“I want to leave, it is getting too political”. “I cannot breathe, it is choking”. “Nothing I say gets across to the right quarters”. “They know how to butter up, that is why they go up”. “The games people play are disgusting”. These are the phrases people utter when they come for coaching or counseling. Organisations these days are trying to find out why, despite joblessness, people are quitting and in larger numbers.
The pursuit of targets has overshadowed the pursuit of positive cultures. There are increasing pressures to do more with less. There are increasing tendencies to protect individual domains. There are increasing insecurities in the leadership ranks. These result in a culture where games start. The game to “show”. The game to “whisper”. The game to pose. The game to impose. The game to play the Game of Thrones.
Politics in business is considered dangerous. Correct. We can have businesses with zero politics. Incorrect. Most say man is a social animal. Correct. Some say man is a political animal. Correct. Thus, the desire of having a workplace without politics is just wishful thinking.
What is politics? It is basically the interplay of power between groups.
Bring power and position, and politics will result. Thus, the first thing every professional must understand is that politics is part of organizational dynamics. The second thing is that dealing with politics is a choice.
The third thing is that managing politics is a learned skill. Once an individual understands that politics is part of Organizational behaviour, they must decide what is the negotiable and non-negotiable level of politics for them. That is the choice they have to make of coping or quitting. Let us see what types of politics exists in organizations and what are choices available for dealing with them:
1- The borrowed wisdom— Organisations which have idea piracy create huge discontent. There is the boss or colleague who constantly and confidently hijacks your input in meetings. There is the co-worker who asks for ideas with you in private and then brands it as his own in public.
Such people are expert in living off other people’s hard work and creativity. This constant counterfeiting of other people’s talent creates a culture of deception and betrayal. Those who exploit and those who are exploited become involved in this game of feeling powerful and powerless. This leads to a very predatory culture.
A culture where the predator is known to eat the lesser ones and the lessor ones can only pray and curse. Just imagine the lack of cohesion in such teams and companies. A lot of pretence substitutes for genuine effort, leading to shallow promises and bubble performances. Eventually the bubble bursts, but when it is too late.
2- Hide-and-seek games— Another consequence of the increasing politics is the secretive environment that starts to come into play. Leaders are non-transparent and seem to communicate on a very transactional basis. Departments are in silos. Information is blocked and hoarded. Grapevine is in hyper mould. Whispers are the loudest communication. Silence greets you when you enter a workplace.
These are all symptoms of lack of trust. These are all signs of suspicion. This gives rise to the guess-work that is fatal for stability and sustainability. The majority of time is spent on who is saying what. Conversations are more on what is implied than what is said. Hours of discussions are done to decipher people’s moods and intent, rather than work and growth. In such ambiguous, opaque cultures, everything is under a cloud. This lack of clarity cuts at productivity and makes it difficult for people to maintain their principles and values. Many times this creates ethical dilemmas in them. The whole formula is of divide and rule.
There are divided individuals, divided teams and divided company. The few who are controlling this game get addicted to the power it gives them to reduce people to puppets and then pull their strings on will.
3- Lobbies and exclusion— Leadership is the art of inclusion, while politics is the art of exclusion. While leaders work on engaging and involving each team member, the non-leaders work on how to exclude those who are more talented, powerful, bright so that they themselves become exclusive and indispensable. The board members have their own lobby. To get a policy through, they work through their “blue-eyed” member.
The C-Suite has their own “loyalist”. This may be an old timer who has foxily made himself the ears and eyes of the boss. They are responsible for colouring the vulnerable top guy’s judgement more often than not.
The trickle-down effect is that at the mid-level, the workers have to choose which lobby they want to join. They have to either know how to deal with the blue-eyed and loyalist guys or join them. These are conflict cultures that breed on win-lose formula, creating a very skewed trend of those who matter and those who don’t.
Are these culture rare? No. Should you just walk away from them? Depends. The first thing is to make an honest assessment of how much work and effort you are willing to put in to cope with them. If you decide enough is enough, then quit. If you feel there are no alternatives, then stop complaining and start doing:
1- Over-deliver — Once you decide to stay, focus on your performance. No matter how political the organisation, it needs somebody to perform. If you are constantly performing beyond expectations, the organization will be dependent on you. Performance of another level will give you the power to be in a relatively safe zone.
2- Lend your laurels — Top performers do become targets. Avoid that by taking the limelight off yourself and putting it on your boss and colleagues. Give them the credit. Quote them. Promote their image. That will make them less wary of you.
3- Stay equal — Be a good listener and do not take sides. Be available professionally for all lobbies. Be the smart observer who is a person of few words. Steer clear of gossip. Be the professional anchor of all, but the personal anchor of none.
In today’s world, the formula of success for any professional is to have PSP. The first P is be professionally sound. S is for being socially networked and connected. The last P is to be politically savvy. Human beings, being human, are going to be playing games. The winner is not the one who makes the other person lose, but the one who makes them all win.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and an analyst and can be reached at [email protected]
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