Dealing with office politics can be a nightmare,
unless you know how to do more than just survive office politics,
you know how to navigate office politics. Good thing, it's not as hard,
or as schemey, as you think. Stay tuned.
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You're here today because you want to learn how to deal with office politics.
For most of the women that I work with,
dealing with office politics is a really common obstacle,
but it doesn't have to get in the way. Because the truth is,
once you know how to navigate office politics,
you will be navigating office politics with ease.
If you are ready to deal with your little office politics situation,
go ahead and click that like button, and let's get right into it.
The first tip is we need to face the reality.
We can't avoid office politics.
,know a lot of us have a vision of a corporate meritocracy,
where the person who is the best at their job
and does the best work is the person who is elevated into leadership.
And let's face it, if the world was fair, that is exactly how it would work.
The hard truth, though, is the world isn't always fair.
And navigating office politics is a necessary component of your career success
strategy. And I hear a lot of people that just proclaim that
they're not going to play the office politics,
but if you refuse to play the game,
you're surrendering your power and your influence
to someone who might not be using it for good like you would.
Plus that's also a one way ticket away from the
career fasttrack which you actually want to get on.
And that brings me directly into the second tip,
which is to actually rethink office politics. Look,
corporate politics are going to be whatever they're made out to be.
And maybe they get a bad rap,
because the people that are really into playing the office politics
and into playing the game are the same people
that would throw their own mother under a bus in order to get ahead.
But there's more ways to deal with office politics than
to get down into the mud with people like that. When used effectively,
and for good,
office politics are going to be an extremely powerful force in your career
Success on your career advancement trajectory. Look, ultimately,
office politics are simply a game.
And while you might not like the idea of office politics,
chances are you like yourself a good game.
I don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy a good game of jenga or monopoly,
well maybe not monopoly - because it gets real.
Just like any game,
there is a way to play office politics in a way that is full of positivity on
integrity. The faster that you can make the game into one tha
you actually want to play, and that everyone can win at,
the better it is for everyone.
My third tip to dealing with office politics is knowing what you're trying to
achieve. Yep. There's that career vision again.
Knowing what you're actually setting out to achiev
in terms of a project initiative in terms of your career is
going to help you navigate office politics with ease. Why is that?
It tells you exactly who you need to deal with,
and exactly what you're trying to actually do.
So you know that you're fighting and investing your energy
and effort into the right things. Sure.
You could play the game just to play the game.
And there was a ton of people that actually do that. But if you're,
like most of my clients, you don't want to get ahead simply to get ahead.
You actually have outcomes that you're trying to achieve,
both for yourself and for your company.
Having a lot of clarity in terms of what you're trying to do,
and what you are trying to achieve,
is going to be one of your biggest assets when you are navigating office
politics. Having a purpose and a shared vision is going to help
you align people and gather your allies
to get whatever you're actually trying to get.
Whether it's a red light on an initiative
or it's a promotion into the next role,
and that leads me directly into tip four,
which is to know exactly who you need to know.
There's actually two prongs to this. One, first,
based on what you're trying to achieve,
you need to identify who actually has influence in making that happen.
It could be someone who is actually making the decision,
or it can be someone who has influence and persuasion
over the person who does have the ability to make the decision.
For example, if you're trying to kick off a new initiative,
who has the power to say yes?
Who needs to say yes to that initiative in order for it to get the go-ahead?
Now, in addition to those people,
and especially if you don't already have an existing relationship
with those people who around them has influence over them?
That can help you get the buy in that you need
in order to actually achieve your goal. Now.
Second is where we get into the dirty office politics,
and that is knowing who's bad side you do not want to be on.
You know the one,
the person with outsized influence over the right people at work.
If you're lucky, this is someone that you have a great relationship with.
And in that case, yay because you already have them on your side.
And let's face it, even if you have a neutral relationship,
you're in good shape with that person.
You don't have to be best friends with this person,
but you should have at minimum a neutral relationship
to a positive working relationship with this person.
if they are someone that you don't have such a great relationship with
because they are a difficult person at work,
you definitely need to check out this video,
which I'll link and drop into the description down below as well.
It's going to be really helpful in transforming that relationship
and helping get them onto your side.
My fifth tip is to focus on creating win-win scenarios.
Navigating office politics is a million times easier
when the person that you're working with knows exactly what is in it for them.
And I'm not talking about what's in it for the company, I'm talking about them.
And how what you're asking or what you want them to participate
in is going to make them look awesome.
It is not my place,
nor is it your place to judge, someone for looking out for number one at work.
Especially because the reality is is that is basic human nature
You know, self-preservation, evolution, that whole thing.
And office politics really is what self preservation has evolved to be.
When you're asking something of someone,
then knowing exactly what's in it for them,
and how this is actually going to serve them
make them look good is going to help get them onto your side really,
really quickly.
