Why doing the right thing still gets resistance
One of the most common and quietly unsettling questions leaders ask is:
“Why does logic and goodwill not seem to be enough?”
Because organisations aren’t neutral systems.
They’re shaped by people with competing agendas, unspoken fears, reputational risk, and past decisions they’re protecting often without naming any of it openly.
When leaders don’t account for this, resistance is easily misread as stubbornness, incompetence, or bad intent. And in response, many work harder to justify, explain, or prove their case extending themselves further in an attempt to be understood.
As the Forbes Coaches Council notes, leadership effectiveness often depends not just on competence or empathy, but on political savviness – the ability to understand influence, power, and unspoken dynamics within organisations.
This isn’t about playing games or manipulating outcomes.
It’s about recognising that influence operates alongside logic not beneath it.
When leaders ignore this reality, they often end up doing more emotional and relational work than the system requires, carrying responsibility that was never theirs to hold.
The gap I see behind the scenes
In coaching conversations, a familiar pattern shows up again and again.
Leaders talk about:
- decisions being made before meetings even start
- priorities shifting without explanation
- resistance that doesn’t match the logic of the proposal
- stakeholders agreeing publicly, then blocking privately
- being expected to influence outcomes without authority, title, or mandate
None of this feels fair.
And it often feels personal.
But these aren’t failures of competence or care.
They’re features of real organisational systems where power, influence, and interests don’t always sit where the org chart suggests.
What PQ actually is (and isn’t)
PQ (Political Quotient) refers to your ability to read the system, understand how power and influence actually flow, and navigate organisational dynamics with integrity.
Some people know this as Social Quotient (SQ).
Others hear “political” and immediately recoil.
So let’s be clear about what PQ is not.
PQ is not manipulation.
It’s not game-playing.
It’s not compromising your values to get ahead.
PQ is about seeing clearly, not acting cynically.
It’s recognising that:
- decisions are shaped by history, risk, relationships, and reputation
- power doesn’t always sit with the most senior person in the room
- logic alone rarely moves outcomes without context and influence
- people protect what matters to them even if they can’t say that out loud
When leaders lack PQ, they often default to one of two responses:
- pushing harder with logic and evidence
- withdrawing and disengaging when resistance appears
Neither tends to work.
Why Logic and Goodwill Aren’t Enough
One of the most common and painful questions leaders ask is:
“Why does logic and goodwill not seem to be enough?”
Because organisations aren’t neutral systems.
They’re made up of people with:
- competing agendas
- unspoken fears
- reputational risk
- past decisions they’re protecting
- influence they don’t want to lose
When leaders don’t account for this, they often misread resistance as:
- stubbornness
- incompetence
- bad intent
And they either over explain, justify, or extend themselves trying to compensate.
Behind the scenes, this often looks like working harder to be understood instead of working differently to be influential.
Where leaders get stuck
Many capable, values led leaders struggle most with PQ because they believe, often unconsciously, that naming power dynamics makes them “political” in the worst sense of the word.
So instead, they:
- avoid naming what’s really happening
- take resistance at face value
- try to win people over through effort rather than influence
- shoulder responsibility for outcomes they don’t fully control
Over time, this erodes confidence.
Not because leaders are doing something wrong but because they’re trying to operate in complex systems without the language or permission to do so openly.
PQ and credibility
In the Credible Leadership Framework, PQ sits alongside IQ, EQ, and AQ for a reason.
Without PQ:
- IQ can become naïve
- EQ can become over accommodating
- AQ can be undermined by constant friction with the system
With PQ:
- leaders stop personalising resistance
- conversations become more strategic and less exhausting
- influence becomes intentional rather than reactive
Leadership starts to feel less like pushing uphill and more like moving with awareness.
The work that happens quietly
Developing PQ isn’t about becoming someone you’re not.
It’s the quiet work of:
- noticing who shapes decisions and how
- understanding what’s at stake for others, beyond what’s said
- choosing where to invest influence and where not to
- speaking to the system, not just the issue
- staying anchored in your values while navigating complexity
This is work most leaders are already doing instinctively, just without language, structure, or support.
And when it remains unnamed, it often remains exhausting.
What comes next
Next in this series, I’ll turn to AQ Alignment Quotient, the capacity that keeps leaders grounded when responsibility, influence, and expectation collide.
Because navigating power effectively isn’t enough on its own.
What matters is whether you can do it without losing yourself in the process
