Episode 233 Transcript:

0:00:00 Ramona Shaw: This is episode 233, and we’re going to talk about office politics, not in a bad way, but in a good way, and how you can leverage office politics to make it work for you. Here are the two questions this podcast answers. One, how do you successfully transition into your first official leadership role? And two, how do you keep climbing that leadership ladder and continuously get promoted? Although the competition and the expectations get bigger, this show, The Manager Track podcast, will provide the answers.

0:00:30 Ramona Shaw: I’m your host, Ramona Shaw. I’m on a mission to create workplaces where work is seen as a source of contribution, connection, and personal fulfillment. And this transition starts with developing a new generation of leaders who know how to lead so everyone wins and grows. In the show, you’ll learn how to think, communicate, and act as a confident and competent leader. You know you can be welcome to this episode of The Manager Track podcast.

0:00:56 Ramona Shaw: One of the things I realized as I was looking through our record of podcast topics that I haven’t talked about office politics in a very, very long time. Office politics is something that frequently comes up in coaching conversations. It’s also something that I think we all need to think about intentionally, because it’s fairly easy to fall into the trap of getting frustrated by office politics, thinking it is all games, a waste of time, or something that we just don’t want to be part of. So if you hear me say office politics, and I’m going to pause here in a moment and you think about all the words that come to mind when you think of office politics, what are those?

0:01:40 Ramona Shaw: What were the words that just popped into your mind as you thought of office politics? If they were negative words, then you’re in the right spot. Because my goal with this episode is to not only talk about some faux pas and some do’s or don’ts, as well as to make sure that you understand the importance of office politics and to deliberately frame it as a positive thing. It is just like money is not in itself good or bad.

0:02:09 Ramona Shaw: Money is neutral. It’s just a tool to transact value. There’s no negative or positive about this. We in our minds either make it something good or something bad. And if we think money is bad, it’ll be a lot harder to make money, to use money wisely than it is if you think money is something good. It’s a great analogy, because if you think office politics is bad, it’s going to be way harder for you to apply it and use it.

0:02:38 Ramona Shaw: Office politics includes the informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind the scenes activities to influence, again, buy in to persuade, to communicate, to share information. It is inevitable. It happens in all organizations. Whenever people come together and it’s a group of people, usually more than five or maybe ten, office politics will start to kick in and you cannot ignore it. If you do ignore it, you’re not part of the game. And not being part of the game means you’re losing ahead of time. You have no chance of winning.

0:03:15 Ramona Shaw: I want to talk about a few sort of faux pas or don’ts, and then I’m going to hone in on some of the things to do in order to do office politics effectively. So let’s start with the faux pas. I think one of the big things we fall into it’s total trap is when we see two senior leaders in conflict and they’re trying to get us onto their side. So either it’s our manager or a stakeholder of ours and they’re trying to explain to us why they’re right and the other person is wrong.

0:03:50 Ramona Shaw: When they’re more senior than us, we might want to affirm them. But if you take sides, you are not playing office politics too well. You are just sort of at the effect of someone else and you’re being influenced and persuaded right in that moment when two people are in conflict and you’re thinking strategically and a little bit more long term about that whole situation. You can listen to one person and try to find solutions with that person, but do not take sides.

0:04:23 Ramona Shaw: In the vast majority of cases, this will backfire because at some point either the other leader will also talk to you. Now you’re sort of in a triangle. They will resolve their issues. You’re still the one on the outside who has taken a side but hasn’t actively resolved the issue. It can also go around that you were taking sides of and you’re with one person, you’re not actually being neutral and objective in that particular conflict.

0:04:49 Ramona Shaw: So be really mindful. When senior leaders are in conflict and you take sides right away, you’re not doing office politics really well. The second one is getting involved in drama and gossip. There is a fine line between being informed and being involved in gossip and drama. I used to be the person who was not involved in gossip or drama. I wasn’t actively participating in any of it, but I also wasn’t informed. I was literally always the last person to know and it almost became a joke, like Ramona doesn’t know. Obviously, we all have known for a long time, and me not knowing wasn’t helpful, me not being part of the drama. The gossip was great.

