Q: I lost another opportunity this week, one on which I had my heart set. It involved working on a strategic team with individuals pulled from all areas of the company to develop key initiatives for our future. I had so many ideas of exciting directions we could take that I’m heartsick I lost out.
The woman that corporate management selected from my area has been with our company for less than a year. I have nothing against her, but I know her background and skill set. She doesn’t bring as much to the table as I do. She does excel in one area. She knows how to play the game.
When the corporate honchos visit our branch, she goes all out in a way that turns my stomach. I don’t even attend those dog and pony shows, as they’re a waste of time when I’ve got real work to do. Meanwhile, I’ve worked here for three years. I’m professional and dedicated to my job. I’m hard-working and do my work well, but I have one flaw. I’ve never wanted to play office politics.
I pulled some articles off the internet on the topics, and one of yours came up. I’ve read you for years, but I admit I didn’t like that article. Still, something you wrote caught my attention, that avoiding office politics is like “saying you’d rather be a pawn than a queen on a chessboard”.
So, is there a way to play office politics without turning into a slick kiss-up?
A: You don’t have to become a fawning toady to get ahead. You don’t have to sell your soul or sacrifice your ethics. In fact, I hope you don’t. We need more honest, hardworking people in politics, and fewer “slick kiss-ups.”
Here’s my suggestion. Become politically intelligent and stop viewing office politics as a repulsive waste of time practiced by sycophants. Realize it’s a skill set you can acquire and one that expands your thinking and enables you to get ahead. Office politics are about two things, relationships and influence.
If you want to land the next opportunity, you need to build relationships with the key leaders who control your future. Consider the opportunity you described — becoming part of a team developing key initiatives to submit to your company’s leadership for their approval. To succeed, you’d need to 1. have sound ideas, and 2. understand the priorities and perspectives of your company’s leaders. This would require you to engage with them and learn what they’re looking for and what ideas they’d reject outright.
Your colleagues that “play the game” spend time with the “company honchos.” You focus on the work comes across your desk, not realizing that some of your work involves pre-emptively gathering insights about how your company’s leaders think. Thus, while you do excellent work, you don’t attract your company leaders’ attention. I believe you when you say you have exciting ideas. You need to build relationships to give your ideas their best chance of success.
The next time corporate leaders visit your branch, attend the meetings. If your company offers Zoom sessions led by managers, listen. Learn what results matter; how decisions are made; and who and what influences the decisions and the decision-makers. In your area of the company, learn who others turn to for advice — and hopefully, you’re one of those to whom others turn.
Get proactive. Identify the key leaders in your company and learn something about each of them. Then, send the ones you a respect a specific email that lets them know something you admire that they’ve accomplished. I don’t mean flatter them — pick out something real that you truly do respect and ask for seven minutes of their time. During those seven minutes, ask two to three sincere questions. We appreciate individuals who ask searching questions and then listen.
Political skills serve a practical purpose. They give those who possess them leverage to succeed in their careers and achieve their goals.