Office Politics

There’s a myth that we have to “do” things the right way for us to be successful. Just figure out the rules and play by them.

But if it was that straightforward, we would all be much more successful.

The problem is humans, individually and collectively, aren’t that simple.

After being in the workforce for a while, most of us realize that being good at what we do and focused on the company’s best interest isn’t what helps us get ahead.

It’s a sad realization, because we all reinforce the myth that we are rewarded based on performance.

Some of us are lured into playing the game, and get ahead by acting as if work was some reality show where the last one on the island wins.

But even the people who play office politics as if it were House of Cards eventually hit a ceiling because they get promoted into incompetence.

So what hope is there for people who just want to do a good job to get rewarded for it?

There is a fine line to be walked to balance ability, ingenuity and managing office politics.

It’s not “soft skills” holding most of us back, but two simple things:

Accepting that office politics must be managed in order to be successful.

And finding a way to manage them without losing your soul.

There are so many capable people whose souls are dying because they’re watching less capable people get promoted.

They’re willing to put in the work but struggling to cut through the cultural myths of what they should do so they can find what they need to do.

Success is not an easy path. If it was, we would all be more successful. We would have what we want.

But, getting success shouldn’t sap our soul either.