Every since I was small child _ I’ve dreamed of becoming a politician, no the aspiration hasn’t yet given me either all the skills essential for the job or an opportunity, neither have I left everything else to pursue it- while I certainly plan to take that big leap of my life, very soon ( very soon has been the expression since last lok sabha elections :))
Politics is by and large is a remark not liked – I won’t say hated but won’t hesitate in saying that most of us associate it with dirty, immoral , selfish acts to grind an axe ! Well, everyone is entitled to their views, we are dwelling in a free country till the incumbent government chooses to de-list ‘freedom of expression’ completely. Without going into the literal meaning of the expression (which isn’t actually anything bad) or technical details of it – I shall try and explore the perception built around the expression and relate it with corporate world –
Another year and a half and I would be a decade old in the cruel world of corporate working and I’ve been hearing about office politics ever since I stepped into the first day of my career, may a times I have been a victim to it as well, sometime have been able to sense and avoid or let’s say protect myself too – but this necessary evil has always co-existed with a million good things. No industry ( at least, I can talk for the trades I’ve worked for _ Telecom , IT , ITES) is immune to it , no company is politics proofed ( won’t name the concerns I’ve been associated with).
It is widely known , sounds strange, but, yes, accepted too – many who practice it often give it fancy names – lobbying, teaming , protecting – god knows what not? So what is it ? Why does it exist , when people consider it distasteful, why does it still so prominently subsist?
Here is my theory – People wish to climb the ladder of success without really toiling hard enough – short cuts are in great demand in this age were ‘anybody and everybody’ is running short of time!
Like I said before – I’m not an expert on this for I’ve been facing it for quite some time, I think I can share my views and hence the theory.
Most Workers end of day are creatures of flesh and blood who love to be appreciated, loved, noticed, given favours –– if we try and compare this number with people who would wish to earn all of this purely out of their skills, hard work, commitment, values and honesty – you would know the majority is of the former type – and hence malpractices at work are rampant.
Let us accept that we are selfish to the word barring people we love ( love partners , closest pal & immediate family) –and I don’t think I would be wrong in saying that the wish to survive by those who are less fitted is the mother of work politics.
Survival of the fittest is a universal truth and yes people engage in these malevolent activities to boost their possibilities of survival – in my limited exposure – I see three kind of survivors and it cuts across levels and department and nature of work and industries.
I’m placing this category “ work well and thrive” at number one despite of it being the smallest group for I’ve immense respect and admiration for this group and it’s followers – These are honest people, who are punctual, who value their job, take even smallest of task given to them with utmost seriousness and deliver not just with mind but also heart. These people are very easily identified for these would be outspoken, skilled and upfront , they keep creating values and their delivery does earn them special place in hearts and minds of their collogues – those who engage in politics bad mouth them and because work politician form the majority , they wouldn’t have many friends at workplace. These people are backbone of every delivery system and their backs suffers the most from the work politics. Poor souls get into many rifts/debates/issues based fights at work.
The second category “ work less and dream of thriving more” – this is the largest community within work space, averagely skilled and most dangerous for they can put up act of “working hard” – so well that even a hard worker when is subjected to their act begins to feel shy for the work that he/she puts in. You can’t detect these snakes easily because they mix well with the first category and befriend them , a very close observation tells me that they are often very sweet tongued, can do lip service like nobody, keep pleasing people, extending out of workplace favours. And yes, they are lairs! They may appear friend with people in 1st category but given quarter a chance jump in excitement to complain against them. They master the nag of delegation, love stealing other’s work and work best as postman – Beware of them.
The third category “ I won’t work , coz I can’t work – but wanna thrive” _ this is the community of fools & dumb chicks – then the question is how do they survive, BTW, these are second largest in numbers – connections, yes , they survive coz they establish some connection with people who occupy key positions – by extending favors both licit and illicit ones (if you know what I mean) – most of these are deployed moles, planted by those poor leaders occupying key positions to source information – “deliver who is talking what and about who and why” – This is their sole KRA! And no, these are not honest even with their masters, the information that they deliver is often doctored to suite their interest first and the purpose second. They are very easily detected , coz they are seldom found working and still they enjoy most of the monetary and otherwise perks at work.
So this in a nutshell is the politics at work – spoken ill about by all, practiced by many and a harsh reality to those few who fall in its trap –
That will be all from the desk of @LKstates (twitter handle) – Goodnight and have a great weekend.