Improve Your Skills through Office Politics

Work Politics in certain cases can also develop inner skills of an individual.

Let us find out how office politics sometimes can also help individuals hone their skills:

• An individual indulges in politics when he is not secure about his job. He tries his level best to tarnish the reputation of his fellow worker and make his own position safe in the organization. Always remember only cowards and losers play politics at the workplace. Politics makes you patient and nice. Don’t get irritated, instead lend a helping hand.

• An individual who has real talent would never play politics at workplace. People who do not find their jobs interesting depend on politics. Politics makes you more forgiving. Individuals learn to forgive and move on.

• Politics makes you a good and a patient listener. One thing which makes individuals bad is a bad situation. Not that people are bad, just that they are ill fitted to bad situations. Half of the problems evaporate when are discussed. Fighting never gives any solution, instead it only makes situation worse. Sit with the other person and discuss things with him face to face. Try to give him an alternative.

• One learns to deal with people more effectively. You just can’t fight with everyone. Politics makes you more adjusting. Not everyone can be the way you want him to be. Adjustments always pay you in the long run and reduce the chances of unnecessary conflicts.

• Politics helps individuals to look on the brighter sides of life.

• Politics motivates individuals to work hard and give their hundred percent. Every individual strives hard to outshine the other. Everyone tries to perform better than his fellow worker. Employees compete with each other to be the centre of attraction and win boss’s admiration and appreciation. Politics in some cases extracts the best out of individuals and makes them deliver their level best.

• Politics makes you more confident. Politics is something which is inevitable. Leaving jobs frequently is no solution. One needs to be confident and fight back. Remember if you are honest towards your work, no one can ever harm you.

• Politics makes individuals internally strong. They learn how to face tough times with confidence. Politics should never drag you down.

• Politics makes you realize your mistakes. If some one is blaming you for something, you yourself are responsible for it to some extent. Try to find out your faults and remove the shortcomings.

Let us understand with the help of an example:

Mike, Sandra and Jackson were part of the marketing team headed by Jenny.

Mike always looked for opportunity to take leave from work and meet his girlfriend. Sandra had an access to Mike’s mails, checked all his confidential documents and even had all his passwords. Mike hardly interacted with Jenny and it was Sandra who did all the follow ups in his absence.

Soon Mike lost his job. Sandra was responsible for tarnishing Mike’s image in front of Jenny.

Was Mike wrong somewhere? Yes he was.

- Why did he give Sandra authority to check his mails?
- Why did he ignore Jenny?
- Why was Sandra allowed to open his documents?

• An individual should know where to draw the line. You can’t be friends with everyone. One should know whom to trust and whom not to trust. It is good to share cordial relations with colleagues but one should never cross limits. Don’t share your secrets with everyone.

• Politics helps you emerge as a mature professional. You learn to compromise during difficult times and accept challenges with a smile.