Clueless About Workplace Politics
Winning Strategies?
Book Description
How do you view Workplace Politics?
What is your experience with Workplace Politics?
Are you successful at handling Workplace Politics?
Try answering these questions. Your answers govern the success in your work life.
Politics exists everywhere - wherever humans exist. It cannot be avoided
Is Workplace Politics making your life miserable?
Do you want to learn Workplace Politics Winning Strategies?
If the answers to the last two questions are, “Yes” then hook on to this book now.
You will learn about:
● Different Workplace Politics behavior patterns.
● Predicting the unpredictability of behaviors.
● Workplace Politics booby traps.
● Creating your Workplace Politics game plan.
● Cultivating a winner image.
● Winning Strategies for surviving the perpetrators and avoiding victimization.
● Emerging as an empowered winner.
Get This Book Now.
Book Excerpt
Chapter 9: How To Correctly Identify Political Behaviors At Your Workplace?
“Political Behaviors, as behaviors everywhere else,
are heavily influenced by one’s paradigms.
To understand a person’s behavioral patterns correctly,
you need to observe and understand the person’s paradigms.”
- ND
Different Types of Workplace Political Behavior Patterns:
Organizations all over the world exist in the form of multi-faceted organisms. Just like human beings, organizations have behavioral patterns. However, an organization’s behavioral pattern is majorly derived from the people in the workplace. Through observations derived from a coaching practice spanning more than a dozen years, specific behavioral patterns emerge, which have been put together below for identifying Workplace Political behaviors and structures.
Upon observing and identifying repetitive behaviors in the workplace, I have slotted people within the heads below
It would be apparent soon that people, as growing-evolving creatures, show various behavioral patterns under different conditions. This makes up for their unpredictability, as highlighted earlier in this book.
In any case, the list below will be helpful in deciding how to correctly identify Workplace Political behaviors of people around and provide a good idea of how to deal with them through the Winning Strategies given.
Of course, it is pertinent to note and remember that the below heads are not only for judging or forming inflexible opinions of colleagues. This is only so that the underlying game plans can be understood, which can also be subconscious so that the ways of developing workable relationships can be found. This is the crux of evolving oneself, enabling amicable growth in one’s career. In the process, it also leads to the growth of the workplace and the organization, resulting in a win-win situation.
It would also be prudent to correctly identify one’s own behavior and political game plan, where honest introspection and self-analysis would be required to be at play on an ongoing basis. You will find that it is an essential aspect to know one’s own self before attempting to evaluate others. So, watch where your workplace political behavior fits the slots below.
“God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And, the Wisdom to know the difference.”
- The Serenity Prayer
Here are The Different Workplace Political Behavior Patterns:
1) Cheerleaders:
Cheerleaders are motivators who are always trying to help others feel good and do better. They can be seen giving motivational speeches to anyone who would care to listen. They can be seen targeting newbies. Through a combination of enthusiasm and empathy (feigned or not), cheerleaders have the ability to derive valuable information from others, including personal information that one may not readily share in a workplace environment with colleagues. This information then gets diligently fed into the grapevine along with the praises for themselves as to how they helped the newbies settle down in the organization; or how they helped the other people going through some crisis. Their remarks especially contain hints indicating their flexibility, accommodating and good-natured spirit, teamwork and teambuilding initiatives, efforts at enhancement of work ethics and culture, etc. More often than not, being considered a ‘confidante’ provides them with a sense of satisfaction and a fulfilling feeling of achievement.
Cheerleaders are generally helpful people, but sometimes their excessive indulgence and concern can be bothersome as they can be interpreted and perceived as intrusiveness. However, many Cheerleaders have perfected the art of instilling a sense of comfort in their listeners, so one may not realize what they are actually contending with.
Cheerleaders can be good company and may spend money on giving a good time to people. So they are always successful in gathering people around them. They love to get all the attention. They also like to show off as mentors to others in the organization.
Cheerleaders can be good company and may spend money on giving a good time to people. So, the Cheerleaders are successful in gathering a crowd of devout followers. They enjoy all the limelight and attention. They also tend to gather reputations as mentors, ‘cool’ leaders/colleagues, fixers, problem solvers, and the ‘go-to’ people in the organization.
