Break the Chain — Corporate Politics
As I reflect on my 20+ years of corporate life, I realise that I’ve learnt a lot about its do’s and don’t’s and finally, after the many self-doubt filled years of the past, I am starting to make peace with my approach to staying afloat in this race.
Afloat? Well yes, it takes a lot to survive in the corporate arena. We have created this somewhat artificial fabric that many of us have to spend the majority of our lives in— an environment that is unceasingly competitive and stressful. It sucks a lot out of one’s life (time, mind-space, attention etc) and, at one point or another, most people end up asking “Is this mad race even worth it?”.
The reality of course is that we cannot renounce the corporate life wholly just because we may dislike parts of it. To be fair, it does have its perks — financial security and a degree of self-identity come to my mind as top benefits. Often, it’s a rich source of learning and development. Sometimes, it is a place where we form lasting friendships.
So, what we can’t cure, we have to endure. The question becomes, how can we survive or perhaps even thrive without feeling like we are selling our souls for it? How do we play the rules of the game?
With the two-decade vantage and lots of life lessons along the way, a counter-intuitive method comes to mind. I realise that the only way I can make it through this corporate rigmarole is by not playing the game. By breaking the chain.
What does that mean?
Let’s take corporate politics as an example. For many years, I’ve received advice on how it is important to both understand how corporate politics works and tips for how to play the game to one’s advantage. One of the biggest sources of the self-doubt I mentioned earlier has been my inability to be an adept player of the political battle in the workplace.
I am ineffective at that and whatever little I’ve tried over the years made me feel very uncomfortable in my skin. “That’s not who I am” is what I felt and so more stress, dissonance and frustration got added to the overall mix.
At some point though, I decided that I’m just not going to play this game. Full stop. I’m not going to talk myself up in order to talk someone else down. I am not going to take credit for someone else’s work. I am not going to hover in lift lobbies hoping to get a few minutes to do an elevator pitch to a C-Something-Officer.
This does not mean that I ignore the political landscape. Actually the first part of that advice is sound — understanding how corporate politics works is key. It can manifest in different forms in different companies, depending on the culture and leadership. Investing in building a sharp radar to spot it in your current organization is really important. With a bit of effort, you can quickly understand how it works and who the main players are.
Armed with that understanding though, you can choose to stay above it. Just don’t play the game, if you don’t want to. There isn’t only one way to make your value visible — you don’t need underhanded techniques for it.
Recognise that corporate politics is a zero-sum game. It needs constant strategising, looking over your shoulder for back-stabbers, planning every move carefully and so on — effectively draining more time and effort than the work you are hired to do.
To be clear, this does not mean that you don’t invest in making sure your contributions are visible and recognised. Just try to not pull someone else down while you are promoting yourself.
Which is where the idea of breaking the chain comes in. Just because you choose to not do corporate politics doesn’t mean corporate politics won’t happen to you. You just have to go about life assuming that, at one point or another, someone will try to step on you to give themself a lift. That’s just how it is. What’s the right reaction at those time? While it may be tempting to counter-strike, actually a more sustainable strategy is to break the chain. Make the choice to rise above the eye-for-an-eye approach and play the long game (a very good article on the reasons to play a long game in life generally here: https://fs.blog/long-game/). It is hard to keep attacking someone who isn’t fighting back.
Office politics is about day-to-day tactics, which generally have a short-term impact. Strategy, on the other hand, can outclass, outsmart and outlast tactical moves. So, invest in a long-game strategy that resonates with your outlook in life. For example, learn how to make your voice heard in group, 1:1 and offline settings. Push yourself to speak up — one point well made per meeting consistently can take you a good distance. Figure out how to make your contributions visible. A great strategy is to proactively recognise good work done by others in public forms. That builds trust and creates allies. Those things can have a bigger impact in the long run than pushing everyone else down to get a promotion. Ultimately, growth in an organization is about the value you are bringing to it — so just stay focussed on delivering high value, rather than worrying about how it compares to others.
Consistency is key. If you make the decision to not play the game, then don’t dip in and dip out. Stay the course. And you’ll find that it pays off although it might take a tad longer. But, what’s the big rush anyway?
“The best revenge is no revenge at all” – Marcus Aurelius
