can be respected managers, senior analysts, or domain experts whose voices carry weight in meetings and hallway conversations. When they talk about the importance of trusted, governed data, people listen.
By channeling political influence toward the value of governed data, organizations raise data from the back office to the boardroom. Instead of battling for scraps of attention, governance gets positioned as essential to decision-making and innovation. This political leverage ensures that data governance is not just a compliance checkbox but a recognized enabler of business outcomes.
Framing Competing Agendas as Shared Goals
Politics often gets messy because different groups push their own agendas. Marketing wants speed, finance wants control, IT wants efficiency, and compliance wants risk reduction. These competing interests can create gridlock — or they can become a catalyst for progress when reframed as parts of a shared objective.
Successful data leaders learn to position governance not as a threat to any agenda, but as a way to help all agendas succeed. For example, consistent definitions reduce reporting conflicts between finance and operations, while access standards speed up innovation by making the right data easier to find. By highlighting the mutual benefits, governance becomes the neutral bridge that connects departments rather than the wall that separates them.
This reframing also changes the political tone in discussions. Instead of arguing over whose priorities matter most, leaders can see how good data serves everyone’s goals. The data team becomes a facilitator of progress, using the natural push-and-pull of politics to unite rather than divide. When people realize that governance helps them win their own battles, resistance gives way to collaboration.
Turning Visibility into Momentum
Politics thrives on visibility — what gets noticed, gets supported. Data initiatives often fail quietly because their impact isn’t visible outside the project team. By strategically showcasing progress, success stories, and metrics tied to real business outcomes, data leaders can harness the political power of visibility.
Visibility begins with choosing the right wins to highlight. Early wins that resonate with executives or solve pain points for influential teams build credibility. Publicly celebrating those wins — through dashboards, town halls, or leadership updates — shifts governance from an abstract concept to a proven driver of value.
As progress becomes visible, political support strengthens. Leaders who once hesitated to back governance now see it as a safe bet. Teams that doubted its relevance become eager to participate. Visibility turns governance from a behind-the-scenes effort into a recognized and respected force, creating a virtuous cycle of attention, support, and momentum.
Turning Politics into a Force for Data Good
The instinct to avoid politics is understandable, but it’s also unrealistic. Politics will happen whether we like it or not — the question is whether it works against us or for us. When we engage politics as an ally, we gain a powerful lever to align priorities, mobilize support, and accelerate adoption of sound data practices.
By building alliances, leveraging influence, reframing agendas, and increasing visibility, organizations can harness politics to drive governance that is practical, sustainable, and impactful. Instead of being an obstacle, politics becomes the bridge between aspiration and execution.
So, the next time you feel discouraged by the politics in your office, ask yourself how you can use it to elevate your data work. Harnessed with purpose and guided by good governance, politics becomes a catalyst — one that propels your organization’s ability to manage and use data to achieve its greatest goals.
