Pojam “uredska politika” uvijek se povezuje s negativnim, i kompetitivnim, odnosima unutar organizacije. Međutim to ne mora biti tako. Uredska politika niti je dobra, niti loša. Uredska politika jednostavno je. Bitno je kako se odnosimo prema sebi i kolegama u tom procesu da bi rezultat bio negativan ili pozitivan.
Smatram se introvertom. Shodno zato što moram raditi na tome – je i razlog zašto je ova knjiga završila na listi čitanja. I dok sam svjestan toga i redovno radim na tome da umanjim taj utjecaj, uvijek ima mjesta napretku. Dakle, uredska politika, za mene je isključivo omogućavanje bolje suradnje s kolegama. Prvenstveno u komunikaciji.
Sama knjiga je osrednja. Nisam oduševljen. Na puno mjesta se ponavlja dok na drugim – bitnijim temama – nije po meni dovoljno posvećeno pažnje. Ipak, sažetak je tu. Ako vas zainteresira, linkove gdje možete kupiti knjigu su na dnu.
Part I – Mastering the Fundamentals
“The process [office politics] itself is neither good nor bad, but simply a fact of life – and the morality of the outcome is determined entirely by the motives and goals of the players”
“So here’s lesson number one: to win at office politics, you must first clearly define your goals”
“Sharpening your political ability can increase the odds of accomplishing whatever objectives are important to you, but first you must clearly differentiate between goals and wishes”
“Wishes put the focus on what we want them to do. Goals highlight what we can do ourselves”
“The beginning of Political Intelligence is the acceptance of certain realities that we will call Organizational Facts of Life (OFOL)”
“To excel at office politics, you must understand and accept some fundamental facts:
- OFOL #1: Organizations are not democracies
- OFOL #2: Some people have more power than others
- OFOL #3: Virtually all decisions are subjective
- OFOL #4: Your boss has control over much of your life
- OFOL #5: Fairness is an impossible goal”
“But for political success, you need to stop worrying about how your boss treats you and start figuring out how to relate to your boss”
“One sure way to sabotage your career is to become overly concerned with whether everything is fair”
“Political Intelligence requires a thorough understanding of the dynamics of leverage, which simply means your ability to get other to do what you want”
“Because dramatic leverage shifts can occur unexpectedly, political Winners follow this principle: Never intentionally offend anyone at work”
“High-leverage people focus their energy on producing results and building relationships. They concentrate on positive goals and things they can control”
“The Power of Results: Delivering results that make you organization more competitive, effective, or efficient is guaranteed to increase leverage, particularly if you manage to amaze or delight key decision makers in the process”
“The Power of Knowledge: Developing impressive expertise in your work – no matter what job you hold – will cause people to view you as a source of information and valuable resource”
“The Power of Attitude: You can boost your leverage simply by being the type of person with whom other people like to work – consistently friendly, helpful, and cooperative”
“The Power of Empathy: Most people appreciate a sympathetic ear”
“The Power of Networks: Political Intelligence involves building positive relationships – so it logically follows that Winners increase their leverage by maintaining helpful connections wit as many people as possible”
“The Power of Inclusion: Involving others in your decisions, activities, and projects can increase support and produce better outcomes”
“The Power of Detachment: Although feeling passionate about your job, too much passion can be dysfunctional”
“Politically speaking, your good fortune depends upon both what you do and who you know – or more accurately, who knows you”
“True Political Winners always have a strong network of Friends, Partners, and Connections”
“Interacting with clones of yourself may feel safe and comfortable, but such exclusiveness severely restricts your opportunities”
“Because focused adversaries view you as an impediment, their actions can easily lure you into an ongoing power strugle. You need to resist their temptation”
“With focused adversaries, the preferred outcome is to convert them into allies. For this to happen, your opponents must believe that (a) your goals do no conflict with theirs, and (b) cooperating with you might contribute to their own success”
Part II – Avoiding Political Pitfalls
“The most common political games fall into three categories: Power Games, Ego Games, and Escape Games”
“Power Game players are either trying to acquire more leverage or flaunt the power they already have”
“Control Game players resist direction or advice from others”
