Secrets to Winning Office Politics

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November 19, 2022 @ 9:05 PM
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Understanding Office Politics'

Politics is about getting what you want, whatever that may be. To get what you want, you must be able to influence others.

It's important to understand what exactly you want
Do you want to stay in the current organization or somewhere else?
Remain in the same field or consider a different occupation?
A better relationship with your boss?
Given more interesting challenges and interesting responsibilities?
More recognition for your contributions or accomplishments?
Better relationship with specific people
Keep your job to simply finance the rest of your life?

Wishes v Goals
Wishing is a passive activity that easily denigrates into whining and complaining.
Wishes imply sitting around waiting for something to happen
Goals help us define the actions we need to take
Goals imply action.

Four Political Types
Martyrs - Behavior helps Business Goals / Hurts Personal Goals
Sociopaths - Behavior hurts Business Goals / Helps Personal Goals
Dimwits - Behavior hurts Business Goals / Hurts Personal Goals
Winners - Behavior helps Business Goals / Helps Personal Goals

NEVER ADVANCE YOUR OWN INTERESTS BY HARMING THE BUSINESS OR HURTING OTHER PEOPLE

Ethics
In the realm of ethics, only actions count. Your moral code is communicated not by what you say you believe, but by what your behavior actually demonstrates

Political Intelligence and the Reality

To be politically intelligent, you must have great awareness and see yourself clearly, and also how others see you. Self-knowledge allows you to make wise choices about your behavior and avoid political pitfalls.
Get feedback. Ask!

Obsessing over self-image / ego / pride is a true Achilles heel in office politics

Never whine, never complain. Complaining is just a false proxy for control

Getting worked up about 'fairness' is a waste of time and politically stupid.

The Organizational Facts of Life
Organizations are not democracies
Some people have more power than others
Virtually all decisions are subjective
Your boss has control over much of your life
Fairness is an impossible goal.

The person with the most power wins.
Don't worry about how your boss treats you and start figuring out how to relate to your boss. The ability to manage upward is an absolutely essential component of Political Intelligence

Looking for Leverage

Political Intelligence requires a thorough understanding of the dynamics of leverage, which simply means your ability to get others to do what you want.

When you increase your leverage in more appropriate ways, you can increase your odds of accomplishing your goals

Do the job you want AND the job you have, 
Take the projects that no one else wants and murder them, 
be a humble self advocate. There are no shortcuts or tricks.

One of the most politically hazardous mistakes is leverage miscalculation

Leverage
Having a higher position
Having more occupational status
Having something the other person needs
Sole provider of a resource
Having influence with people in authority
Having abilities that are hard to replace
Having other ways to get your needs met
Having a good reputation or track record
Having less emotional attachment
Having a positive relationship with the other person

Leverage Boosters
Delivering results
Develop impressive expertise in your work, being a source of information
Being someone people love to work with
Friendly
Helpful
Cooperative
Be empathic 
Network
Involving others in your decisions, activities, and 
Detaching yourself emotionally from the job

Leverage is dynamic. Leverage shifts whenever there are promotions, demotions, or reorganizations. Getting a new boss or manager shakes the leverage equation up

Allies and Adversaries

Never intentionally offend anyone at work

You must learn to work with people you don't particularly like and handle conflicts in a constructive adult manner. And it'll probably help to be liked by as many people as possible

Positive relationships build political capital
Friends - people you click with. Similar interests and temperaments
Partners - colleagues you depend on to accomplish results
Connections - people that you can temporarily hook up with when you need assistance or information
The more connections you can access, the more problems you can solve

People who have fewer allies are vulnerable. Political Winners always have a strong network of Friends, Partners, and Connections

You can be strategic about network building. Also you can connect with people by being curious and interested

Be careful of 
Clustering - connecting based on age, gender, race, nationality, etc
Layering - connecting with only people on your level, never a level up or down

Strategic Networking
Identify the people you need to know
Seek out opportunities for interaction

