A question I get asked frequently is how do you play politics in a corporate environment?

It’s a great question but be very careful about playing politics unless you know what you are doing. It’s similar to investing money, you need to be prepared to lose as well as win. 

The interesting part is that you don’t start playing politics, it starts by playing with you. Think about your first day in the job, who came and introduced themselves to you? What were they like?  Friendly, welcoming, asked you a lot of questions to get to know you.  Well, you were starting in the game of politics. Politics is all about power. Who is in control and who leads the pack? 

Even at home or among your friends you are playing politics too. Think about it, who decides where you go as a group on a night out?  Who decides what you will eat tonight?  Who takes control in an argument? The amazing thing about politics is it is part of your daily life. The difference is that some people pay attention to it and use it to their advantage, while others cruise along, not really aware of what is going on. 

My first piece of advice is: don’t try to take control as it has already been decided by the group your work with or socialise with.  If you suddenly turn up saying you will decide where to go or what to eat is just going to put people’s back up. 

The real trick with corporate or social politics is to understand where the power base is, who supports the power base and who is influential in that power base. Another useful angle on understanding the power base is the see who is outside the pack? What person or persons are criticized the most, which ones are ridiculed at the water cooler talks or bathroom talks?  You need to know who they are too. 

As you can see with this process, you are building up a matrix of who’s who. In many cases it could be your boss who is the group leader and hopefully he’s good at his job. Many bosses enjoy the power of being in control of people’s lives and emotions.  Some people play up to the boss for this reason and this can be a risky strategy. Bosses can and do change and then you’re back to square one. 

So back to your matrix, try this at home and you will be amazed. Start off with the controller of a particular group that you are familiar with and then add in supporters, influencers (use different colours for each group). Now start another group you are familiar with, who probably don’t associate with the first group but probably work in the same area. So, build up that matrix too. Now you will see the people who understand politics as they will have position in both camps. They run with the foxes and hunt with the hounds. Many people don’t realise they do it, but it’s useful for you the have the map. 

So how can this help, well it’s all about awareness! Ideally you need a foot in each camp but that may result in you not being an influencer as you may be perceived as part of the other group. But for the sake of harmony, you help build bridges, so you are perceived as useful. 

Now how do you use it to help yourself? Well, knowing who makes the decisions and who the influencers are can really assist with your progress in the organization. Apart from being good at your job, which you must be, you should be passionate about the organization you work for, that alone may not get your up the corporate ladder, it’s the connections that you have made, along with the use of the influencers in the various packs that can get you noticed. 

The most important part of politics is being aware of who the main players are, find out about them. How long have they been here? What are their objectives or goals? Can you assist in anyway?  If you can, then they maybe they will assist you on your way up.

A note to bosses, yes it’s great to have a team of people around you who tell you that you are great but is there sincerity in that? Get to know your people.  Who are the leaders of the groups?  Who has influence?  How can you use this to help you meet target and goals of the organization? Get building that matrix too.

So, can it go wrong? Yes, it does and frequently – that’s why many people don’t play politics except people who are good at it and why some of us are happy to coast along with the group. Bosses change and so do allegiances so beware. Having a foot in both camps helps to limit the effect of this.  

Corporate politics is fascinating, as a starting point talk to the people who have been there for a few years, ask them who the players are and find out about them and their traits. This will help you identify the ones to be close to and the ones to be careful of. And, if you become really good at politics well then, your career path could take you a long way.