Chapter 2: Lets talk politics

…office (work — whatever) politics that is

There is a wrong and right side when it comes to office politics. I wish I could say that office politics were an industry-specific thing, but, in my experience, it shows itself in all businesses, no matter the industry, no matter the “inclusive and welcoming” mission or claim of company values.

And pretending that it doesn’t exist is the biggest mistake you can make.

I don’t align with the concept of office politics just like I don’t align with there being social groups in schools but, it is, unfortunately, a reality that has become ingrained in, specifically, American work life. In every career that I’ve had, from tech to fitness, politics — who likes who and who hangs out with who — has been a driving factor in the experience of employees.

Someone once told me (very recently) that “you have to play the game here” as advice for getting a promotion.

In which I responded (and I don’t recommend this unless you’re like me and after 10 years have decided to aggressively push back against this type of culture):

Well sir, no thank you but I hung up my cleats 10 years ago. I’d rather get promoted on merit not on my batting average.

But that one line defines the entire make up of an organization — if one person is saying it, you bet that most others are as well.

Lets define office politics first, as per Wikipedia:

Office politics, also known as workplace politics or organizational politics, involves the use of power and social networking within a workplace to achieve changes that benefit the organization or individuals within it. “Organizational politics are self-serving behaviors” that “employees use to increase the probability of obtaining positive outcomes in organizations”. Influence by individuals may serve personal interests without regard to their effect on the organization itself. Some of the personal advantages may include:

* access to tangible assets

* or intangible benefits such as status

* pseudo-authority that influences the behavior of others

To summarize, office politics is driven by the idea of power and influence, and how two things impact the way people work with and against each other.

I experienced office politics pretty quickly in my career — there are clear lines of politics within a legal organization. There are the associates that are on the path to partnership and those who are not. Becoming a partner, even if it’s 5 years away, is quickly determined by more factors than simply the work you’re producing. The entire process is similar to that of rushing a sorority or fraternity — imagine a group of people sitting around a too-large mahogany table and putting photos of people up on a screen and voting yes or no.

This concept is not limited to what many define as “corporate jobs” — it lives in everything — startups, MLMs, and even industries where you essentially work for yourself (think real estate or online coaching). Who you know, what you know about people and the social network you surround yourself with will directly influence your success. That is politics. No matter how you spin it. If you see more and more success by aligning with the “right” people, you are apart of the circle that creates political poles within a company or work based community.

Ask yourselves these questions — when it comes to work do you ever think or have you ever been told:

1. If you want to grow to the next level, you should try and meet with “X” person so they know who you are. This is influence and assumed power — especially if this person isn’t the one, on paper, who is responsible for your growth. You are assuming getting to know someone or have them mentor you will give you a leg up in whatever industry you’re in despite the work you are producing.
2. You should “watch out for “X” — you don’t want to be on their “bad side”. This is the assumption of good vs bad — if you have people either self-defined or defined by others who determine what is good and what is bad, you’re living in office politics; especially if this person shouldn’t have the ability to determine the direction of an organization. I was once told this in reference to a fitness instructor — them “liking” me would mean I’d be “liked” by everyone even if their opinion didn’t truly reflect my ability to do my job as a manager, I was much more likely to succeed if they “approved of me”. And if they didn’t, my likelihood of remaining at that studio or getting a promotion was slim to none. This impacted more people than you realize and is a classic show of how politics within a company can impact the culture.
3. Watch what you say and how you say it — this doesn’t refer to professional vs. not — this refers to speaking up or against the “right” and “wrong” things. If you need to filter your thoughts or feelings due to the fear of being “disliked”, you’re in a culture that is centered around workplace politics. If you are speaking out at the betterment of the business, it shouldn’t matter who’s in the room.

Office politics:

🚩Silences people who should have a voice.

🚩Puts people into leadership positions who aren’t the right people to lead.

🚩Creates blindspots in your business and changes your culture.

I wish I could say that throughout my career I’ve been on the opposite side of office politics the entire time, but that simply isn’t true. There were moments in my career where I found myself “wanting to be apart of that group”; I’ve found myself not speaking up in meetings for fear that I’ll be looked at differently thus directly impacting my growth; I’ve caught myself wanting to have my name in front of someone purely because they were “important”. Layer that on with being a woman of color and you can guess how long it took me to advocate against office politics.

There is no one who is immune to accidentally falling into the game — and that is what this is, a game. Checkers on a board, pawns in chess. Deciding to play puts you also at the mercy of the individuals controlling those pawns; you have to remember, they are playing the game for themselves and they will turn their back on you if it means them reaching the next level of “success”. Just because you’re on their team one day, doesn’t mean you’ll be there in the future — just because they move up, doesn’t mean they’ll bring you with them, and, in my experience, if they fall, there’s a big chance you’ll fall right alongside them.

I can say, without question, that workplace politics has been the downfall of at least 2 of the companies I’ve been a part of; it has tarnished almost every culture; it has driven away the best talent, especially those who chose not to play the game but we’re limited on growth and opportunity because of that decision.

I said earlier that it’s hard to find an industry or company that doesn’t have a degree of office politics, but there is a new wave of entrepreneurs creating and launching brands and businesses and it is up to us to build companies who choose to not allow the game to be played; who choose to not have a culture built on this mindset.

The wave of positive impact is endless if all decide to leave the board.