This is for those of you lucky enough to get a job real soon. Advise for others of you who are wondering and worrying if and when a job will come your way go to my blog “On the Leading Edge of Change”.

Okay, for the job havers: starting out your “not in Kansas (or college) anymore!

To develop and increase your personal power without compromising your integrity you MUST learn the secrets of winning the game called “Office Politics”.

Perhaps you are already a pro, since the game is also played in college. However, the stakes are higher in what we lovingly call “the real world.”

Here is a true or false pop quiz: “All organizations grow or fail based on people”. The right answer is…. true. For you to climb the ladder of success you need to learn the hidden rules that dictate how the “people game” is played.

No, this is not taught in B-school, nor in liberal arts, not in engineering, or when you are preparing to be a teacher, film maker, community activist, programmer, or even if you join the family business.
Here are basic lessons about life at the office:

1. People politics are unavoidable!

2. You play whether you speak out or stay under the radar.

3. Deciding not to decide who you side with is still deciding.

4. Gossip boomerangs

5. Stress makes office politics like a romp in a kid’s sandbox.

6. You can’t take you bat and ball and go home.

7. Acknowledging your part in the game helps you to win.

If you want to succeed your best tactics concern learning how to listen for the pattern repetition that gives first hand clues to where the people you report to or your co-workers are stuck. You may not be able to “unstick” them, however, you do not have to throw more fuel on the fire.

Look for books and articles that will help guide you. Some, like “Don’t Bring It to Work” and “Secrets of Winning at Office Politics” and “The No Asshole Rule” give you guidelines and cautionary tales to help you stay alert. You can check out the behavior patterns that occur and cause the most workplace conflict. Even more important, you can figure out which patterns are most like you and what to do about them.

Here is how it works; when you are in a new situation, working with people on a daily basis, you are bound to rub each other in annoying ways. That is not the problem. The problem is when you use behavior patterns you learned in your original organization, the family, in your present work organization.

We all do it. The guy in the next cube may remind you of your older brother who always had to have the last word, or the gal across from you is like your sister who stared into space and never did her share of the yard clean up and you were left doing double duty. The boss may be just like your persecutor father who demanded his way and there was no negotiating room.

Learn what pushes your buttons and what to do about it. Learn it now, in your first out of school job. Learn it so you don’t get caught in back stabbing, or having someone stick an invisible knife in you when you least expect it.

Stop, look, and most especially listen. Learn the secrets of office politics and you will find your workplace relationships will flourish, and even better you can take what you learn into every other part of your life.

Decoding office politics may be the most challenging and exhilarating course you ever take. Become a workplace relationship expert, your career will flourish, and you’ll find yourself moving into a position where you can inspire and lead others.

Carpe Diem and good luck!

Author Bio: Dr. Sylvia Lafair, Author, Leadership Educator, Executive Coach for over 30 years is an authority on leadership and workplace relationships. She is President of Creative Energy Options, Inc. Visit www.ceoptions.com and www.sylvialafair.com .

Category: Self Help
Keywords: Workplace Relationships, Lessons for Worklife, Graduation, Advise, office politics