0:05:39 Ramona Shaw: But I played that out too far. So there’s a fine line between being informed and, like, asking, hey, what’s going on? Anything new? Anything we should be concerned about? Anything we should talk about, but not in itself, like, chime in and fuel that fire of gossip and drama, even if it feels really bonding in the moment. We’ve talked about this in a podcast before where if someone gossips in that moment, you want to validate them or lean into it, and it feels like their relationship is just getting stronger in that moment.

0:06:13 Ramona Shaw: But it is a total illusion, because the moment that you end that conversation, you both are going back out into the world and you’ve gossiped together, but you actually have not built any trust because you think of the other person as, huh, they’re talking behind other people’s backs, or they’re being disingenuous because they’re inauthentic, because upfront in meetings, they’re super polite. But then behind closed doors, they gossip or vent about the person, and you start to detect that they have two different faces.

0:06:46 Ramona Shaw: So trust diminishes. This is like the hangover of gossip, and it goes both ways, whether you’re the one who initiated it or you’re the one who participated. So backfires. Make sure that you know how to navigate that line. And then the third big faux pa is to take things personal. When you think about, we’ve all had these experiences, someone says something rude, someone does something that feels like you’re being excluded, undermined.

0:07:15 Ramona Shaw: It may feel like you’re being disrespected. The more that you think this is about you, whether true or not, like, we don’t know for sure. Unless that person specifically said, I do this to hurt you, I do this to sabotage you, I do this because I disrespect you. Unless you actually heard these words, you’re just interpreting the behavior. You make that up. So unless you know for sure, you’re making it up and holding on to that narrative.

0:07:45 Ramona Shaw: Again, we don’t know if it’s true or nothing. But holding on to that narrative will not make you operate effectively. You’ll start to become emotionally engaged or involved. You’ll start to defend yourself or disengage, most likely. And you’re starting to see things through this blurred vision of that personal attack. It may be that someone seems to undercut you. Now you’re trying to undercut them.

0:08:10 Ramona Shaw: Someone’s withholding information from you. Now you’re withholding information from them. You’re not your best self. You’re not living up to your highest standards and you’re compromising your own integrity because of something that you took on personally. So the best way to continuously engage in an effective way in office politics is to let people do what they want to do. Of course there are boundaries. If something is inappropriate, if something crosses the boundary, you have to address it.

0:08:43 Ramona Shaw: By the way, coaching is great for this or some trusted resource in HR or a mentor, you have to address these questions. But there is a line between setting the boundaries, confronting the issue, versus stirring internally and taking it personally and then showing up in an ineffective way. So these are some big issues that I see and wanted to quickly address before we talk about what we want to do. So let’s talk about better practices.

0:09:14 Ramona Shaw: I just mentioned that you should ask a mentor, and when it comes to office politics, it is something that you will get better at. The more experience that you have. Unless you have a large family and you feel like office politics was something that was played in your family construct. And you’ve learned that from a young age you might feel naturally gifted. Because from early on I’ve built these connections and you can see what other people may not see and you know how to navigate them.

0:09:44 Ramona Shaw: For most of us, it’s a skill we need to learn and it comes with experience. So if you notice there is some office politicking going on and you don’t know what your best next move is, ask and mentor in your organization. Have someone who’s advising you. Talk to your manager about it or a trusted relationship that you have without talking negatively about the people. You can say, I’m in a conflicted situation. On one hand, I want to do this.

0:10:16 Ramona Shaw: On the other hand, I also want to do that. Here’s what I’m perceiving as someone’s actions and now I’m trying to figure out how do I best position myself or my project. What would you recommend? And people who have a lot of experience and are good with office politics, they see things that unexperienced people just don’t see. And how these different players play together and what your ideal next step is and what you need to pay attention to and who to communicate and so forth.