The Political Game Plan of Cheerleaders:
The political game plan of Cheerleaders is always clearly directed towards getting more and more visibility for themselves. They like to take people under their protective wings. Cheerleaders also may end up being used as watchdogs as they generally have all the information about almost all the people in the organization. This information is neatly filed away in their mind to be used at a later date whenever the need arises. Cheerleaders tend to think of such exercises where they are used like watchdogs as opportunities to curry favors with their superiors. They generally succeed in these endeavors.
Winning Strategy # 40:
Keeping Cheerleaders on your side is advisable because they can help you by giving some valuable advice and information at opportune moments. They can quite vehemently advocate for your causes as well. They can be an exciting company and can provide much-needed respite on boring and monotonous days. It is always good to remain friends with them and make them feel that they are close to you. It is easy to manage such relationships because one just needs to lend an ear to them, engage to the extent of showing interest in their anecdotes and experiences, and provide them with a following on their social media platforms, as they love any kind of attention.
However, you should take care not to get overly influenced by them and share too much about yourself, as they tend to be chronic gossipers and can have their own personal agendas. In any case, if you share too much information with the Cheerleaders, you always risk leaking all your information, with added spice, into the grapevine.
2) Pleasers:
Pleasers have a compulsive desire to please anyone they think could help them. They go beyond limits to please their bosses, subordinates, teammates, and others. Usually, they do this by showering them with compliments. They can also indulge in giving small gifts, cards, notes, treats, and parties to attempt pleasing others.
The main difference between Cheerleaders and Pleasers is that the Pleasers can get quite overbearing and even obnoxious because they just do not seem to understand that other people do not enjoy their company. Since the thought of getting what they want is always uppermost in their mind, their body language and verbal communication never match their actual vibration, which the people around them invariably sense. That is why their compliments never seem sincere. They also do not like to share any information except when sharing can help them in some way. If you insist on their sharing some information they do not wish to share, you can turn them against you, however crucial that information may be for you. Pleasers can be seen holding information, essential documents, important updates, etc., waiting for an opportune time to share significantly in the presence of bosses, and making a show while doing so.
Pleasers just assume that everyone toward whom they shower their attention happens to be affectionate to them. If the Pleasers get some attention, however little and insignificant, from someone higher up in the hierarchy, they go about making a shameless show of it to anyone to comes in their vicinity. It is surprising to see grown-up people behave so immaturely, but that is how it is. Pleasers do not seem to understand that others do not appreciate their overtly blatant attempts at gathering visibility.
Pleasers tend to talk a lot in any conversation. They mainly have good stuff to say about the person they are speaking with. However, you should take care not to share too much information with them because if they lose interest in you, which happens fast if they find that you are useless to them, they can just as quickly start talking against you.
A screen example of Pleasers that comes to mind is Nurse Betsy Bucket in the Netflix series, ‘Ratched,’ and how she showers her affection on Dr. Hanover, her boss.
The Political Game Plan of Pleasers:
The political game plan of Pleasers is to somehow get their objectives met by the others. They think that the best way to influence others is to say good things about them in their presence. They latch on to people from whom they can extricate any favors. Since their compliments are mostly for furthering their cause, their sincerity and genuineness are always a concern. So, they do not garner any loyalty and trust. Surprisingly, their efforts can yield some results because some people can be hungry for compliments, however false and opportunistic they may be. Since Pleasers can sometimes get results with compulsive behaviors, however obnoxious, they do not seem to get the idea that changing their ways could be more productive.
Pleasers can get highly competitive with other Pleasers around. The atmosphere can get very malicious if more than one Pleaser is around, and other employees - juniors, peers, and superiors can get badly tarnished.
Winning Strategy # 41:
When you identify a Pleaser, do not get emotionally involved with whatever they say. Remember, everyone loves to get a compliment, especially when the work days are monotonous, dull, and dreary. So, it may be pretty easy to fall into the trap of Pleasers. But, if you get emotionally involved and start believing the compliments showered at you, you will have a tough time later on when their objective is met, and they shed you like a dirty piece of clothing. So beware, and protect your mental and emotional states at all times. You may help them if you can, but never let your emotions get the better of you by believing any compliments they shower at you while you are helping them. Having a ‘no gifts’ policy at work is always good. And if you get a treat or party, it is always good to reciprocate. Remember, the Pleasers do not have your interest in mind. Their mind is only occupied by their best interests.
Read about 11 more types of Workplace Politics Behavior Patterns, the Winning Strategies to develop robust relationships with colleagues having these patterns, and much more in the complete book.
