If someone is “being political”, everyone has an opinion or story. I recently read two articles (on Smart Brief) with opposing views, published one year apart. The first article written by James daSilva, ‘How Can Office Politics Work for You Instead of Against You’ said “We can’t avoid office politics if we want to work with people.” The second, more recent article, by Keith Danko, “A Fresh Approach to Office Politics: No Approach”, which recommended just walk away, put your head down and do not get involved.
It’s that damned word — politics — that carries all that unfortunate negativity. When you hear an aside of “don’t work there, it’s way too political’’, it doesn’t warm the heart. But bear with me for a minute and let’s quickly unpack this word.
“Politic” is Greek (πολιτικός Politikos) defined as “relating to citizens”, to make informed decisions, creating consensus for the good of the state. (Note the word ‘good’.)
And, today, we can exchange for the good of the state and replace with for the good of the team or the organisation.
It’s thus important to keep in mind that both politics and power are not always negative, and should be liked as often as it may be disliked.
Here’s why.
Last week alone I spoke with three senior leaders, and each shared a similar story: the best advice they’d received in their career early on was ‘’learn to embrace the political realities of the organization.’’ That is, do not put your head in the sand and focus on ‘the job’, on the technical, but learn how to work on the relational, the politics.
Every organisation has what I’d call a ‘’benevolent politician,” someone with high levels of EQ who knows the OQ (organisational intelligence, how it really works). These people can navigate internally and know how build coalitions for the greater good of the firm. (The opposite, more stereo-typically negative, is the manipulative or “self-centered politician.”)
In this past year, leadership has undergone some visible changes; we now see a greater focus on kindness and compassion, leaders more resilient in the face of setbacks, able to with connect and collaborate across diverse networks.
That’s a lot in 18 months.
Lominger Competency calls this ‘’maze-bright”, those who can focus on social influence with a more balanced view of power and intuition, knowing the interconnections within the organization, able to decipher the organizational dynamics. When we talk about benevolence or kindness, what we really mean is a combination of these qualities which make a good — and ethical — leader.
Politics, in other words, can easily be a force for good, so let’s define ‘workplace politics’ before coloring it as evil. When someone is labelled ‘’political’’, is it that coalition builder, the scheming Machiavellian or an Aristotelian, focusing on what’s good for the state?
Read the rest of the article on Medium.
