Political Dilemmas at Work: How to Maintain Your Integrity and Further Your Career

Play to Your Own Strengths—Not to Your Rival’s

Organizations are full of political animals, the question is, what kind of political animals are they, and more important, what type are you? Because you have learned from people you have worked with, your style has evolved and developed over time. It is unlikely that you have taken a politics course and learned formally, so your political style will be based largely on what you have observed and selected from others. You have picked up both good and bad habits. And you have strengths and limitations.

The key to success is to identify and play to your own political strengths. Compensating for your limitations is worth it, but you have more potential if you play to your strengths. When you have political rivals, they use their own preferred style of influence, whatever comes naturally and easiest to them. When you see them in action—and especially when their style seems to get results—it is easy to be tempted into copying whatever they do. But in doing so, you hand them an advantage, especially if what they are doing does not come naturally to you. To copy your political rivals is to play the game by their rules and to potentially limit your chance of success.

Playing the game by your rules and to your strengths increases your chances of success. It moves the struggle with your rival from their home territory to yours. Politically, it moves you to a higher ground.

Your political style is also influenced by your personal ...