EQ at the Office

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Emotional intelligence means knowing how to get along. Playing too hard at the office is just as bad as refusing to play at all, studies show. Office politics is here to stay and how you play can influence your success, satisfaction, and performance at work. So read on.

Two of the most common tactics used in office politics are attacking or blaming others, and withholding (information, resources, supplies). The next most popular politial tactic is impression management. Impression management means dressing or grooming for success, and also drawing attention to your own success and influence, and taking credit for others' accomplishments. Over half the managers asked to name political tactics mention these three.

How people play the political game depends upon need, style, personal values, ethics, and temperament, but there's one thing to keep in mind, say management professors Bob Kreitner and Angelo Kinicki. People like people who aren't too different from everyone else, i.e., people they can understand. It's the folks at either end of the spectrum -- too extreme one way or the another -- who have trouble in offices. People who are either strictly non-political or people who are highly political generally find there's a price to pay for "aberrant" behavior.

Emotional intelligence means knowing how to play the office politics games; how to manage yourself, your emotions and those of other people. Developing a high EQ will get you ahead!