How To Navigate Office Politics

little crok living large sm

Seasoned leaders have survived their fair share of political drama. The reality: politics can be a killer of productivity and even careers, in the most extreme cases. So how can leaders of all ages avoid them?

For answers, let’s take a look at Karen Dillon’s guide for Harvard Business Review titled “Office Politics”, that can keep us from crossing over to the dark side.

Scenario One: It Looks Like A Clique – How can you gain influence when the cool leaders band together?

Background – Office cliques form—and thrive, for many reasons. Sometimes, for instance, you’ll find bands of colleagues who have moved together from other companies or organizations, particularly in industries that are worlds unto themselves, such as media and technology (and it makes sense: as leadership expert Herminia Ibarra points out, research consistently shows that the key to getting a new job is networking). When people know one another socially or from past jobs, they naturally have stronger, deeper ties.

How to adapt:

A. Work with the existing clique. Don’t let the golden children get all the heat and light. Even if you’re not invited to contribute to their big projects, express interest in them. Leadership consultant Ron Ashkenas advises, “You can say to your boss or colleagues, I know I’m not on that assignment, but could I sit in on a status meeting to learn more about it?” And once you’re in the room, offer to pitch in.

B. Form your own alliances or coalitions. Maybe chumminess at the office feels artificial to you or seems like a waste of time. You may be thinking, “Why put aside my “real” work just to make friends?” But the reality is, it’ll help you do your work more effectively. First, you’ll gain support for your ideas. No matter how respected you might be individually, you’ll always bolster your case by lining up allies.

Scenario Two: Big Bad Bully – Can you change the dynamic?

Background – Bullies are more prevalent then we once thought, according to a study by Christine Pearson at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona and Christine Porath at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business: 78% of participants who believed they’d been treated rudely by colleagues said they felt a decreased commitment to their work, with a direct negative effect on their performance. You—and your work—don’t have to suffer.

How to adapt:

A. Consider the bullies’ intentions. Some bullies don’t mean to be bullies. So make sure you aren’t projecting a motive that isn’t there.

B. Offer an olive branch. Disarm your bully by expressing your desire to have a good relationship with him/her.

C. Find safety in numbers. Although you don’t want to create a rival gang to counter the office bully, there is power in people banding together to support one another publicly.

D. Break the pattern. How do you put an end to this destructive dance? The easiest thing to change is your own behavior.

Scenario Three: Time For The Office Outing: Forcing the fun factor or looking through a networking lens?

Background: Your company has a couple of splashy employee events each year—and that kind of “forced fun” is not your cup of tea. You like most of your colleagues, but you dread the thought of trust falls, or pelting one another with paint balls, or laughing politely at your colleague’s colorful jokes over charred burgers and potato salad. You’d rather skip it, but everyone is expected to attend, so your absence would be duly noted.

How to adapt:

A. Find a comfortable way to participate. If you’re fortunate, you welcome the opportunity to hang out with your coworkers because you’re fond of them. However, even if that’s not the case, says leadership coach Susan Alvey, a principal at Pemberton Coaching, assume the most positive perspective you can. “Instead of looking for the first moment to escape, think about how you can have a good time.”

B. Focus on connecting. View the outing as a personal-growth exercise, Clark advises: “Use it to hone one of the most talked about, but least practiced, skills in corporate life: asking questions that draw people out and then really listening to their answers.”

C. Don’t check your inhibitions at the door. Of course, as you’re trying to relax and be yourself, you’ll want to maintain some sense of decorum. We’re all adults—and most of us know our limits—yet we’ve all seen people have too many drinks at office events.

D. If you mess up, take responsibility for your actions. So what if you wake up the following morning and realize that you may have crossed the line at the office party? “If you do something embarrassing, own up to it,” Alvey says. You don’t need to send out a mass e-mail to everyone in the company. But have the courage to apologize to anyone who witnessed your behavior.

OPPORTUNITY

What political issue can you tackle in the next 7 days? Identify and address one issue. Follow this action with a quick evaluation on how the solution positively impacted your interactions with fellow leaders or business colleagues.

 

72 thoughts on “How To Navigate Office Politics

  1. Derick Whirry

    Hey there, This page is very beneficial and fun to read. I am a huge follower of the things blogged about. I also love reading the comments, but it seems like a great deal of readers need to stay on topic to try and add something to the original topic. I would also encourage all of you to bookmark this page to your most used service to help get the word out. Thanks

    Reply
  2. Corey Landevos

    Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!

    Reply
  3. window blinds parts uk

    I simply wanted to say thanks all over again. I am not sure what I would’ve handled in the absence of the type of concepts discussed by you concerning this topic.

