Backstabbing colleagues, scheming rivals, incompetent
teammates, conniving types, self-serving spin doctors and toxic bosses. Welcome to Planet Politics.

Let's be honest about it. The modern workplace is a hotbed of office politics. Bad stuff can happen to good people, and much of it comes down to office politics. In fact, most professionals would positively love their jobs – if it weren't for certain people and the politics.

When I started to write this book, my colleagues and I here at Talentspace surveyed nearly 200 clients and other contacts to tell us about their experience of office politics. They came up with a (very long) list of words and phrases that included: lying, cheating, manipulating,
schmoozing, and being two-faced. Not to mention maneuvering, rumor mongering, plotting, brown-nosing, and sucking up. Oh, and don't forget behaviors such as blatant selfpromotion, scheming, and even using sex as a weapon at work.

Yes, all of these go on in the workplace. You can probably think of plenty of people who use such tactics to further their careers. But why do they do it? Because all workplaces are really about competition. Much of it is subtle and unspoken, but to some extent or other, nearly everyone is competing for budgets, resources, and opportunities to work on exciting projects. And then there's competition for promotions, time with important colleagues or customers, prestige, recognition, bigger salaries, and, of course, power. But the very fact that people do plot and scheme at work should illustrate one of the truths of politicking – that politics delivers
results.

While we're at it, here's another uncomfortable truth – politicking happens whether you like it or not. Yes, some people try to be noble and refuse to play the political game; they focus on their jobs and work hard in the hopes of being noticed and rewarded for their efforts. But sadly there are limited opportunities in any organization and, more often than not, these sorts of people just end
up being overlooked or ignored. Do you want to be overlooked or ignored?

Of course not.

You'd think that would be a silly question – whether anyone would choose to be overlooked or ignored. But too many people try in vain to get ahead without playing the game of office politics. If you think you can succeed without getting political, you need to wake up. Wake up and smell that coffee.

Many people refuse to play the political game, believing it to require underhand tactics and a malicious intent. But politics are not automatically bad. Politicking merely describes the act of scrutinizing relationships at work and learning how to influence others more effectively. It
usually involves going through informal channels rather than officially sanctioned ones, but that doesn't make it bad in and of itself.

Politicking is not intrinsically good or bad – it is merely a tool. People can choose to use their understanding of politics to influence people and achieve goals that are good for the organization as well as themselves. Even in the most friendly and supportive of organizations, people don't always agree – so having an understanding of politics and how to exert influence can help you to pull people together and achieve outcomes that are in the organization's best interests too.

In fact, if you do try to manipulate and use people, you will probably get caught. You could be tarnished with the label of being 'political', which can make people refuse to trust you or want to listen to you again. So effective politicking has to be as much about give as it is about
take.

But 'office politics' does have rather negative connotations. Personally, I choose to use the term 'political savvy' to refer to the skill of reading and using relationships at work. And enhancing your political savvy is as simple as ABC:

Assessing the political landscape. Too many would-be political players fall down because they try to get involved without properly understanding the currents and undercurrents within the organization. So observe, analyze, categorize and understand the dynamics and web of relationships that govern how people behave in
order to succeed. Learn the rules before you play the game.

Building significant relationships. The next step is to formulate a plan to build relationships with people who can help you achieve your goals. But it isn't merely about being nice to everyone, because the canny political player realizes that not all people at work are created equally. Learn to influence and build relationships with the right people.

Confronting adversaries. People are usually the biggest obstacle to giving us what we want. Every now and then you may come across certain individuals who are more of an obstacle than most. Whether it is a colleague who is slightly bad-tempered or someone with downright malicious intentions, this step is about tackling the unsatisfactory relationships that prevent you from achieving your goals. Learn to neutralize threats to your career.

Political savvy is about getting what you want. It's a way of thinking about goals and how to achieve them through relationships. Even if you don't have power or influence to begin with, you can accrue it through observation, planning and execution. Whether you want to pursue your organization's goals or your own personal ones –
well, that's up to you.

But whatever you want, let's help you to achieve it.

Rob Yeung