Perspectives
Surviving Office Politics
Coffee Break Moment
Kiss and Slap
A young Technician and his General Manager board a train
headed through the mountains on its way to Wichita. They can
find no place to sit except for two seats right across the aisle
from a young woman and her grandmother.
After a while, it is obvious that the young woman and the
young tech are interested in each other, because they are
giving each other looks.
Soon the train passes into a tunnel and it is pitch black. There
is a sound of a kiss followed by the sound of a slap. When the
train emerges from the tunnel, the four sit there without saying
a word.
With Winnie Mwangi
Often, office politics is deemed as a bad thing but on the
contrary, it can be a positive thing and anyone in every
organization is going to play the politics of the day, especially if,
they are individuals whose ambition is to get to the top of the
corporate ladder. Ever notice how some mediocre employees
rise while more competent ones languish? Often, it's because
they know how to play office politics. We'd all like to think we
can succeed purely on our merits. In some offices you can, but
in many others, you must know how to play the game and win without selling your soul.
Office politics can be found in anything from the gossip in the
office to ego trips, envy and resentment both from self and from
Avoid the “self-talk of resentment.” And stop dwelling on
others.
the idea that co-workers are resenting you. Shift that focus to
energy and goals ahead. How? Learning how to respect and
Office politics is neither good nor bad, I would say, for human
relations. For example, two colleagues fight - if you do not take recognizing someone else’s talent or ideas would help to keep
sides and remain on the periphery, you are not exactly avoiding the mind away from thoughts of resentment. Try and start by
listing down strengths and weaknesses of others and develop
politics, if anything, you have actually participated in the
a training pattern to improve others. That way, you become
listening and all you are doing is being the good guy.
Sometimes though, this can backfire on you big time. Reason slower to judge.
being when you are a good guy, you automatically become a
threat as there will be a tendency of no one trusting you as they Also, learn to share credit. Credit is usually not limited and it
can be shared. Rewarding anyone W7V6