Most of us focus on doing great work, but that's only half the equation. The reality is that careers are rarely shaped in isolation. Collaboration with stakeholders (managers, cross-functional partners, decision-makers, and sometimes people you barely interact with but who influence outcomes behind the scenes) is extremely important. Understanding this network is one of the most underrated career skills.

Yet there’s a trap here. Many people confuse stakeholder management with people-pleasing. They try to keep everyone happy, say yes to every request, and spread themselves thin. That’s not strategic. In fact, it often backfires. The real skill isn’t about saying "yes" to everything, but more about understanding who matters most, why they matter, and how to align your work with the people who actually shape outcomes.

Tip of the Week: Map your stakeholders before attempting to "manage" them.

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The Theory Behind

Organizations are networks, not org charts. Sociologist Ronald Burt’s research on organizational networks shows that influence inside companies rarely follows formal reporting lines. Instead, power flows through informal networks: who trusts whom, who shares information, and who connects different groups. In other words, the org chart tells you who reports to whom, but the informal network tells you who actually moves things forward (too bad those aren't written on paper!).

Power maps reveal who shapes decisions. Political scientists and organizational theorists often use power mapping to understand influence. The idea is simple: identify who has formal authority, who has informal influence, and who controls key resources or information. In most organizations, these are not always the same people. A project might depend on a director’s approval, a technical expert’s support, and a peer team’s cooperation. If you only focus upward, you miss half the system.

Social capital determines how work gets done. Research on social capital shows that relationships are a form of capital, just like skills or experience. People who cultivate strong, trust-based connections across teams often create more impact because they can mobilize support quickly. They know who to involve, who to consult, and how to navigate friction (I guess that's why networking is so important!)

What I’ve Learned

Managing stakeholders doesn’t mean pleasing everyone. One mistake I see often is people trying to make every stakeholder happy. That’s impossible... and it actually usually means you’re reacting to the loudest voice instead of the most important one. "Stakeholder management" is more about understanding priorities, than pleasing everyone's requests. It's about aligning with the right people, and sometimes making tough calls when priorities conflict. For some people, this comes naturally, they instinctively know who to involve and when (lucky them!). For others, it's not as "natural," and that’s perfectly fine, because this is one of those areas where having a simple system makes all the difference. So below, you can see the steps to build your "Stakeholder map" to build relationships that actually move things forward.

Make It Happen

1. List the people who influence your work. Start with your manager, but go wider: cross-functional partners, project owners, decision-makers, and anyone who can unblock or slow down your work.

2. Categorize influence. Ask three questions: Who has formal authority? Who has informal influence? Who controls key resources or information?

3. Identify your key stakeholders. Not everyone has the same weight. Focus your attention on the few people who significantly shape outcomes.

4. Understand their priorities. What are they trying to achieve this quarter? What pressures are they under? Alignment starts with understanding their goals.

5. Create regular touchpoints. You don’t need long meetings, sometimes a short update or quick check-in when you run into each other in the hallway is enough to stay aligned. Just make sure you map the last time you synched (so it's pretty clear who you are avoiding!).

6. Revisit the map quarterly. Stakeholder networks evolve. New projects, new leaders, and new priorities change who matters most.

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Mappingly,

Jorge Luis Pando

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