"Politics is a Profession; a serious, complicated; and in its true sense, a noble one"
....Dwight D Eisenhower
Introduction:
Back-stabbing, scapegoating, prejudice, sucking up,
sand-bagging, cajoling, lying,
undermining, slinging dirt, defaming, sabotaging reputation and what not…..Everything
that has negative connotation comes to mind when we think of Workplace or
office Politics. Is someone taking away the credit of your work or even after
years and years of hard work you are not getting the promotion you deserve? Is
it all bad or is it being used in the wrong spirit?
Workplace Politics in the eyes of Rookie Narendra:
Some six years ago, when I started my Professional Journey, I got
to hear from senior team members, ‘Don’t be too honest’, ‘Do not share all your
knowledge else you will minimize your value’, ‘Do not be-friend anyone at
workplace’, ‘Do not ever indulge in any sort of office politics’…… and the list
of ‘Do not’s goes on and on. This was so …I would say …un-natural to the type
of person Narendra was and is. He was certainly, off on the wrong foot and with
some un-inspirational people. He thought do we have to be like ‘this’ to excel
in Career, Do I have to become like others and not being my proud self? Well,
today with insights from my workplace experience and my Management studies, I
can say that the list of all those ‘Do not’s ‘mentioned in the beginning of
this para were words of all those mediocre people and there is not a percent of truth in
their saying. There is altogether a different definition of the genius...
Purpose of today’s writing:
It took me some time to write my second article of 2014. Workplace
Politics was a small chapter in Organizational Behavior during my Management
studies. I had not studied it as sincerely as I did to write this article. The
thoughts presented here are a combination of my personal experiences and
insights gained from many journals and newspaper articles I read in couple of
weekends. Yes, today I take a closer
look at workplace politics with the intent to grow awareness in people across
the globe to practice workplace politics in the right spirit.
Understanding Workplace Politics from inside out:
Aristotle has told “Men are by nature a Political animal”. Believe
it or not, there is some degree of Politics going on in every work environment
everywhere on earth. Be it in the form of favoritism, groupism, pulling legs,
busting others development, un-apt use of positional power which forms the
negative side of the coin or utilize it wisely to get business for your
organization, do good and work for the upliftment of yourself and others which
is using politics in its true sense.
Politics today has become synonymous with ‘Bad Politics’. Whenever
we think of the word ‘Politics’, most often, images of corrupt, criminal and
all time big scammers comes to mind. Wikipedia defines Politics in general as
‘the practice and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual
level’. Further, Wiki definition for Office Politics is ‘the use of Power and
Social Networking within an Organization to achieve the changes that benefit
the organization or individuals within it.’
Where does that negativity come into place? So whenever someone says
‘they are playing politics – for things like Groupism, Un-fair favoritism,
Un-deserved Appraisal rating, Un-deserved Promotion and so on just because of
closeness to higher officials,’ what they mean is ‘bad workplace politics’. This
brings me to coin-in the concept of un-ethical (bad) and ethical (good)
workplace politics but before that let me share with you the big WHY? Why do
people practice politics in first place? Is it all bad? Should we or should not
we become part of office politics?
The big WHY of Office Politics?
The former HR of Knight Ridder
newspapers, Jacqui Love Marshall, shares ‘At the heart of office politics is
that daunting word: POWER.’ It would be a false statement to say that power is
a bad word or an unpleasant concept. In reality Power is a currency that can be
employed for good or bad. In workplace context power can be minted in various
forms like knowledge and information, access to resources, decision making
authority, and so on. I personally do not believe in positional powers for this
does not stay for long rather build the power of influence that stays for long
and irrespective of your position, people come to you seeking solutions. Marshall
iterates ‘The ability to capture some of the power to get things accomplished
is critical to one’s success. Power is not a bad thing, if you understand it
and can deploy it for constructive outcomes.’
Before I go further, let me share the
concept of Animal Model in an Organization which will help us understand
Workplace Politics in a much deeper sense.
The Animal Model:
Our Goal alignment with the
organization and how politically intelligent we are, are the two criteria which
forms the basis of animal model. Let us
say X-axis represents the Goal Alignment with Organization and Y-axis resembles
the Political intelligence. The model suggests that there are four type of
people in an Organization and designate it by four animals, namely, Cow, Sheep,
Fox and Squirrel. I have slightly and deliberately tweaked the animal’s name
for those animals have double meaning in certain cultural contexts.
Cows are determined, hardworking,
noisy, bad-tempered, and a plodder but sure-footed. They fall in the first quadrant with more
emphasis on Personal Goals and stay away from any sort of Politics. Sheep are
trusting, innocent, naïve, basically followers, gentle and timid and are loyal
to the organization. The fall in the second quadrant. Beware of the Foxes. They
form the third quadrant. Foxes are clever. These people have high political
intelligence and use it primarily in the pursuit of their personal goals.
