Because Leadership Isn’t Just About Strategy — It’s About Power
The Political Intelligence Compass™ helps leaders, teams, and coaches understand the real forces that shape influence and decision-making — and how to navigate them with integrity and impact.
Developed by Shaping Change, creators of the Women’s Leader Archetypes™ and evidence-based leadership frameworks trusted by leaders across government, corporate, and not-for-profit sectors.
Every organisation has an invisible map of power — the networks, alliances, and dynamics that determine how ideas move and decisions are made.
The Political Intelligence Compass™ makes this visible.
Grounded in organisational psychology, systems thinking, and leadership research, it offers a practical framework for understanding both individual and organisational political styles — empowering leaders and coaches to transform complexity into clarity.
What Is the Political Intelligence Compass™?
A Framework for Navigating Power, Influence, and Organisational Reality
The Political Intelligence Compass™ is a diagnostic framework that brings clarity to one of leadership’s most misunderstood capabilities — political intelligence.
It reveals how individuals interpret, respond to, and shape the political dynamics within their organisation.
Where traditional leadership models focus on personality or behaviour, the Compass focuses on contextual intelligence — the ability to read the system, build alliances, and act with strategic awareness.
Developed through applied research in organisational psychology and leadership practice, the Compass maps political intelligence across four distinct orientations:
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The Analyst — Insightful and objective, thrives on understanding complexity.
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The Strategist — Visionary and calculated, sees the long game and positions for influence.
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The Connector — Relational and adaptive, builds trust and networks that enable action.
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The Challenger — Courageous and principled, drives accountability and constructive tension.
Together, these orientations form a 360° view of political effectiveness, helping leaders balance analysis, action, connection, and courage.
Applications
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For Leaders: Understand your default approach to power and influence — and learn how to adapt it to your organisational context.
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For Teams: Diagnose the collective political climate to strengthen collaboration, trust, and results.
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For Coaches and OD Practitioners: Use the framework to support clients navigating complex stakeholder systems or organisational change.
Grounded in Research
The Political Intelligence Compass™ integrates insights from organisational dynamics, behavioural economics, and systems theory.
Its structure builds on decades of leadership research, making it both academically sound and practically applicable to today’s workplaces.
Why Political Intelligence Matters…
Because Every Organisation Is Political — Whether We Admit It or Not.
Politics isn’t a dirty word. It’s the social system through which power flows, decisions are made, and influence is exercised.
In every workplace, formal structures only tell part of the story. Real progress depends on the ability to read the undercurrents — and work skillfully within them.
Leaders with high political intelligence:
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Anticipate shifts in power and align strategy accordingly.
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Build alliances that sustain change and protect integrity.
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Influence outcomes without manipulation or burnout.
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Navigate conflict and competing agendas with composure and perspective.
Leaders without it often find their ideas ignored, their teams sidelined, or their influence eroded — not because they lack skill, but because they’re out of sync with the system around them.
The Hidden Competency of Effective Leadership
Research consistently shows that technical expertise and strategic thinking are not enough.
What differentiates truly effective leaders is their ability to navigate organisational politics with self-awareness and ethical intent.
Political intelligence turns insight into influence.
It transforms frustration into momentum, and uncertainty into clarity of action.
Grounded in leadership psychology and systems dynamics, the Political Intelligence Compass™ helps individuals and organisations move from reactive politics to purposeful influence.
The Political Intelligence Compass™
Four Ways Leaders Navigate Power — and Four Paths to Greater Influence.
Every leader engages with organisational politics in a unique way.
The Political Intelligence Compass™ identifies four distinct orientations that reveal how we interpret, influence, and operate within systems of power.
Each orientation brings vital strengths — and potential blind spots — that shape leadership impact.
The Four Quadrants of the Political Intelligence Compass™
The Analyst — See the System
Core Orientation: Observation and Understanding
Analysts thrive on clarity, data, and insight. They make sense of complexity before acting, often serving as the conscience of evidence-based leadership.
Strengths: Insightful, objective, and thoughtful.
Watch for: Over-analysis, detachment, or hesitation when decisions require speed.
Their political intelligence comes from seeing clearly — but their growth lies in acting decisively on what they see.
The Strategist — Play the Long Game
Core Orientation: Vision and Positioning
Strategists understand timing, influence, and alignment. They see beyond the moment to orchestrate outcomes that serve a broader agenda.
Strengths: Visionary, deliberate, and results-oriented.
Watch for: Over-control, overconfidence, or manipulation of systems for personal gain.
Their power lies in thinking ahead — but their challenge is to stay connected to people as they execute the plan..
The Connector — Build the Network
Core Orientation: Relationships and Trust
Connectors excel at building alliances, navigating interpersonal dynamics, and fostering collaboration.
Strengths: Empathic, adaptive, and skilled at finding common ground.
Watch for: Avoidance of conflict, over-accommodation, or loss of boundaries.
Their political intelligence comes from building bridges — but their growth lies in standing firm when values are tested.