And it can help you very rapidly expand your circle of influence,
as well as your network of advocates at work. the end of the day,
most people aren't going to disagree or object to something
that is actually in their best interest.
Unless they themselves are absolutely terrible at dealing with office politics.
All right. You knew that this one was coming,
and you were just wondering when...
Tip six is to stay out of the mud.
I already spoke to earlier.
The fact that there are different ways to playing the game,
and there is a very good chance that if you were like most people,
you have one of those people at your office who
doesn't play office politics in the nice way. In fact,
they might be one of the people that deals with office politics
by getting down dirty and personal in it.
Remember what I mentioned earlier about bad office politics.
The way these ones, like
there's all sorts of office politics that are not going to serve you.
You know the personal gossiping about people that you work with,
passing judgment on others. None of that is actually productive.
Make it a point to avoid these office politics,
the unproductive office politics, though your life depended on it.
Because you know what?
can really mess up your career real fast by getting into the mud with these
ones.
It's also possible when you're navigating office politics
to get caught in between two of the power players.
If you are lodged in between two decision makers,
and trying to get to an outcome, do your best to be Switzerland.
Getting onto anyone's bad side, especially at a powerful level,
is not going to be something that is going to serve you
longterm in your career advancement strategy. Whenever possible,
when you see bad office politics like these,
these are the ones that you don't engage with.
Which leads me directly into tip seven,
which is to play the game that feels good.
I know a lot of people have a lot of sentiment towards office politics,
and that they feel like there's not a way to do it in a way that actually suits
them.
They always feel like they're going to have to exchange them their integrity,
their honesty or their good intentions
in order to navigate office politics in a way that actually gets them ahead.
But that is simply not true.
Because when you're a person who lifts other people up,
who does play the game with integrity, you are going to stand out.
And it is going to be something that gets noticed by a lot of people.
There's a lot of good and positive ways that you can deal with office politics.
And there is a lot of positive ways for you to play the game.
The more that you can play the game that feels authentic.
to you and feels good for you,
the more that you're going to be able to win in that game. Office politics,
unfortunately though, can have a very fine line and that is why. Tip eight,
knowing the toxic signs, is extraordinarily important.
I won't delve into all of the signs of a toxic workplace or a toxic manager.
I do have a video, so if you do need that,
check it out in the description down below.
But when office politics are vicious,
when they're malicious and when they're personal,
they can very quickly transform into something that is incredibly toxic,
incredibly corrosive,
and something that you played the right game might not be able to shift.
Identifying what's toxic versus what is typical.
Office politics though can be something that's very challenging.
And if you are struggling to tell the difference between
workplace toxicity and typical office politics,
this is a great opportunity for you to lean on someone like a mentor or a career
coach. And that leads me directly into tip nine, which is to get support.
When you're in a situation, when you're in the game,
you are going to have blind spots.
And it can be really challenging because you are so connected
and so entrenched into the situation to really be able
to have clarity about the situation,
the best way to approach it and different strategies that you can deploy.
Plus, let's face it,
office politics is something that takes years and years to learn how to
navigate. this effectively. And there's a lot of science and psychology
really does go into navigating office politics effectively.
The pay off or investing into navigating office politics though is huge.
The people that reach the highest levels of the corporate ladder
are generally the people that have figured out how to play the game the best.
Now hopefully they're also awesome people and amazing leaders,
but they also have a lot of office politics savvy
in order to actually send the different levels
and get into the positions which they're in,
and this is something that if you're really serious,
and you really want to advance in your career,
especially if you want to accelerate your career,
they're getting support from mentors and coaches is
something that can have a really huge dramatic impact.
Your network of advocates absolutely should include people
that are experts in helping others navigate complex work situations
and structuring win-win scenario.
Is making sure that you know how to make yourself stand out,
and how to make yourself and others look good. when navigating office politics.
And, hey, they should also just be your general cheerleader.
And if you are seeking a supportive community, and more support resources.
I highly recommend you check out my free Facebook group, the strive squad.
This strive squad is a free online community for women
in male dominated industries who are looking to elevate and accelerate your
careers. I would love to see you in there. I would love to hear from you.
Have you ever had to deal with one of the people that did have outsize
influence? Let me know in the comments down below.
If you enjoyed this video and if you feel better poised to.
navigate your office politics, do give it a thumbs up.
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And my next is one that is highly requested,
and that is how to improve your working relationship with your boss.
Especially if your boss doesn't like you.
If this is something that you think might help you in your career,
I definitely recommend clicking the subscribe button and the notification bell.
So, you know, as soon as it comes out.
If part of dealing with office politics is dealing with difficult coworkers,
I want you to go and check out this video right now
where I actually share a strategies to help you deal with difficult colleagues.
I'll see you over there.
Congratulations for taking this time to invest in yourself and your professional
growth. And thank you so much for watching. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.
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