In almost every working environment we are faced with office politics. It seems to find a way of involving us and usually not by choice. The key to coping with these circumstances without crossing any ethical boundaries is to first and foremost decide what is of importance to you- the short term chance of promotion or the long term value of your professional development, which can take a life time to build but can serve as inspiration for life times to come.

Some people think that they should avoid office politics all together, but statistics have shown that those who understand and use these politics are more likely to succeed than those who dismiss it all together.

As Andrew DuBrin once said “to ignore office politics is to ignore those underlining forces that account for the differences in success between equally talented people”.

There are two different types of office politics, good and bad. Which ever one you choose to participate in is solely up to you. First you must distinguish between the two.

Bad politics can consist of:

Withholding or delaying information that may be needed
Deliberately holding meetings or making decisions without all parties necessary
Arranging scenarios that make others look bad or set them up for failure
Discrediting the efforts of others or taking credit when it is not deserved
Not delivering on promises made or denying the legitimate requests of others for your benefit
Giving false support or advice in order to serve your own agenda
Complaining, criticizing, wasting time on gossiping or harassing others

Good politics can consist of:
Going out of your way to insure the success of others even when it serves no purpose or benefit to you
Building trust, the key to building trust is through consistency and understanding
Your peers feeling comfortable to come to you with their questions and or issues
Creating a lighter environment in times of stress
Seeing things through to the end, not abandoning people mid way

To show leadership you must first of all understand office politics as well as the times to participate in it. In the CMC Tags: benefit, building trust, consistency, coping, deliberately, ethical boundaries, legitimate requests, life time, lighter, office politics, peers, professional development, promises made, scenarios, seeing things, take a life, time to build, wasting time, working environment

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