When you hear the words power and office politics do you shudder and say “ewwwww”?
Lots of people do.
That’s both unfortunate and sad.
These words have picked up negative connotations because of the actions of self-centered workplace schmoozers interested only in their own careers.
Work with anyone like that? I know I have. Seeing people play office politics and throw colleagues under the bus only to advance their careers is super off-putting. However, choosing not to play office politics can be a contributing factor in us getting a pink slip or in not receiving a promotion.
How can that be? Because playing office politics in a good way is a good thing. First, the bad news. No matter how much we may want office politics to go way, they aren’t.
Office politics is a workplace reality. Here’s a simple rule of thumb to see if office politics exist where you work.
First, count the number of employees at your organization. If that number is greater than two, then office politics is a factor.
Dismayed? Don’t be. Any time there’s scarce resources, competing interests, and ambiguity, office politics will exist. Scarce resources, competing interests, and ambiguity are darn near a given in every place I worked. Other people say the same thing.
Now for the good news. Office politics doesn’t have to be a bad thing. it’s a bit like “The Force” from the Star Wars movies in that there’s a light (positive) side and a dark (negative) side to it.
Office politics gets its bad name from the manipulators, backstabbers, and “I win, you lose” competitors. When you peel back the unsavory people and take a look at the actions that are happening when we say office politics are going on, what’s happening is people working to sell an idea, gain influence, or persuade others to join in.
What distinguishes good office politics from the bad one is motivation. Are people persuading because they me-focused or we-focused?
However, when executed from a we-focused, win-win perspective, office politics relies on collaboration, sharing, relationships, and networking.
Competent people do politics so competently that it looks like being nice. If you have political skill, you appear to not have it. ~Gerald Ferris, psychology and management professor at Florida State University
Opting out of office politics doesn’t serve your career well. Being an effective leader requires you to champion your agenda, be it getting assigned to a special project or getting a bigger budget, and that requires use of the positive side of office politics (collaboration, sharing, relationships and networking).
People are hired for what they know and fired for who they are. ~Penelope Trunk, author of “The Brazen Careerist”
Using a win-win approach is a make-or-break skill for doing well at work. Research from the Chartered Management Institute found that 88 percent of managers claimed to have honed their knowledge of politics through workplace mistakes.
Avoiding making me-focused office politics blunders can be easy if you keep six simple practices in mind.
6 ways to play “win-win” office politics
- Be open to hearing other points of view even if you disagree.
Allowing someone to voice their opinion and really listening to what they have to say strengthens a relationship. Working from a win-win viewpoint also helps to build allies.
- Be a broker of ideas and information.
Willingly share what you know. Giving (without focusing on what you may get in return) bolsters your reputation and facilitates building your network.
- Pay attention.
Understand who the informal leaders in your organization are — those individuals whose opinion is sought by others because it is so respected and not necessarily because of their job title. Tap into their knowledge and their circle of influence.
- Always credit “we” not “me.”
When a group of people have been involved in a work project, give them the recognition and credit they deserve.
- Build connections.
Having a strong, strategic network goes beyond passing out and collecting business cards. Build and maintain relationships that are mutually beneficial. Staying in touch can be simple: share articles or send congratulatory e-mails.
- Be sincere and authentic.
People like to work with those whom they genuinely like. Those are the ones who are playing the “light” side of office politics.
What say you?
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
