You were told that if you worked hard, kept your head down, and delivered results, you’d be rewarded. But that’s not reality, and in midlife, that realization hits even harder. Because while you’ve been focused 100% on your work, something else has been happening all around you. Decisions being made, alliances forming, and influence shifts.
In other words: politics. And at this stage of your career, the cost of ignoring it is higher.
You’re more vulnerable to being overlooked. More likely to be sidelined.
More exposed to decisions you didn’t even know were being made. And it’s not because you’re less capable. But because you’ve been focused on performance, while another game has been shaping your future.
If you’re not paying attention to it, it’s already shaping your career without you.
When you believe in a meritocracy and keep your head down because you’re focused on your work, you miss out on what’s going on around you. You miss out on the workplace dynamics that can make or break your career. You miss out on the politics. I know politics might make you cringe. You despise the political animals who seem to get what they want at work, despite their obvious self-serving manipulation. I researched how women feel about office politics for my book The Politics of Promotion. Sentiments ranged from “it’s a waste of time” to “it’s evil.” Yup. That’s what I’ve heard from hundreds of women.
But now it’s time to accept reality before that reality bites you in the butt. Especially as you get older, you need to pay attention to office politics because you are increasingly vulnerable to being sidelined.
Your survival depends on your political savvy. This means paying attention to how things get done, who wins and how they do so, and what it takes to successfully navigate your workplace. It’s about relationships.
Read the full article on Substack.com
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