0:10:46 Ramona Shaw: So use your mentors, especially for those kind of questions. It really pays off sometimes. One wrong move when it comes to office politics can negatively impact and erode trust or perception. People have a view that you notice months, if not years after that. People hold on or they have a grudge because of something that you did in a sort of wrong way. I recently spoke to a client who mentioned there was a conflict between senior leaders they were working with, and one of the two leaders had no idea they were upsetting the other leader. And it turns out that the reason why this one leader was so upset, which seemed like disproportionate for the current situation, that they had a history together from years back when one of the two felt slighted, and because they felt slighted, they felt excluded by this other leader.

0:11:43 Ramona Shaw: Now, years later, this came back up and it bubbled up into this bigger conflict because the perception that one leader towards the other leader was still in place. So this highlights how not being mindful on who we are involved for what and how we play office politics can hurt us down the line. I don’t want to scare you because not everything is as intense and as high stakes. Oftentimes it is again the informal, casual, behind the scenes conversations that won’t hurt you that much. This is a bit of an extreme case, but it illustrates the importance of it. The second one that I want to call out is when you notice tension or friction as you do your office politics. And you build your relationships and you socialize ideas and you plant some seeds and ask someone for input or ask them to collaborate.

0:12:32 Ramona Shaw: If at some point you notice, like huh, interesting. I didn’t expect that kind of negative sentiment or response to it, or I’m sensing some friction. Don’t let it linger. The best thing to do is to openly and proactively address it. Hey, I want to make sure we’re on the same page. Is there anything that’s getting in the way? Do you have any concerns? Anything I should know? Create the time and space for the other person to share with you.

0:13:00 Ramona Shaw: If anything is going wrong, if those things faster, it will get harder and harder. So address tension or friction early. And then the third one is to do office politics well. Build trust. And trust comes from different aspects. We actually recently talked about this on the podcast, that trust isn’t just about your credibility. A big part of trust is your integrity and your reliability. When people believe you and they believe your integrity and see you as a consistent, reliable leader, when you then push forward an idea, or you state something controversial, or you block or veto an initiative, there is a lot more goodwill in place because people trust you.

0:13:46 Ramona Shaw: So again, in the office politics environment where you want to be strategic with your relationships, think about who those key players are that you want to have a good relationship with, who are oftentimes it is your bosses peers. It is sort of senior leaders in the organization, other stakeholders that you need to work with closely or that are impacted by your project. It is your peers and other people that are part of your projects or workflows. Anytime you need some kind of buy in commitment, you need resources. You’re thinking about your specific goals and your team goals and what will be required to meet those and who will be a contributing factor to those.

0:14:29 Ramona Shaw: These are questions to ask yourself and then to identify those key relationships and build trust so that when you start with office politics, with having informal, behind the scenes or casual conversations or unofficial conversations, you’re not starting from scratch. You’re not introducing yourself for the first time, but they all already have an existing relationship with you. Now, one more thing on the do’s, there are two questions that I suggest you ask yourself on a somewhat regular basis.

0:15:00 Ramona Shaw: The first one is who needs wins? Who in your organization, the people that you work with closely on that map, we just talked about who needs a win, a milestone. It might be because they missed a milestone or they’re about to hit the milestone. It could be that they recently had a failure or a setback, and they’re really desperate to get a win. It might be that they get a sense that they have some diminished power.

0:15:27 Ramona Shaw: Their team or department might have been removed from certain projects or may have received a reduced scope of responsibilities, or there isn’t a whole lot of visibility into their work, or someone was hired above them where now they are further removed from the sea level. So when you look at who needs a win right now, what is a team that has a big milestone come up or a project that’s ending a performance cycle?

0:15:56 Ramona Shaw: Someone is on their 30, 60, 90 onboarding plan and they need a win. If they want to get promoted and you know, they’re gunning for a promotion, they’re looking for wins. You thinking about this and then seeing if there’s something that you can bring to the table to create win win situations, it’s all part of helping you with office politics. Another one who really has influence. And this often changes quite fast.

