5 lessons from my five years of work: Part 5 - Lesson 4: Be politically savvy

An African proverb states, “when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” Law 20 of Robert Greene’s 48 laws of power states do not commit to anyone. It is pivotal for one to assume neutrality. Power wrangles are as old as time itself, wherever people are, there is always going to be conflict, this is more potent in organisations as those at the top fight to assert their authority. Life is like a pendulum, always remember, it is the victors that write history, make sure that you are the author and not the forgotten.

Office politics is unavoidable, no matter your feelings towards it, this is a fact of life and its existence is always there and has a way of shaping your career. The previous lessons have hammered on the importance of relationships and that is what brings up the small matter of office politics. There are always going to be two or more camps in any organisation, the mastery is to be desired by all yet committed to none. Always be in touch and manage relationships with both camps in the war. Law 14 of Greene’s book states pose as a friend, work as a spy, yes, make it a must that all involved in the power wrangle become your source of power and give you the edge in managing your career. In as much as job performance is pivotal, the way you manage the power wrangles in the organisation will lead to your ultimate success or demise. Avoiding office politics will only lead to your ultimate frustration, embrace it and make sure you are on the right side of history.

Life is full of swings. There are ups and downs, there are going to be tides. There is a Shona proverb that states, “life is a wheel, it always goes in circles.” It becomes important to be ahead of the tides and enjoy the ride so that you can be the ultimate victor. November 2016 a year into my first job, the reality of office politics hit me. There were three principles in my organisation, all of them possessing in their own right influential power. Two of them conspired against the third, and decided to boot him out. The third seeing this contrived to do the same to the other two and grouped his own influential people in the organisation and held a congress that effectively booted out the other two seizing control of the offices. The saga dragged on ultimately ending in the government intervening leading to the parties being forced to revert to default settings and had to work together as in the beginning. Those employees and other stakeholders that had committed to either camp ended up being eliminated as when the parties reverted to the original status quo, the other principle(s) would be skeptical of those that had directly back-stabbed them and chosen a side, those that remained were those that were desired by all yet committed to none.

This experience early on in my career had me understand that the workplace is a microcosm of national politics. I noted that all organisations have their power brokers and it is often that those that do not like each other have to work together. You do not have to be friends to work together, the workplace is filled with people with personal agendas, and the crux for survival is to ensure you are indispensable to all and aligned to none. As that lady in your neighbourhood that is desired by all and dates no one in the area seems to be the most beautiful, this works in the workplace. The moment this lady is courted by one individual in the neighbourhood, her value seemingly drops with each passing day. It is crucial to note that the appeal resides in the chase, always make sure that the power brokers in the organisation are all chasing you lest shall be left out in the cold.

One may now wonder, what do I need to thus make it? The answer to this, be politically savvy. The waters are turbulent and require a skill set that allows for proper navigation. It is important to find out who has the power and influence. Identify early the people that have the ability to shape your career. Often we make the mistake of thinking that our boss and their boss are the only influential people in our careers, we have to take a 360 degree look into this and examine looking at those that are influential in the organisation. Those who are listened to by the boss are those closest to him and these are not necessarily his/her hierarchical subordinates, but the group that does personal errands for the boss. This group is comprised of individuals such as the personal assistant, messenger and driver working under the boss. Power lies in these individuals as a word that they say to the boss can make or break one’s career. Identify this group quickly and see the formal leaders and informal leaders early on as these are the people that have the ability to your growth or inevitable demise.

Anything in life has its own rules, and organisations are no different, there are sets of rules. The rules can be easily identified such as policies, procedures and all, or they can be silent and unwritten. It is the latter set of rules that is important to take heed of. An illustration of an unwritten rule is that an organisation may state that it operates weekdays, from 8am to 430pm, when you arrive, you see people at work at 0730am and leave at 6pm. There is an unwritten rule that subordinates have to arrive earlier than the boss and leave after the boss. It is important not to fight this law as perceptions can easily lead to you being viewed as lazy and not suiting the job role. Knowledge of the set of unwritten rules in the organisation, complimented with adequate use of these rules have the ability to make the workplace your playground.

In Degrey’s life, the most important element that affects one’s political savviness is culture. It becomes so imperative to note the culture of the organisation. Culture compliments the unwritten rules and important to note to stay ahead. There is organisation wide culture and then department specific culture. There is need to find out these soft elements as quickly as possible as this has the ability to make or break you in a short period of time. As it is coined, “first impressions last,” make sure you manage the impression such that the decision makers can see how you seamlessly fit into current and future job roles. What is the relationship between subordinates and the boss, how do individuals interact, how are things done and how is performance perceived? These are important questions to get answers to as these assist in navigating the political arena in the organisation. All organisations seek alignment between the values of the individual with the values of the organisation, as such, there is always need to manage this role in your life by ensuring that you are savvy enough to see how you conform to the culture in your area of work.

 No career can thrive without the help of others around you, it is critical to pay attention to all discussed above. In order for this to work you must be genuine, if you seek to be manipulative, you shall end with egg in your face. Performance alone will not get you to where you want to be, perform to the best of your ability, build relationships with key stakeholders, and look out for potential landmines. Be politically savvy!!!!!