At work, political attackers seem to some to be amoral, without conscience, or just plain slime. Doubtless, some are, but most are hard working people dedicated to purposes they consider worthwhile. What distinguishes them is that they see their attacks as justifiable, even necessary, parts of their workplace roles.
Some attacks are indeed vile and serve little purpose. Among these are attacks aimed at the target's essence or legitimacy. For organizational targets, they raise questions about their continued independent existence; for people, they emphasize the target's character.
Enduring a political attack on one's essence is emotionally painful. It's unnerving, and some targets have difficulty maintaining the coolness needed for formulating effective responses. To learn how to reason under such pressure, it helps to appreciate the psychological advantages attackers enjoy.
- Deal with your inhibitions about attacking
- Although most of us are reluctant to initiate attack, we find it somewhat easier to respond to it. Initiation often creates feelings of guilt. Since the key to prevailing in a political conflict is capturing the initiative by counterattacking, targets probably cannot recover unless they can overcome their inhibitions. Since attackers have already dealt with their inhibitions, they can usually maintain dominance until the target's soul-searching is completed.
- Prepare in advance. If you anticipate attack, recognize that survival depends on your willingness to counterattack. Deal with your inhibitions by accepting that they apply only in times of relative peace. And remember that initiating attacks can be justified when your target's behavior is harmful to the organization.
- Rewrite your unwritten rules
- Most believe that political conflict has at least some rules. For instance, most agree that damaging a rival's computer is foul play. But at the margins, there's little agreement about what's fair or ethical. The advantage goes to the flexible.
- Your Although most of us
are reluctant to initiate
attack, we find it
somewhat easier
to respond to itown rules are your own. They're probably not shared by your attacker. Even though your attacker has been unwilling to engage in some kinds of conduct, those inhibitions might fall at any time. The more effective your response, the more likely is your attacker to overcome those inhibitions. Your political survival might require expanding your own boundaries more rapidly than your attacker does. Find ways to expand your boundaries with integrity. - Use diversions and distractions
- Diversions and distractions are methods for controlling the target. Diversions absorb the capacity of the target to counterattack. Distractions absorb the capacity of the target to understand the environment.
- Observe the political attackers in your organization. Notice their use of diversion and distraction. Determine their set routines; watch for improvisations. Anticipating what might be effective against you helps you design countermeasures. Learn techniques that help you when you attack.
These are difficult transitions for anyone to make, especially under the pressure of political attack. If attack abounds where you work, start making your transitions now. First in this series Top Next Issue
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Related articles
More articles on Workplace Politics:
- The High Cost of Low Trust: II
- Truly paying attention to Trust at work is rare, in part, because we don't fully appreciate what distrust
really costs. Here's Part II of a little catalog of how we cope with distrust, and how we pay for it.
- When You Think Your Boss Is Incompetent
- After the boss commits even a few enormous blunders, some of us conclude that he or she is just incompetent.
We begin to worry whether our careers are safe, whether the company is safe, or whether to start looking
for another job. Beyond worrying, what else can we do?
- Snares at Work
- Stuck in uncomfortable situations, we tend to think of ourselves as trapped. But sometimes it is our
own actions that keep us stuck. Understanding how these traps work is the first step to learning how
to deal with them.
- Group Problem-Solving Tangles
- When teams solve problems together, discussions of proposed solutions usually focus on combinations
of what the solution will do, how much it will cost, how long it will take, and much more. Disentangling
these threads can make discussions much more effective.
- Suppressing Dissent: I
- In some groups, disagreeing with the majority, or disagreeing with the Leader, can be a personally expensive
act. Here is Part I of a set of tactics used by Leaders who choose not to tolerate dissent.
See also Workplace Politics and Conflict Management for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
- Coming May 15: Should I Write or Should I Call?
- After we recognize the need to contact a colleague or colleagues to work out a way to move forward, we next must decide how to make contact. Phone? Videoconference? Text message? There are some simple criteria that can help with such decisions. Available here and by RSS on May 15.
- And on May 22: Rescheduling Collaborative Work
- Rescheduling is what we do when the schedule we have now is so desperately unachievable that we must let go of it because when we look at it we can no longer decide whether to laugh or cry. The fear is that the new schedule might come to the same end. Available here and by RSS on May 22.
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Beware any resource that speaks of "winning" at workplace politics or "defeating" it. You can benefit or not, but there is no score-keeping, and it isn't a game.
- Wikipedia has a nice article with a list of additional resources
- Some public libraries offer collections. Here's an example from Saskatoon.
- Check my own links collection
- LinkedIn's Office Politics discussion group