Office Politics

From Negative to Positive

Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), from a detail of The School of Athens, a fresco by Raphael. The two of the most influential political philosophers.

Our definition of what qualifies as “office politics” can be broad and vary person-to-person. But its existence is hardly a surprise given that we all work with other humans. It also easily one of those taboo topics that most of us want to avoid at all costs. Yet, it may well be a deciding factor in your career growth.

At a high level, it’s any unofficial effort to achieve your goals.

Most of us focus on the negative actions and look down on anything that could be labeled as “politics”. Without a doubt there are clear unethical versions of office politics that are toxic to the work environment. Like colleagues bad-mouthing each other. But we also include our feelings, like having no control over decisions as we feel they’re not being made in the open.

So, with the help of a few examples, let’s look at negative forms of “office politics” to avoid, then cover what’s in your control and how you can set yourself up for success.

What’s NOT acceptable?

One definition of office politics is — Activities performed by individuals to improve their status and advance their personal agenda — sometimes at the expense of others.

Clearly this definition points to negative aspects of office politics. Let’s look at some…