Landscape awareness might sound like a nice way to refer to the politics of an organization, but the truth is that this often under-developed skill goes a long way for leaders.
Say you had the stronger argument. Your data supported the recommendation, the strategy was sound, and the organizational chart suggested the decision belonged in exactly the room where you presented it. And yet, the initiative stalled.
More often than not, someone had influenced the outcome in a follow-up conversation. Another stakeholder quietly redirected the work, leaving you wondering why a well-supported idea had lost momentum before it ever had the chance to move forward.
Experiences like these often leave leaders frustrated because they appear irrational. Eric Schwartz, Chief Marketing Officer at Clorox, and Karin Timpone, former CMO at Marriott and Major League Baseball, see something different. Strategic priorities establish direction, but they do not always reveal the nuances of how decisions are actually made.
"Politics are a tool,” Eric explained in a recent LEAP Essentials class. “Understanding the landscape is a required feature of understanding how decisions really get made and how work really gets done."
Karin emphasized that “building that belief is not just about the optics, it's about getting alignment around the organization so people could genuinely understand.”
For both, succeeding in these moments requires landscape awareness: the ability to understand the relationships, incentives, cultural norms, and unwritten rules that shape how organizations function beneath the surface. Leaders who cultivate that awareness gain a clearer picture of where momentum comes from and why seemingly straightforward initiatives sometimes struggle to move.
Landscape awareness begins with observation.
Many leaders enter a new organization determined to create impact as quickly as possible. They bring expertise, proven frameworks, and a desire to demonstrate value. But really leaders’ first responsibility is learning how the system works before attempting to change it.
Notice who introduces ideas, but pay even closer attention to who shapes the final decision. Listen for recurring themes and patterns instead of isolated events. Resist the temptation to label behaviors as inefficient or political before understanding why they exist. Curiosity creates a more accurate picture than assumptions ever will.
As those observations accumulate, patterns of influence emerge.
Every organization has leaders whose authority comes from their title, and others whose influence has been earned through trust, expertise, relationships, or years of institutional knowledge. Understanding the difference allows leaders to navigate the organization more effectively because they can engage the people who truly move work forward, regardless of where they sit on the org chart.
It’s important to note that adaptability does not require anyone to abandon their leadership style, but rather translate their strengths into language and behaviors that resonate within a specific culture.
Developing landscape awareness also means looking beyond stated priorities to understand what an organization consistently rewards. Which initiatives receive resources? What behaviors earn recognition? And, which projects gain momentum quickly, and which seem destined for endless approvals? Questions like these reveal the organization's unwritten rules.
Rather than viewing these rules as frustrating barriers, it’s helpful to think of them as sources of valuable information. Once leaders understand where trust resides, how influence flows, and what the organization genuinely values, they can make more deliberate choices about where to invest their energy and how to position their ideas for success.
"When you understand the unwritten rules of the landscape, you can accelerate initiatives; or at least understand which ones are likely to move quickly and which ones are going to be a slog."
The final step is mapping how work actually moves.
Formal processes describe how projects are expected to progress, but experienced leaders know that alignment is usually built well before a meeting starts. Conversations happen across functions, stakeholders develop confidence through relationships, and consensus often forms long before anyone gathers around a conference table. The meeting simply makes visible decisions that have already been shaped through countless informal interactions.
Recognizing those pathways is about understanding the environment well enough to engage the right people at the right moments and build momentum in ways that align with how the organization naturally operates.
Leadership often begins with the assumption that influence comes from having the strongest strategy or the most persuasive argument. Eric and Karin suggest something more foundational: The ability to influence others depends first on understanding the environment in which that influence must occur.
Developing landscape awareness does not make leaders more political. It makes them more perceptive, more intentional, and ultimately more effective.
Karin Timpone is a global marketing and digital product leader, former Global Marketing Officer at Marriott International, former CMO at Major League Baseball, and former senior executive at Disney ABC and Yahoo! She is recognized for architecting brand transformations, shaping digital innovation, and cultivating leadership cultures built on curiosity, collaboration, and courageous storytelling. Karin now serves as board director and independent advisor to C-level executives, founders, and innovators on business growth strategies as Founder and CEO of ClearPrompt.
Eric Schwartz is Chief Marketing Officer of The Clorox Company and a seasoned CPG leader whose career spans P&L ownership, brand building, and large-scale transformation across Clorox, Tyson Foods, Hillshire Brands, and Henkel. Known for his ability to navigate complex cultural landscapes, Eric helps organizations translate consumer insight, operational realities, and internal dynamics into accelerated growth.