Those who have not yet made their New Year resolutions might consider improving their political savviness as one of their objectives for 2022.
Whether working in the corridors of power, a busy office or a factory floor, it is worth understanding what makes some people succeed in advancing their careers.
Being politically savvy means maximising and leveraging relationships to achieve organisational, team and individual goals.
Political savviness is an effective survival tool whether one is a leader or a follower at the workplace.
Organisational psychologists argue that savvy people have better career prospects and are seen to be more promotable.
Those who mismanage the political realities or avoid or ignore them are often frustrated by the low satisfaction they get out of their work.
Just mention the word politics and a sizeable minority of people immediately feel a sense of aversion.
Politics, whether of the kind related to the governance of a country or the type associated with running an organisation, is a minefield that needs to be navigated with care.
Organisational politics is sometimes a controversial and hotly debated topic. Some managers argue that office politics is a threat to the success of an organisation.
They will do everything in their power to eradicate it. They question the ethics of behaving artificially to curry favour with colleagues and bosses.
They define office politics with terms like inauthentic, manipulative and self-serving.
Some principled workers, who are often unfairly labelled by their colleagues as opinionated, will ultimately embrace politics as a necessary evil.
Others will refuse to play the game entirely despite the negative impact on their careers. They often act as the voice of conscience of their organisations.
The most pragmatic approach to overcoming an aversion to organisational politics is to accept it as a natural, neutral part of work-life.
Politics is neither good nor bad. It is a fact of working life. Workers and their managers can use their political savvy to create a positive outcome for themselves and others.
Perhaps the most crucial characteristic of political savviness is social astuteness.
Being socially astute means being able to read people’s non-verbal behaviours and intuitively sense what is on their minds in particular situations.
Being insensitive to people’s feelings is a sure way to create enemies that will sooner or later try to hit back at you.
The ability to network effectively is another skill worth developing. Some networks are notorious for their toxicity.
They thrive on the principles that one associates with freemasonry. Still, astute workers build friendships and beneficial working relationships by garnering support, negotiating and managing conflict.
The Shakespearian advice ‘to thine own self be true’ is the golden rule for true success
One caveat that must never be ignored is not to expect others to treat you ethically because you treated them ethically.
Some of your networking friends may only be interested in what you could do for them rather than how they can build on shared values of authenticity, sincerity and genuineness.
Check everything and trust nobody until they have proven repeatedly that they are reliable.
You will only know the value of a friendship when you are no longer in a position of granting favours to a particular friend.
Another crucial survival skill at the workplace is the ability to communicate effectively.
Impulse control is the first element of successful communication. Good leaders think before they speak.
Some workers are good at ‘managing up’ – they put all their energy into how they cater to their bosses’ needs while neglecting their teams.
Honing good political skills can never be successful if based on communication wizardry.
Like the political world, the business world has become obsessed with projecting itself with slick social and traditional media presentations that are easily recognised as artificial and fake.
Most will face political infighting in their careers. Business life can be peppered with dangerous situations where safe exits are blocked.
Survival in business life will often depend on having a toolbox of skills that can be used to help you fight another day after a disappointing phase in your working life.
Some understandably associate politics with insincerity, sleaze and doublespeak.
They are rightly sceptical about the authenticity of official mission statements written on marble plaques prominently displayed in corporate head offices.
Politically skilled individuals make sure that the rock base of their strategy for successful working life is high levels of integrity, authenticity, sincerity and genuineness. There will be times when this strategy might appear to be failing.
Ultimately, the Shakespearian advice ‘to thine own self be true’ is the golden rule for true success.