Strategy: How Savvy Are You About Office Politics?…Playing Politics in the Workplace is Not about Gossip, Backstabbing, or Opportunism

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Playing politics in the workplace is not about gossip, backstabbing, or opportunism. Instead, savvy people in business know how to network and with whom. They also understand how decisions are made in their organizations, and they have learned to use these political factors to their advantage.

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Political savvy is critical for career success and the good news is that you don’t need to lose your integrity in the process. Political savvy involves developing relationships and a sensitivity to the culture of the organization. This can be accomplished over time with the use of keen observation and listening skills.

In her research on this topic, Lisa Mainierointerviewed 55 high profile executive women in the 1980s to determine the role corporate politics played in their career histories. Her article, “On Breaking the Glass Ceiling: The Political Seasoning of Powerful Women Executives,” is the result of her interviews about their involvement in workplace politics. Most of the women interviewed felt that “politics” was a dirty word and did not admit to engaging in the politics.

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Mainiero stated, “A careful analysis of the career histories of these women, however, showed that they developed a sensitivity to corporate politics that belied their comments. As they recounted key developmental events in their careers, it became clear that not only were these women astute observers of their corporate cultures, but they had an ability to build alliances and partnerships that were unequaled among their peers.” In essence, they became politically savvy over time despite their lack of intention to do so.

What is involved in learning to be politically savvy?

Using Mainiero’s work as a guide, I have identified four stages for development of political savvy. In each of these stages, I have indicated specific characteristics and milestones that will help you figure out where you are in this process and where you need to go to further your savvy skills.

Stage 1: Naiveté

In Stage 1, you are completely focused on your work. In fact, you spend most of your time in your cubicle or office. You most likely work long hours and are not tuned into or even aware of the politics around you.

You are in Stage 1 if you:

Are unaware of unwritten “Rules of the Game”

Are 100 percent work focused

Learn about workplace politics through a negative or positive experience.
You can be in Stage 1 at the very beginning of your career or when you transition to a new role or company and need to learn the rules of the game all over again. Then something occurs that catches you off guard and opens your eyes to the culture and decision-making process. Maybe you were passed over for a promotion or see others less qualified than you being promoted. At this point, you begin to move toward Stage 2.

Stage 2: Great Work

You are in this stage when you:

Build a reputation for great performance

Are aware of who has the power and influence in the organization.

Understand the importance of relationships

Focus on career advancement but you do not yet have a strategic plan to move forward

Do some networking, but not strategically.

In this stage, you see the importance of developing your personal brand and creating visibility and credibility across the organization. You still work very hard, but now you see that relationships are also important for your advancement. However, you are not actively building relationships for your career or prioritizing this. You are aware of the politics but do not yet engage. You recognize that if you want to get ahead, you need to focus on your career, not just your work. You have yet to figure out how to fit this into your work schedule.

Stage 3: Career Strategy

The next stage, Stage 3, is about becoming strategic. In this stage you are:

Learning delegation/management skills

Building strategic relationships

Seeking mentors/sponsors/coach

Learning to talk about accomplishments

In this stage you are looking at where you want to go and creating a strategic plan to get there. Your plan includes building relationships with key stakeholders and influencers. You are aware that if you want to succeed, you need to delegate to and empower your team and develop your own personal influence and self-promotion skills. In this stage, you recognize the importance of working with a coach or finding a mentor and sponsor.

Many of my clients are in this third stage. They have established themselves as talented and hardworking and now realize that they need to work with their team to reach the next level of success. The work involves how to motivate and inspire the team; how to sell their ideas to their supervisors, peers, and direct reports to achieve business outcomes—in other words, how to create influence and be recognized as a talented manager.

One of my clients, Katherine, contacted me to help her create more visibility and credibility for herself in the global financial services firm in which she works. Katherine describes herself as the “go-to person”—the person who gets things done. My interviews with her peers, direct reports, and supervisors confirmed that this was Katherine’s reputation in the organization. Though her performance was exemplary, she was perceived as more of a doer than a manager. Coaching her to empower and delegate to her team has improved her executive presence and therefore leadership potential. Helping her to identify and build relationships with the power people resulted in her identifying a sponsor and getting promoted twice in 18 months.

Stage 4: Political Savvy

Using personal influence

Mentoring others

Maintaining credibility/visibility

Leading and inspiring others

In Stage 4, you have reached a leadership position by leveraging your talent and hard work along with the relationships you have built across the organization. Now at the top of your organization, you see politics as a way of maintaining your status, promoting your ideas, and helping others to move up the ladder. It’s more competitive on top and you spend much of her time and energy working the politics. You are a great role model for other women in the company and mentors other men and women to achieve their goals.

Bear in mind, as you develop your political savvy you will most likely move back and forth between stages. There are no formal rites of passage. These stages are meant to be a road map for you to track your development and progress.

Where are you in terms of your political savvy?

What stage best represents where you are right now?

What do you need to do to move to the next stage of political savvy?

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