Comments on: Yahoo column: Office politics encourages self-improvement

By: Brian S

Brian S — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:03:07 +0000

Arrgggh. You are right about office politics, but at the same time…it sucks. The sucks ups and the brown nosers. I would live longer without having to put up with it!

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:04:03 +0000

It's true. I had a very power-hungry vengeful boss once who just stopped at nothing to get what she wanted. I learned to play the game (doing my job) while staying out of the politics that she constantly instigated. I learned that my job, is just that, a job…not my life. It helped me put that part of my life in perspective & after that I have never had a "difficult" boss…they all see tame compared to that witch…lol!

By: oggeo » Blog Archive » Yahoo column: Get good at office politics to improve your life

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:56:04 +0000

[...] story here This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2007 at 4:44 pm and is filed under office [...]

By: Jason X

Jason X — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:09:16 +0000

Really good sound advice. I agree, you need to get along with everyone. Otherwise, work becomes very painful. Political savvy is essential. Don't fight it, it's necessary.

However, it can become completely ridiculous at times. Here's my take on it with satire and a fictional narrator:

http://theuserpool.squarespace.com

By: John

John — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:40:05 +0000

Amen. Politics is only a tool. It's a means to an end. Suppose tomorrow's headlines read “O.J. SIMPSON STABS FOUR UNARMED POODLES”. Would you throw all your steak knives into the Gulf of Mexico? Of course not. Anyway, thanks for a great post. It inspired my latest post, "How to Commit Career Suicide":

http://blog.johnwburrows.com/2007/09/19/how-to-commit-career-suicide/

By: How to Commit Career Suicide « The Promotable Employee

How to Commit Career Suicide « The Promotable Employee — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:25:13 +0000

[...] is only a tool—a means for accomplishing a specific task or purpose. The task or purpose can be ethical, or it can be [...]

By: Chip Royce

Chip Royce — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:27:19 +0000

I'd say that Office politics is often the result of the absence of leadership. Here's why:

1) Good leaders create great focus: If a company is well organized and get clear direction from its executives / leaders, everyone knows in what direction to go. Its a lot easier to gain consensus with your peers over the small decisions, rather than the large decisions.

2) Good leaders set right expectations: If folks have a clear understanding of the rewards / penalties for proper behavior in the workplace, they'll understand that they can focus on their job and working well with their peers. The converse is also true – when folks don't know their role, they will seek out what's advantageous to them (politics). When behavioral boundaries aren't set, folks will play on the margins or exceed those boundaries (politics).

There's one other time you see politics and that's obscenely large companies where no matter what the leadership do, the organization is too large to have clear focus and boundaries. In those cases, you just have to understand this and figure out if politics are for you.

By: finance girl

finance girl — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:45:49 +0000

office politics = good emotional intelligence, a key life skill.

By: holly

holly — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:22:24 +0000

I hate reading your articles on Yahoo finance. I find that the people commenting are exactly the kind that the "new" workplace is discriminating against. They are the people I won't work with.

I don't like their negativity.

Everything you say is true: for example niceness counts, it's the difference between the answer "that's not my job" and "sure I can do that for you." I read the comments on Yahoo and think about the reader "You A** and you wonder why you can't keep staff and why you find it hard to motivate staff."

Office politics is everywhere and it does demand you become smarter, more aware and more efficient. If you ignore it, it is at your peril. Your tips show people how to play the game and win.

It's about being smart to get ahead…

By: Alison

Alison — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 13:23:57 +0000

It's funny… I avoided cliques in high school, only to be forced into them again in the real world of corporate life. College is expansive, and when I was in outside sales, my job was autonomous enough not to bother with internal politics/clique style office politics (I had to mesh with lots of different clients, but again, it was an expansive enough field I never got pinned down into any clique situations).

The thing about office politics is expectations. Most of the dissonance in my work-life (and personal life, come to think of it) has come when either I don't mesh with someone's expectations of me – reasonable or not – or they don't mesh with mine. Realizing what other people expect of you is key, and then deciding what approach you're going to take and what the consequences (negative or positive) will be.