The Challenger — Shift the System
Core Orientation: Courage and Accountability
Challengers bring truth to power. They speak up, question assumptions, and push for fairness and integrity.
Strengths: Candid, principled, and resilient.
Watch for: Rigidity, confrontation, or burnout from carrying reform alone.
Their political intelligence comes from creating tension for transformation — but their growth lies in knowing when to engage and when to step back.
Integration and Balance.
No single quadrant defines effective leadership.
The most politically intelligent leaders balance all four orientations — seeing clearly (Analyst), acting strategically (Strategist), connecting authentically (Connector), and challenging constructively (Challenger).
The Political Intelligence Compass™ provides the insight needed to develop that balance consciously.
The Political Intelligence Compass™
For Leaders, Teams, and Coaches Ready to Navigate Power with Clarity and Integrity.
The Political Intelligence Compass™ is designed for anyone working in — or alongside — complex systems of power. Whether you’re leading transformation, developing talent, or coaching executives, political intelligence is the missing link between insight and impact.
For Leaders and Executives
Leadership isn’t just about vision — it’s about navigating competing agendas, unspoken norms, and shifting priorities.
The Compass helps leaders understand their political style and how to use influence constructively to drive outcomes, build trust, and create alignment across stakeholders.
You’ll gain:
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Insight into how your influence style affects outcomes.
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Awareness of potential blind spots in decision-making.
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Practical strategies to engage others ethically and effectively.
For Teams and Organisations
Organisations have their own political climates — the unspoken rules that determine how things really get done.
The Compass provides a shared language for exploring those dynamics, strengthening collaboration, and building cultures of transparency and trust.
You’ll gain:
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Clarity on the political climate of your team or enterprise.
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Tools to align values, influence, and accountability.
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Insights to reduce friction and strengthen collective performance.
For Coaches, OD and HR Professionals
Coaches and organisational development specialists use the Political Intelligence Compass™ to help clients build awareness, resilience, and strategic capability.
It’s a tool for deeper conversations — about power, influence, and integrity in action.
You’ll gain:
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A robust framework for assessing political intelligence.
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A language for exploring influence and resistance in coaching.
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The opportunity to become an Accredited Political Intelligence Compass™ Practitioner (launching 2026).
From Insight to Action — Turning Organisational Politics into a Map You Can Navigate.
The Political Intelligence Compass™ is built on the principle that power and influence are not fixed — they are patterns that can be recognised, understood, and developed.
Through diagnostic assessments and guided interpretation, it transforms invisible dynamics into practical insights for leadership growth, team performance, and organisational alignment.
1. The Model
At its core, the Compass maps two dimensions of political intelligence:
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Personal Orientation — how individuals interpret and act within political systems.
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Organisational Context — how the system itself operates, from collaborative to competitive.
By overlaying these two dimensions, the Compass reveals alignment — or tension — between individual style and organisational climate.
The result is a nuanced understanding of where influence thrives and where it stalls.
2. The Assessment Suite
Launching in 2026, the Political Intelligence Compass™ Assessment Suite will include:
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Self-Assessment: A research-validated tool measuring personal political orientation.
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Multi-Rater Feedback: Insights from peers, leaders, and stakeholders for a 360° perspective.
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Organisational Diagnostic: A team or enterprise-level assessment of political culture and climate.
Together, these tools provide a complete picture of political intelligence across levels — from individual awareness to systemic insight.
3. Practitioner Accreditation (Coming 2026)
Accredited practitioners will learn to interpret Compass results, facilitate debriefs, and coach clients in developing political intelligence.
The program will combine:
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Rigorous theory and applied research.
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Live group learning and case-based debriefs.
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Implementation sprints for embedding the framework into coaching or OD practice.
Practitioner Accreditation will open first to Women’s Leader Archetypes™ Accredited Practitioners and experienced leadership coaches, followed by a public intake later in 2026.
4. The Broader Vision
The Political Intelligence Compass™ is part of a larger ecosystem of evidence-based leadership tools — alongside the Women’s Leader Archetypes™ and Power Matrix™.
Together, they map the psychology, systems, and energy of influence — empowering leaders and organisations to navigate complexity with wisdom and purpose.
Be among the first to experience the Political Intelligence Compass™ and receive updates on the 2026 launch of the assessment and practitioner accreditation.
Join the Waitlist!
Be the First to Experience the Political Intelligence Compass™.
The framework is in final development and will launch in 2026.
Join the waitlist to receive early insights, pilot opportunities, and priority access to practitioner accreditation.
We’ll only contact you with meaningful updates — no spam, ever.
About Shaping Change
Shaping Change is an award-winning leadership and organisational development consultancy specialising in evidence-based diagnostics, executive coaching, and systems transformation.
Founded by Rosalind Cardinal, creator of the Women’s Leader Archetypes™ and Political Intelligence Compass™, Shaping Change partners with leaders, teams, and organisations to create workplaces where people — and performance — thrive.