Joseph Grenny
“We become complicit with the political climate we despise when we participate in it rather than confront it.”
You can run, but you can’t hide.
Eventually you are going to be impacted by workplace politics the likes of which often rival Game of Thrones.
Sometimes it comes with working in a certain department.
Sometimes it’s who you report too.
Sometimes it’s who reports to you.
Guilt by association.
High school was probably the best preparation for dealing with politics in the workplace.
We all remember the cliques, the maneuvering, the fake friends, the true friends.
Unfortunately, a lot of that did not end with graduation, it just got more refined.
A necessary evil?
Whenever you have a bunch of high achieving, motivated people in one organization, politics are a natural fallout.
Joseph Grenny points out that it becomes about status building, power wielding & resource competition.
A healthy organization can minimize the organic development of politics; however, an unhealthy organization seems to allow, even promote, workplace politics.
An Engagement Problem.
Organizations that have high levels of workplace politics also have high levels of disengagement from employees. This results in low morale and low retention. Staff who work hard often see less qualified people getting promoted past them.
Have you ever gone into a meeting when it becomes clear early on that there was a pre-meeting and the decision had already been made? It sends a message that the employees time is not valuable
“….status buidling, power wielding, resource competition”
Joseph Grenny
Don’t be part of the problem.
This is difficult. Don’t add to the problem. This can be as simple as not propagating a rumor or as uncomfortable as directly confronting a situation.
If you are in a highly political organization this gets lonely fast. However, there is power in doing the right thing.
Remember character is everything. Once that is violated you lose power. Even in the most political environments there is great impact when concerns are raised from a voice of integrity.
Never sacrifice that.
Don’t take it personally.
There are a lot of moving parts in an organization. Often no one has a clear insight to what the true picture looks like. This leads to a lot of reactive actions.
Land grabs, odd promotions, questionable departures. While some of these may hit very close to home it his important to not take any of this personally.
Remember, uncertainty causes people to do strange things. Often these actions are anticipatory of the worst-case scenario.
Fight it with transparency.
According to Joseph Grenny the root of office politics is mistrust. This makes a lot of sense. If you view many perceived political actions through the lens of mistrust you get a better idea of why things happen.
I am only going to promote those I trust.
I am going to make a play for these FTE’s, because I am not sure what will happen.
I am going to relocate her.
The solution for mistrust is transparency.
If your organization isn’t being transparent, then you need to try even harder to be.
Joseph Grenny sums it up best, “We can diminish, if not eliminate, petty practices by skillfully practicing guileless openness because the selfishness and manipulation that are the primary principles of politics can’t bear transparency.”
Do what’s right
At the end of the day this should be your primary focus. It is so easy to get distracted by the static that surrounds you.
Keep your head down, do good work and do the right thing.
If your organization doesn’t value an employee that does this, it may be time to reevaluate the relationship.