Do you copy your boss on your emails to colleagues to get action?

I once had a conversation with a senior manager in a large company.  He called me to discuss what coaching was about as it was new to him and luckily he was opened minded enough to give me time to help him explore the concept more.  The conversation stuck with me and I want to give you a sense of why that conversation stuck with me.

So imagine someone who works in a company and relies on others to help them do their job more effectively, often requesting other people to help them when required.
I don't know about you, but there were many times in my corporate life where the environment I was working in always had a political undercurrent to it.  I was always conscientious of what others may think if I stuck my neck out to really push for a concept that I thought was correct or worth exploring.
Sometimes I would need someone to help me and sometimes it would be difficult because the request would get ignored.  At this stage, I would write them an email and on that email put a CC to my boss or their boss.  When that email got through miraculously the assistance I needed always came. 

In that example, my conclusion would be that the motivation behind helping me would be out of fear of what the bosses might say or do and not because they wanted to help me (even if that was because of a lack of time or prioritising etc).  Invariably, this behavior probably isn't personal, its just coping and making the best of the resources at hand.  However, as soon as there is a threat of the boss getting involved, the priorities shift and the job gets done.

Do we really work in environments where we fear political backlashes more than failing to do our jobs properly?  Is it possible that we spend more effort being political than being great at our jobs?  Is it possible that our jobs suffer because our motivation is skewed to make others happy or to protect ourselves rather than to enjoy doing a great job that uses our skill sets and maybe gives us satisfaction? 

What would it be like to never have that political angle to our daily work routines and be able to express ourselves as we feel we would like to and more importantly take responsibility for what we do well and for what we don't do well, always striving to do better and improve and ultimately be satisfied with the way that we spend what is most of our lives....... in a job?

In the example of the email, where was I at fault in encouraging the political environment?  Firstly I relied on the email to get my point across rather than (in some cases and not all) walk across to the person who I needed help from, be friendly, nurture my relationship with them and jointly achieve something that never had a threat of 'If you don't do this.....'
Working face to face with people builds relationships, emails don't often.
From my perspective, in sending an email, I was somewhat hiding my passion and belief in what I thought was right.  I perhaps was fearful of exposing my emotion, my views and risking any confrontation.  Relationships are built through confrontation sometimes, this helps us to understand each other and build bridges.

In the case of the manager that I spoke to, coaching was interesting to him as he had staff that he could see where stuck in their jobs, he also recognised that answers he got from people were skewed by the political undercurrents in the work place and not necessarily the answers he needed to hear.  I guess incorrect, boss happy answers probably affect how the boss works if he is getting incorrect information.

For me, I am only able to take part in expressing my views and risk any consequences of confrontation now (after 40 years!!) because I was able to work through what I was thinking and feeling in those situations and be challenged to address my fears through coaching.

I am coaching someone now who is dealing with this very subject, but I am betting that that person is not unique.

Let me ask you to consider something.  Could it be that the more political you are in your approach to work the more insecure you really are about how you feel about yourself?  Wouldn't you prefer the freedom to be yourself and bring your unique skills, thoughts and opinions to the table so that others can gain benefit from them?

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I know how it feels to risk that vulnerability and yes someone took advantage of it, but now I am on a different road and it feels great.  Sometimes consequences are worth risking as they may be the gift that you might just need to get you to a place of great peace and satisfaction.  Let the 'What ifs' look after themselves and live your life to the full, you will NOT regret it.