    I’m just happy for the help and then have high hopes you realize what a powerful job you are providing educating many people with the aid of a site.

    Reply
  4. Leeann Ganguli

    Hi! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone! Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts. Keep up the fantastic work!

    Reply
  5. Pingback: online

  6. click to read

    I simply want to say I am newbie to blogging and site-building and really liked you’re blog site. Most likely I’m planning to bookmark your website . You surely come with really good posts. Thanks a lot for sharing your website.

    Reply
  7. business insider

    These are great tips, particularly to those new to the blogosphere.
    Short and accurate info. Thanks for sharing this one.

    A must read post!

    Reply
  8. carmen

    I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your blog is really nice, keep it up!
    I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later on. Many thanks.

    Reply
  9. http://google.com

    Have you ever considered publishing an e-book or guest authoring on other
    blogs? I have a blog based upon on the same ideas you discuss and would love to have you
    share some stories/information. I know my readers would
    value your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.

    Reply
  10. quest bars

    Hi there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us
    so I came to look it over. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m
    bookmarking and will be tweeting this to
    my followers! Fantastic blog and amazing style and design.

    Reply
  11. michael

    Wonderful blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? You make blogging look easy. The overall look of your site is great, as well as the content. Thanks For Your article.

    Reply
  12. Vaughn Zumwalt

    I must show some thanks to this writer just for bailing me out of this incident. Right after exploring the world-wide-web and seeing tricks that were not beneficial, I was thinking my entire life was over. Existing devoid of the approaches to the problems you have fixed by means of your main posting is a critical case, as well as the ones which might have in a negative way damaged my entire career if I had not discovered your blog post. That natural talent and kindness in dealing with the whole lot was very useful. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had not encountered such a solution like this. I can at this time look ahead to my future. Thank you very much for this specialized and result oriented help.

    Reply
  13. Mac

    Wanted to mention I am new to weblog and really savored you’re site. You definitely have really good posts. Appreciate your blog.

    Reply
  14. Verna

    Very nice post. I stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I have truly enjoyed browsing your posts.

    I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!

    Reply
  15. Warren

    Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store.

    Reply
  16. Trea

    Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon every day.
    It will always be useful to read content from other writers and practice a little
    something from other sites.

    Reply
  17. Robin

    Great blog! Do you have any helpful hints for aspiring writers?
    I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
    Would you advise starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option?
    There are so many options out there that I’m completely confused ..

    Any recommendations? Thanks!

    Reply
  18. Francis

    May I just say what a comfort to discover somebody who genuinely knows
    what they are talking about over the internet. You actually realize how to bring
    a problem to light and make it important. A lot more people need to look at
    this and understand this side of your story.

    Reply
  19. Maribell

    Wow that was strange. I just wrote an really long comment but
    after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr…
    well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say wonderful blog!

    Reply
  20. Vickey

    Howdy! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to look it over.

    I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting
    this to my followers! Superb blog and brilliant design.

    Reply
  21. Francis

    I simply want to tell you that I liked you’re blog. You absolutely have amazing articles. Thanks for sharing your site.

    Reply
  22. Donn

    I truly enjoyed reading your post. Office politics is often regarded as something negative that should be avoided, but in essence, office politics can be used in a positive manner. Office politics should not be overlooked. As you alluded to, with the correct approach, office politics can lead to better relationships and effectively influence others to achieve a common goal. “At some point, everyone needs to influence others to follow their ideas or preferred courses of action, and doing that requires the use of politics,” say Phillips & Gully (2014) authors of the book, Organizational Behavior (p. 342).

    Networking is a great way to get to know people and build good working relationships. While we may not be able to change people, we can have a positive influence on their behavior and attitude. We should not approach politics in a negative manner. Instead, we should avoid gossip and rumors, encourage open communication, observe what is going on in the office and try to understand the political nature of the work environment. But most importantly, we must remain positive. Surely, office politics can be constructive if approached in a positive manner. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  23. Rufus

    Awesome write-up. I am a regular visitor and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a visitor for a long time.

    Reply
  24. Susie

    Wow, this article is good. My sister is looking for this kind of advice and I am going to share this with her.

    Reply
  25. Leo

    An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a colleague
    who has been conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact ordered me breakfast
    due to the fact that I discovered it for him… lol.
    So allow me to reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time to talk about this subject here
    on your internet site.

    Reply
  26. Aretha

    Hello there! I just want to give you a huge thumbs up
    for the excellent info you have here on this post.

    I am returning to your site for more soon.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Maragaret Vansise Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>