Politics is not a dirty word
Step into your own power and turn workplace politics into a force for good.
Anywhere you get people coming together to get things done you get politics. You can keep your head down and avoid it, or you can jump in and change the way politics is done. To be happier at work, and to make better decisions, you need to participate in politics.
Politics gets a pretty bad rap. It’s seen as a nasty game,
its players found lingering with evil intent around the office, at the board table, at community association meetings, in the playground, and of course in the corridors of parliament.
Even the people who play it most overtly, the politicians themselves, denigrate their own profession, ‘You’re just playing politics’, they say. How many other workers put down their profession in the same way?
In this most dastardly of games, it’s understandable that people want to keep their heads down and stay out of the fray.
The problem for the rest of us is that by not engaging, you are taking yourself out of important conversations that could make a difference. If good people like you don’t do the politics, then poor decisions are made. And the things that get done protect someone else’s self-interest rather than serve the greater good.
Work is where strangers come together to get stuff done, and in this context there will always be some sort of distribution of power. This means politics is inevitable. But what if politics was seen differently - less ‘dog eat dog’ and more ‘dog share my food with you so we’re all better off dog’?
What if politics was actually closer to what Aristotle, the so-called father of political science, imagined – about creating a ‘good life’? It’s time to rethink politics as - using your power to get an outcome that benefits someone else.
If you want to be happier at work, make better decisions, and create a positive culture for everyone, you need to participate in the politics.
Start by taking a closer look at power:
1. See it. Power is invisible when you have it, and really obvious when you don’t. What does power look like in your workplace? Pay attention to what’s going on under the surface.
2. Use it. We all have some power. In any situation we have the power to choose our response. What needs to change for you to be more powerful? Notice your mental habits and step into your power.
3. Share it. At work we often make decisions that have an impact on other people. Are they part of those decisions? Make sure people around you are empowered as you build your power.
Power balances in workplaces are already shifting. Workers want greater flexibility and autonomy, and employers are realising they need to finally push aside old command and control hierarchies and make way for networked, self-management models.
This change is part of a broader tension playing out in society between power that is hoarded by a few and power that is shared by many. When we make small changes every day we can transform politics from a dirty word, to something we all participate in as part of being an empowered citizen on the planet.