Understanding organizational politics

When you applied for a job, you probably had to go thru the assistant to get an appointment with the hiring manager.  The assistant is the influencer, the hiring manager is the decision maker.  It’s the same thing at the dentist’s office.  At a bar, the bouncer is both.

Develop your radar for who plays what role in your department and your company so you can be aware of what you say to and in front of whom.  Having lunch with a few colleagues can be fun until you realize that you made fun of the project you were working on and suddenly you’re off it and stuck on another even less fun project.  You just told an influencer (or possibly a decision maker!) to do that and you didn’t realize it.

The fact is, some people play dirty when they feel their job is in danger or you’re outperforming them.  Other people feel proud of your performance and align themselves with you.  It’s your job to figure out who has what default and protect yourself as needed.