Politics

I’d like to announce my candidacy for…no – not that kind of politics, I thought I’d drop a few comments on office politics.

Too often, people see “politics” as the evil underbelly of the corporate world, and that competency in office politics requires that you can backstab your coworkers with no remorse, find a variety of ways to undermine your colleagues, and take credit for the work of anyone who won’t fight your claims. This definition from dictionary.com covers it well:

to deal with people in an opportunistic, manipulative, or devious way, as for job advancement.

But to me, that’s a cynical, shallow, and completely unhelpful view of what politics really are in the workplace. However, I do like the first four words – “To Deal With People” – in my happy rose colored view, that’s the part of the politic game that everyone has to play. I think that long term success in any workplace requires that you can deal with people. If you want influence, you’re going to need to have allies. If you attempt a difficult change, you may also annoy or disappoint some people. That’s all fine, as long as you find a way to talk, listen, or do whatever it takes to keep the wheels moving. I’m not saying that you have to kiss everyone’s ass, but if you want to be a leader – someone who can influence people to change, improve, or flat out take a chance on something that you want to do, you’re going to need to find a way to deal with them.

There may be people in the world that you don’t like or respect. That’s ok –we all know those people. Those of you who are politically savvy know that you probably still need to be able to communicate with them occasionally, so you don’t burn bridges. Who knows – you may need those people as an ally someday, and if you flipped the bit on them (and told them that you flipped the bit as well), all I can say is good luck getting that next “big idea” to fly.

More importantly, you need to be able to influence the people who can help you. Chances are good that you have more great ideas than you can take care of yourself. That’s ok, because great leaders take pride in making those around them better, and your great ideas are probably the thing that will make all of your colleagues better.

As long as they’ll listen to you.

And they will listen to you, as long as you are worth listening to. So build credibility, help them in their own projects, give them credit, and raise them up any way you can. In other words, use politics (the good kind) to get your way…and become a leader.