Fear you?ll say the wrong thing, fall into project quicksand, find no support or be kept out of the loop. These soul-depleting cultures trample self-esteem, negate initiative, encourage survival behavior and diminish motivation.
But in twenty years in management I?ve learned something else about company politics. It doesn?t have to be a blood-sport. The politics label can be assigned to assisting other departments, supporting company initiatives, cooperating with those in charge, sharing information, and helping others achieve results. You see, strategic alignments, interdepartmental collaboration and volunteering for additional work assignments are politics, too.
Politics can be served with a negative or a positive impact. Samuel B. Bacharach, a Cornell University professor, puts it this way in Get Them on Your Side: ?Politics is simply the way we influence others to achieve our goals. As long as those goals are positive, and not achieved at the expense of others, the politics of getting them accomplished is neither manipulative nor negative. Dictators may be political, but saints might be, too.?
It?s the intention behind an action that determines whether politics creates fear or builds relationships. What?s the motive? If politics is a dirty word where you work, undermining results and reducing staff engagement, consider your contribution to that culture.
You see, we have a choice how we use our power and influence.
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