Life Lessons from Office Politics

**Deep sigh** I hate when people talk about “office politics”. It drives me up a wall that there are all these unknown hidden rules about how we are supposed to act, work, behave, engage at work.

These cryptic rules keep those of us who are marginalized (think Black folks, women, differently-abled people etc.) out of the loop and are steeped in patriarchy in a way that makes me grind my teeth. Bonnie Marcus of Forbes writes that to be politically savvy, “First and foremost, it requires you to pay attention. Understand that your work alone will not get you promoted. You must be aware of what’s going on in your company.”

So I’m here to demystify. Here are the classic office politics decoded.

POWER, PRIVILEGE & PURSE STRINGS 

Who runs things in your organization? Not necessarily who is the CEO or president but who really makes things happen. Who are the gatekeepers? Who are the people who hold the budgets and allocate them? 

These are the power players and sometimes they are the most unlikely people. Program assistants, administrative staff, advisors to the president/board. 

Seek out opportunities to be useful to these people and you’ll be able to bypass some of the hard things. 

THE RULES

There are rules and then there are how things are done. Go to the handbook for the former, go to a trusted colleague for the latter.

THE CULTURE

If the company culture is steeped in racism, bias, and discrimination, that’s not “a culture,” that’s racism, bias, and discrimination. Don’t fall for “that's just how it’s done here.” Report bias, lean into self-advocacy and don’t plant yourself in an organization where the culture will stanch your growth and belittle anyone.

Don’t let politics throw you. If you need expert-level strategies to navigate politics, there are two sessions of the Mentor Me mastermind that cover them in depth.

Take the first step; schedule your Mentor Moment today!