When I graduated from college in engineering I
had my heart set on a warm location, far from the cold winters of Michigan. I
interviewed all over the country and ended up in Houston, Tx. Part of the
attraction was the 70 degrees and sunny weather when I interviewed while at the
same time it was snowing and freezing in Michigan. The other part was the beer
I had for lunch with my future boss required two hands to hold (everything in
Texas is bigger!). I narrowed my choices down to Shell Oil and Houston Lighting
and Power. Their offices were right next to each other in downtown Houston. The
money won (power plant experience helped!)!
The first day at work my boss took me around
to all of the directors' offices to introduce me. I was something they had
never seen before - a female engineer from up north that talked funny - and
everyone wanted to meet me! I had a few executives visit me in my office. Each
time one of them left, a fellow engineer from down the hall would run into my
office and say - "do you know who that was?". I would reply -
"oh yes - that was Ted ... or Don... or Jim". Then my co-worker would
reply loudly with a slight tinge of fear in his voice that it was a VP over
such and such department. I got the feeling he thought I should be scared. But
I wasn't. I didn't know it at the time but it was my intro into the game of
office politics.
Over time I experienced a few more learning
opportunities. At one place all of management would come into work at 6:30am,
(we started work at 8:00), and hang out drinking coffee just in case the
executive called or dropped in. They wanted to make sure they were available.
Another time an executive promoted all of the supervisors in his division to
the open management spots, ignoring other qualified available candidates
outside of his empire. Early on I inquired of a director what was required for
a promotion to the next level and the response was a very subjective reply -
asking a question at the right time, contributing to organization the company
supported, and a few other vague responses.
I thought starting my own Company and working
contract with organizations would eliminate some of the "game" - but
it just shows up in a different way.
Whether or not you want to play - at least be
aware that there is a game - and then decide HOW you want to play it. Stay on
the clean side of the antics.
The most important thing to remember is that
it is all about relationships.
Always be professional in your interfaces
setting a standard for others. Confront gossip and other activities that are
not supportive of a professional environment. Get some help managing
relationships in your organization - whether it is from someone you see
handling the office political arena exceptionally well or an outsider view
point - find your champion. Get to know people, what their values and goals and
expectations are and decide how to support them.
Office politics don't have to be a chore if
you are aware of them and embrace the challenge.
.
Do you have an office politics issue that
needs attention? (even though we are mostly virtual - the game continues).
Let's have a call. Sign up for a strategy session - 30 or 60 minutes - here. We will get you
some strategies and an action plan. If you think working together in the future
might be beneficial to you - we can discuss the next steps.