“All Ego Games are designed to make the player feel smarter, better, or more special than other people”
“If you want to commit political suicide, simply start engaging in any behavior that consumes a disproportionate share of management’s time and attention”
“There are four common causes of career destruction: (1) poorly controlled emotions; (2) a victim mentality; (3) self-centered goals; and (4) foolish reaction to change”
“The two emotions that most frequently lead people down the road to ruin are anger and anxiety”
“To play the political game, you have to understand power: who has it, how to get it, how to use it. Yet talking openly about power is completely prohibited”
“Careful observation and a little detective work can help you determine the values of your own Power Elite members:
- Don’t just listen to what they ay. Watch what they do
- Notice what they like to talk about and how they work
- See who gets recognized, praised, or promoted
- Ask your boss or connected colleagues
- Observe what they change”
Part III – How to Become a Winner
“To achieve any goal, you must have sufficient power”
“Enhancing your political power will automatically increase the number and variety of goals that you are able to achieve”
“The four P’s of politics can help you put together a Political Game Plan to improve the situation:
- Power Assessment
- Performance
- Perception
- Partnership”
“To become a Political Winner, you must produce results that make the business more successful”
“For starters, you need to understand what is particularly important to management, beginning with your boss”
“Invisible contributions have no political value”
“All Winners recognize that the positive perception of an accomplishment is almost as importan as the accomplishment itself”
“Every positive working relationship increases your political power”
“Stretching your tolerance zone to accommodate work style opposites will pay dividends beyond better working relationships”
“True Political Winners consistently make conscious, intelligent decisions about their behavior”
“To become more influential, you must remember this: You always have choices about your behavior”
“When you really try to understand other people’s points of view, they will frequently reciprocate by listening to yours”
“They understand that the more you know about another person, the more influential and helpful you can be”
“Downward influence is essential for leaders and managers”
“Toward that end, here are some suggestions for managing bosses in a politically intelligent manner:
- Accept the fact that your boss has been given the power to direct your activities
- Don’t expect perfection
- Study your boss’s management style and figure out what makes her happy
- Try to make your boss look good
- Never, never, never complain to others about your boss
- Give your boss a sincere compliment from time to time
- Finally, don’t forget the old saying: It’s not your boss who protects your job, it’s your boss’s boss”
“If you are a lowly peon who is fortunate enough – or fortunate enough, depending on your point of view – to interact with these exalted beings [executives], the following guidelines may help you keep your sanity:
- Don’t ever tell executives that they can’t do anything
- Talk fast
- Don’t expect specific instructions
- Make it happen
- Take care of the details
- Don’t take any abuse personally
- Lose your ego
- Keep your self-confidence
- Hang on to your sense of humor”
“When considering colleagues, you should pay special attention to your internal customers – that is, those people who are directly affected by the results you produce”
“A leader is someone that people choose to follow”
“Hear are some general suggestions for downward influencing:
- Realize that you’re a manager, not a monarch
- Worry about being respected, not being liked
- Learn to successful manage the performance of other people
- Appreciate the power of inclusion
- Help your employees be all that they can be”
“Strategy #1. If you are in danger of becoming The Problem, then you need to take remedial action immediately”
“Strategy #2. If you are not clear about your goals, then you need to decide what you want”
“Strategy #3. If you are not using your energy wisely, then you need to adjust your thinking or your activities”
“Strategy #4. If you face opposition in reaching your goals, then you need to manage your adversaries”
“Strategy #5. If you don’t have the leverage to get what you want, then you need to increase your political power”
“Strategy #6. If you have none of the above political issues, then you need to move ahead”
Dodatne poveznice
Goodreads: Secrets to Winning at Office Politics
Amazon: Secrets to Winning at Office Politics
Blackwell’s: Secrets to Winning at Office Politics
Preuzimanje sažetka
PDF: Secrets to Winning at Office Politics – PDF