Peer-level Office Politics

Peer-level office politics: PLOP. In a perfect world, individuals receive recognition, salary increases, plum assignments, and promotions based entirely on merit. In the real world, the role that office politics plays in career advancement and success ranges from a minor schmooze factor (e.g., learning how to play golf because your boss does) to selling your soul in exchange for a megastar spot in the boss's eyes (e.g., stealing a colleague's report and claiming it as your own).

As companies grow and change, shrink and implode, job descriptions and job duties are expanded or contracted, results orientation is intensified, and competition for desirable assignments, visibility, acknowledgment, and reward heats up, you will certainly run into individuals who are willing to do anything to get ahead of the pack. Add to this unclear job definitions, subjective performance evaluations, a win/lose culture, and a follow-the-leader orientation, and you have a recipe for an unhappy workplace.

Seven Deadly Sins of PLOP

Whether the economy is strong or weak, as you move up in your profession, the outlook for career growth becomes more limited (think pyramid-there are many positions at the bottom, fewer at the top). With fewer positions available, the "look at me!" behavior begins, demonstrating the downside of office politics. These Seven Deadly Sins are usually individual behaviors, rather than group behaviors (discussed later in this chapter). Have you experienced (or exhibited) one or more of these?

Someone to pick on. In an environment where there are fewer and fewer upper-level opportunities, you may see the behavior of finding a victim to persecute. Whether you are on the sending end or the receiving end of this sin, it provides a temporary relief for the sender's sense of insecurity, while it plays to the recipient's fear of rejection.

Gossip. Not all gossip is negative (as in backstabbing). Sometimes it is used to share cheerful and truthful news ("John just told me he got a promotion!"). Sometimes it is used to pass on distressing, yet truthful news ("I heard from David that John is being laid off, and John does not know it yet"). Sometimes it is just tantalizing drivel ("I heard from Mark that John is having an affair with the grocery clerk").
At best, gossip in the office is a way to build intimate relationships. In a politically charged office where knowledge is power, however, being the purveyor of gossip may only serve to decrease your credibility and trustworthiness, and ultimately ruin your reputation. If you share information about someone that you would not say directly to that person's face, you have crossed the line.

Personalize everything. In a politically active office, feedback comes in many colors. Sometimes it is delivered in a positive and productive way, and sometimes it is not. Allowing any comments or behaviors, whether idle gossip or constructive criticism, to touch you personally makes them part of your life. This will feed your fear of failure or rejection, and keep you from moving forward.

Saying yes when you really want to say no. Do you say yes to things that you would really rather not do, and then find last-minute excuses to back out (or just not show up)? This is a demonstration of your limited dependability and reliability, integrity, honesty, and maturity. It is also one of the best ways to lose friends, respect, and your job.

Arrogance and abrasiveness. This sin is a disguise for insecurity, and it gains energy from the fears of others-fear of being wrong, fear of failure, fear of rejection, and fear of being humiliated. Attempting to demonstrate your knowledge or your power by displaying your anger or showing a total disregard for others is to confuse decisive leadership with your ego.

Whine. This sin is committed by people who just are not taking responsibility for their lives. People who are always complaining, always expecting the worst outcome for every event, always believing that nothing's ever right, and constantly criticizing their workplace, their co-workers, and their own lives are playing the role of something between a victim and a martyr. While using this behavior may provide you with sympathy, you may also be viewed as immature and unable to handle increased responsibilities.

Proving you are right, no matter how hard you must push. If you have lived in a "right/wrong" system, being "right" was the equivalent of being good, and not being right (or being "wrong") was the equivalent of being bad. If you believe that all your value and worth is tied to your being right, then being wrong destroys your self-esteem. The result is that you push to be right, even when you are wrong.