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

The Political Bottom Line

Success comes from making conscious decisions about where our priorities lie. If we can link this to the objectives of the organization, then we can lay a good foundation for protecting our careers from those who want us to attend to their worthy yet less important demands on our time. By developing a keen understanding of who the powerful people really are in our organizations, we will quickly learn who we need to align ourselves with and also, who to turn to for help when others try to distract us from the important work.

Saying no can build respect and self-esteem and allows us to focus our efforts where they will have the greatest positive impact. The opportunity lies in learning to toughen up our approach and focus on what is important. We don’t always have to be Mr. Nice Guy.