How To Be Liked
Try to attract people, not repel them
Strive for predictability
Get outside your comfort zone
Look for links
Be helpful to others

How To Commit Political Suicide

Being viewed as The Problem is the kiss of death

Four common causes of career destruction
Poorly controlled emotions
Never let your emotions run amok. Most times it's better to not show (negative) emotions at all.
Anger and Anxiety are the two most common negative emotions that become destructive
Anger leads to or manifests in
Complaining / Whining
Rebelling
Confrontation
Anxiety leads to or manifests in
Timidness
Neediness
Hiding
Bonus emotion: Avoid Lust. Don't look for your honey where honey where you make your money.
Victim mentality
Self-centered goals
Foolish reactions to change
When circumstances change, you need to deal with them with political intelligence

Warning Signs of Political Trouble
Level 1: Something is not quite right
growing uneasiness, things start to feel "unfair"
You find yourself alone a lot
Your boss ignores you
You get talk about your performance
Level 2: The Future looks questionable
Important assignments given to someone else
Turned down for promotions
Level 3: A sudden career change may lie ahead
Layoffs

Increasing Your Political Power

Political Power Blunders
Giving people more power than they should have because they wear you down
Shying away from leverage building opportunities
Trying to use power you don't actually possess

Invisible contributions have no political value.
Starmakers - High importance, high visibility contributions
Maintenance - low importance, high visibility
Time Waster - low importance, low visibility
Transparent tasks - high importance, low visibility (Make them transparent!!)

Act like the person you want people to see

Every positive working relationship increases your political power

Invite people to your party when making decisions, getting feedback. Ask their opinion on things.

Sharpening Your Influence Skill

To choose the best influence approach, you must consider the world from the other person’s point of view. You must be empathetic and view the world through their eyes.

Questions to ask
What is this person's goals
What is important to this person
What types of competencies does this person want to work with
What concerns does this person have
What leverage does this person have

To get this information, ask questions!

Make sure you
Do your research, be informed
Speak up
Demonstrate confidence
Don't fake it
Believe in your product, whatever you are selling
Know your audience
Look for shared goals common interests
Generate excitement 
Get them involved
Know when to shut up and listen

Managing Power Relationships

Managing Up
Accept the fact that your boss has dominion over your direct activities
Don't expect perfection
Study your boss's management style and figure out what makes them happy
Try to make your boss look good
Never, ever, ever, ever, complain to others about your boss
Give your boss sincere compliment from time to time
Remember, it's not your boss who protects your job, it's your boss's boss

Executives
Never tell an executive they can't do something
Talk Fast
Don't expect specific instructions
Make it happen
Take care of details
Don't take abuse personally
Lose your ego
Keep your self-confidence
Hang on to your sense of humor

Coworkers
Watch for opportunities to help your co-workers
Return phone calls, answer emails, meet deadlines, keep commitments
Don't expect coworkers to be therapists
Avoid blatant self-promotion, especially at your colleagues expense
Be consistently polite and pleasant
Discuss concerns with the person involved
When you have difficulties or disagreements, discuss them in an adult manner
If someone acts rude, impolite, offensive, or insulting, just endure it. Keep it to yourself.

Downward
You are a manager, not a monarch
Worry about being respected not liked
Learn to successfully manage the performance of other people
Appreciate the power of inclusion
Help your employees be all that they can be

Developing Your Political Game

Strategy #1 If you are in danger of becoming The Problem, then you need to take remedial action immediately.

Strategy #2 If you are not clear about your goals, then you need to decide what you want.

Strategy #3 If you are not using your energy wisely, then you need to adjust your thinking or your activities.

Strategy #4 If you face opposition in reaching your goals, then you need to manage your adversaries.

Strategy #5 If you don’t have the leverage to get what you want, then you need to increase your political power.

Strategy #6 If you have none of the above political issues, then you need to move ahead!

If you want to get ahead in the organization, think of it as a cult. You must master the traditions, the language, the lexicon and core concepts and make people aware of how bought in you are of those things

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Secrets to Winning Office Politics

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