St John Paul II didn’t need sycophants only the support of orthodox Catholics in his Curia. Alas, he only tried to stem the tide flowing against Catholic orthodoxy rather than drive it back.
Pope Francis is using those who fawn upon him, Spadaro, Coccopalmeira, Paglia, Farrell et al to disseminate the deviation from  hallowed, Catholic teaching and praxis he is trying to introduce without getting his own hands dirty.
The Church is of divine Institution so its governance cannot be compared with those of secular enterprises.
Elections do have consequences, I agree. The lobbying for Jorge Bergoglio by the Sankt Gallen ‘mafia’ as revealed by Cardinal Daneels brought a hitherto peripheral unknown to the Chair of Peter. Such blatant electioneering, common in the secular world of politics and commerce has no place in a Papal Conclave.