Squirrels, which form the fourth quadrant, are wise and possess high political
intelligence and they align their personal goals with that of the organization.
They believe that time; effort and energy are wasted if the goal alignment does
not happen. Squirrels like the clever group, know how to maneuver around
organizational procedures when required and do so by revealing their motivation
to others so they are not misunderstood. They work in ways that are beneficial
to both the organization and themselves. They are unlikely to undertake
activities solely in pursuit of their own interest.
Based on the above explanation you can decide which Political
animal you are at present and which one you want to become in future. Most obvious choice by most of us would be
Squirrel, however it’s not easy. It takes a lot of effort, understanding and
guts to be politically wise and make your workplace the temple of personal and
professional development for everyone
Why Politics is important?
Politics is important for us because
we are in an Organization with others. Dealing with workplace politics is a
means of rising to our responsibilities in the Organization. By being political
we exhibit our allegiance, commitment to our idea, advocating for it strongly. To
further advance in our career and for the overall benefit of the organization,
just working hard and staying under the radar screen isn’t always enough. In a
competitive work world, being politically adept is as critical as being smart talented
and hardworking. Career Coach, Win Sheffield has said it so well, “For our
Plans, ideas, whatever it is to succeed and for the overall benefit of your
account, your Organization as a whole, there is going to be others in the
organization who must be accommodated, negotiated with, befriended, and perhaps
even evaded or outwitted. If these other
players are not engaged, you will fail to achieve your objective.” Powerful and
rightly said.
Disadvantages of Staying away from Office Politics:
Plato has said it well, “one of the penalties for refusing to
participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your
inferiors.” Many people who opt out of
workplace politics pay the price by Lack of influence, Loss of Career
Development, Inability to progress, Can’t seem to get the budget, Project or
work they want. People who stay away from politics often fail to fully achieve
their objective or they are at a high risk of to be undermined in some future
objective.
As such taking an active approach towards workplace politics gives
us more control towards our work life and career.
Un-ethical Politics: Please stay away from it
When the interest of participants are narrower and means of
reaching decisions are manipulative or even worse. When individuals network to
serve narrower and counter-productive interests; when the primary focus is on
some hidden agendas that serve them to be in power, there by undermining people
they do not like. This is unethical politics. It is unethical not only because
it is based on selfish interests and relies on deception, but also because of
the strain it places on the organization.
Narendra’s
Appeal to each one of you reading him today:
Practice Ethical Politics
At this point, I recall one of the
quotes of famous philosopher and poet of ancient China, Lao Tzu, “Be honest to
those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus
honesty is attained. Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat
those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained.” Beautiful!
Isn’t it? I insist on practicing ethical politics or no politics at all for the
real meaning of politics is to do good for others.
Anything done with a noble intention and
to do good for masses is good and anything done with a bad intention for masses
and just for personal gain is a SIN. Well, you cannot please everyone, there
will be people who will be unhappy and jealous all the time; Sorry cannot help
such people.
By embracing politics and making a
choice to enter the Workplace politics in an ethical way, we can minimize
unnecessary shortfalls and sacrifices. Eminent Business Leader and Author of
Political Savvy, Dr. Joel R Deluca, has written “When you understand people
–and realize that an organization is a human system – then you know that you
will always do better if you strive to create win-win scenarios.” Well, the basic principle of all ethical
action is to promote happiness and well-being for others and do no harm. Create
an environment in workplace that allows freedom for everyone to grow and
develop rather than trampling over others to surge ahead. “Any Organization that lacks ethical sense
tends to live by some version of the law of jungle. The strongest, the most
cunning and most unscrupulous people grab all they can. The weaker ones are
exploited and despised” says the Writer Adrian on lifehack.org website. He further illustrates that “any ethical
approach to organizational life requires self-restraint in pursuit of an
ultimate goal: a business that operates smoothly and promotes the well-being of
its employees, customer and society of which it is a part.”
My Final
Words:
The achievements of any Organization are the result of the
combined effort of each individual. Let us do our bit to make the workplace
environment as harmonious as we can. Let us be brutally honest in our work; Let
us share our knowledge as much as we can, Let us encourage and credit a
co-worker for what he deserves, Let us work for the upliftment of others rather
than busting other’s dreams and development, Let us have respect for every
individual’s work and time, Let us assume power for the good, and Let us
practice ethical, and only ethical politics. Yes, my friend let us do our bit
to make Organizations we work in and eventually this whole world a better place
to live in.
With Tons of Gratitude and Best Wishes!
Narendra Gupta
Monday, April 14; 3:30am
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