0:16:20 Ramona Shaw: So there are the people with titles, with authority, organizational authority, that have influence, clearly. But then there are also those people who are not the ones that seem to have influence, but they are very well connected, and they influence the decision makers from behind the scenes. You want to make sure that you know who those people are, even within your team, if you want to push through an initiative or a change. So that, oh, everyone’s going to go against who would be the domino, the one that I need to kick over. So if they start to agree, the rest of the team will likely go along and agree as well. Who is that one person who has most influence in your team in the same happens and applies to the larger scope of the organization.

0:17:09 Ramona Shaw: So questions to ask, who needs wins and who has influence? Before I wrap up this section on do’s, two quick tactical things that are very practical. One, if you have an idea that you want to present, never ever present it to a group. If you haven’t talked to the individuals, the key players in that room, one on one, before. So you want to get an additional resource. So let’s say you’re proposing the implementation of a new tracking system and then you bring this to the leadership team.

0:17:43 Ramona Shaw: Or you might talk about it with your manager, and then you bring it to the leadership team and there are five other people on the table. Your boss already knows and approved it, but the other four people in the room hear about this for the first time. Big mistake. They should not hear about this for the first time. This is where you want to speak to each of them individually beforehand, get their buy ins in the presentation, in that meeting.

0:18:07 Ramona Shaw: This is just to go over the details, affirming it, getting sign off. That’s really important to do and very practical. Communicate broadly and communicate frequently. Update people on project milestones, update them on potential delays or risks, on challenges you encounter. Ask them for input where appropriate and applicable. But communicate broadly and more broadly and more frequently than you might think.

0:18:38 Ramona Shaw: When you do, it builds trust and it keeps you also top of mind as a player in, in the game, so to speak. And you might notice how people come to you to talk about ideas. And when you go to them, they already have more context. And you might notice how that in itself is already elevating you into an effective game of office politics. So these are the main to dos. I’m going to wrap this up by saying the core values here or pillars to go after is one integrity.

0:19:12 Ramona Shaw: Like this is the whole gossip thing part, really have integrity with yourself. Use office politics in a positive way, even if others don’t be the one who does it right. Have resilience to those factors that you could personally feel attacked by, have resilience to push back to being challenged, to having setbacks and build up your confidence. So like the true confidence, that is where you feel really grounded with yourself and your position.

0:19:44 Ramona Shaw: So things that other people do rattle you less because you’re not as likely to take it personal. You see it as they’re doing something, they’re demonstrating their character. And this is less about me. If you think about your career and there being performance currency, the amount of currency you get by performing well, there’s also relationship currency. The more relationships you have, the more currency you get, and the higher up you go in your career ladder, the more important the relationship currency becomes at any given time. Consider your two bank accounts and aim to build the balances on both of those accounts. And to wrap it up, Niven Postma wrote a book. It’s titled, if you don’t do politics, politics will do you.

0:20:37 Ramona Shaw: It’s a good reminder that office politics is inevitable, and if you play it well and with integrity, resilience, and confidence, you have so much to win. I hope this was helpful. If you have specific questions about office politics scenarios in your organization, your role, check out our ask me anything link listed in the show notes in our AMA survey. You can drop your questions and I will address them and respond to you directly, but also address them in a future episode of The Manager Track podcast.

0:21:11 Ramona Shaw: Thank you so much for tuning in. I’ll see you next week with another episode of The Manager Track podcast. Ciao Ciao. If you enjoyed this episode, then check out two other awesome resources to help you become a leader people love to work with. This includes a free masterclass on how to successfully lead as a new manager. Check it out @archova.org/Masterclass, the second resource is my best selling book, the confident and competent new how to quickly rise to success in your first leadership role.

0:21:41 Ramona Shaw: Check it out @archova.org/books or head on over to Amazon and grab your copy. There you can find all those links in the shownotes.