In the early stages of my corporate career, I held the naive belief that promotions were solely based on hard work and quality output. I aspired to climb the corporate ladder, but my understanding of the corporate world was far from reality. As I progressed from a junior employee to a manager, I encountered power struggles, territorial disputes, and political maneuverings that taught me invaluable lessons. Despite the challenges, I eventually achieved my career goals. Now, I often find myself advising others on how to navigate the complex political landscape of their workplaces.
When you step into the corporate world, you have two options: strive to join the inner circle or simply focus on your job. Both approaches are integral to corporate life and equally challenging. Your choice depends on your career aspirations.
A corporation is a dynamic, adaptable, and evolving entity, much like a human being. As an employee, it's crucial to understand how the corporation grows and changes. This knowledge isn't always readily available, but being a valuable asset to the corporation requires you to look beyond the surface and anticipate future directions. This will enable you to contribute positively to the corporation's growth and change.
Many political situations within a corporation stem from this growth and change. These changes can cause significant stress for some individuals. However, this stress can be mitigated by understanding the politics and culture of the organization. You'll find that many of these situations have valid political reasons behind them.
Understanding the corporate culture is a crucial step in managing job-related stress. Spend some time observing the culture at your office. This will not only guide your behavior but also help you interact effectively with others.
A corporate culture comprises formal company policies and informal rules that govern interpersonal interactions. Management may not explicitly communicate these informal rules, but your ability to adapt and learn is a testament to your competence. Inappropriate behavior could lead to you being labeled as uncooperative by your colleagues.
To minimize stress, analyze the culture and adjust your habits accordingly. Consider various aspects of the environment, such as communication style, teamwork, chain of command, appearance, management roles, interoffice friendships, politics, individual attitudes, and general workspace environment.
After understanding the culture of your workplace, assess how it aligns with your personal style and expectations. You may need to adjust some of your habits to prevent workplace stress. However, this doesn't mean suppressing your individuality. With a clear understanding of your workplace culture, you can make informed decisions about your behavior and work habits, thereby preventing stressful situations and conflicts.
To comprehend corporate games in the workplace, it's essential to understand that a corporate game is an illegitimate means of achieving objectives. It involves manipulating situations to reach a specific goal. Those who refuse to play these games risk their careers.
Mismanagement of power and politics can ruin your career, cause sleepless nights, and often has little to do with your actual job duties. Many people fail in their jobs due to political problems, not skill deficiencies. Many intelligent and capable individuals aren't as successful as they could be because they haven't learned to cope with office politics. Understanding why you might be struggling at work involves understanding the basic elements of office politics and why it exists.
Politics and political maneuvering involve interpersonal conflicts and power plays that exist in most organizations. Actions commonly associated with office politics include intimidation, indirect communications, covert tactics for advancement, manipulation for control, indirectly telling the truth, hiding vulnerability issues, and playing for favors.
The extent of political activity required to do a job varies from one company to another. In some companies, playing corporate politics is the only job you have time for. In others, it's only slightly important. Politics is part of the corporate culture of every organization, and it's crucial to understand how it influences your organization.
Politics emerged as a means of managing intense competition. Business itself is a competitive game, driven by survival conditions induced by an expanding world market. Companies must continually change and grow to meet the constant challenge of overwhelming the opposition, reducing costs, and acquiring additional resources. These attributes trickle down through the ranks, causing individual battles for promotions, rewards, and recognition.
Office politics also arise from the hierarchical structure of most organizations. The higher you advance, the less room there is at the top. As long as people vie for the "corner office," workplace maneuvers will persist. This is where the most intense battles occur, and where most people find themselves sidelined or overlooked.
Furthermore, office politics occur when personal matters are suppressed because they are perceived as interfering with the corporation's direction and welfare. Certain arrangements help to keep individual feelings out of corporations, prevent the discussion of sensitive issues, and deny interpersonal conflict. However, since humans are social beings, human needs manifest as political conflict.
Whether you choose to play or not, avoid getting caught in the crossfire. If you become the individual who battles politics, you risk becoming the organization's pariah. If you decide to stay out of it completely, then focus on your job. Those who play the game will respect your decision as it reduces competition in their own battles.
No one will admit to playing games; that's part of the secret of politics. You can't confront anyone for playing games, but you can identify the games and learn how to manage them to suit your needs. Once you figure out how to do this, your stress level will decrease, and you'll be accepted in your environment.
Before you can learn how to use these games to your advantage, you need to set a course and stick with it. This means determining what you want from your career. If you wander aimlessly through your career, you'll get nowhere as you are of no benefit to anyone, including yourself. If you know what you want and are willing to work to get there, people will take notice and begin working with you to help you achieve your goals. The objective of managing corporate games is to benefit those in charge and understand how to use available resources to your advantage.
People who dislike company politics usually associate it with backstabbing, taking credit for others' work, or getting by on personality rather than performance. These are standard characteristics of a political game. However, you don't have to play this way to succeed in a political environment. To survive, political game playing means developing good "people skills." It involves contribution, diplomacy, collaboration, cooperation, and conducting a personal public relations campaign. Some of the best ways to handle politics at this level are:
To achieve your goals, you'll need to be very people-smart. Playing politics isn't necessarily bad. In fact, it's a key survival skill in most organizations. Many successful corporate politicians are both likable and effective—that's why they make it to the top. Those who refuse to play or battle against the politics may accomplish a lot, but they seldom last long because they don't fit into the overall scheme and are seen as "trouble-makers."
If you've ever read a Dilbert cartoon by Scott Adams, you'll find them humorous because they often represent actual situations in an office environment. If you don't find humor in these cartoons, you have a lot to learn. Regardless of where you go or what you do, politics in the corporate culture exist.
Political decisions encourage many of the situations that most people despise, including hypocrisy, secrecy, rumors, self-interests, image building, and cliques. However, politics will always be a part of organizations as long as people are involved—to be human is to be political. Whenever people's priorities, values, and interests diverge, some type of political ploy usually takes place. The extent of your involvement is entirely up to what you want from your career.
Remember, it's not a "personal attack," it's a "political approach." If you understand your culture and consider that statement in your daily activities, your work environment can be more enjoyable and less stressful.
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