When and how to play office politics

It’s sad, but the workplace can be a little like high school. There’s cliques, a pecking order, and a science to navigate and grow within the two. We’ll show you how!


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CREDITS
NAME | Dylan Mask
Nathan and Mark Laurie | Executive producers
David Tal | Producer, writer | @DavidTalWrites
Anthony Capano | Creative Director
David Cain | Camera
T. Tieu | Video Editor

[lyraserpentine]

"You don't have to say 'yes' to every request asked of you..." Actually, in a cutthroat environment, yes, you do. I've said "no" a number of times throughout the last year & have had multiple meetings per each "no" to remind me that my role at this organization & for the C-Suite is a supporting one. Certain actors do NOT like hearing the word "no" when it comes to them giving a directive to someone lower on the corporate food chain.

[marksummers]

Hanging out with the boss can work for a while BUT it can also backfire spectacularly. The Hatchet Man's Playbook lists several instances where hanging out with the boss when there wasnt natural chemistry blew up spectacularly in the actor's face and cost him his job!

[pierre-rose]

It really sucks when you're not the CEO !

[williamthrower]

Kissing ass to get ahead is just stupid. I use hard work, frugal living, and compound interest (dividend stocks, high yield ETFs, etc) to get ahead. I'd rather own 20, 000 shares of Coca-Cola and live in a double wide than to live in a mansion and be cash-poor. When I buy a car, I drive it until it dies. I chose to never marry or have kids because I know women care about social status and I'm not into that. I've always made it a point to be completely classless. I could have $100 million dollars and I'd own tons of blue chip dividend stocks, laundromats, car washes, etc but I'd live in a very modest house and drive the same Corolla I have now. Money can't change me because I just enjoy being myself. I feel zero sense of loss in living this way because if I want something and the trifecta I mentioned a moment ago isn't enough to procure my desired outcome, then I just take that as a sign from the universe that it wasn't meant to be.

Having said all that, I'd like to leave you guys with a few thoughts:

1) Never, ever do anything that makes you not like yourself. If kissing ass to get a raise or promotion would cause you to not like yourself, don't do it regardless of how much money is involved.

2) When contemplating a given action, if that action doesn't live in your heart and soul, don't do it.

3) Send out positive energy into the universe. Donate to your favorite charity. Nothing is ever lost in the universe; and if you send out positive energy, it will eventually return to you.

3) There are tons of ways to get ahead without kissing ass. Use compound interest. Start a website. Sell on eBay. Think of an idea and get it patented.

4) I did myself a great favor when I was 16 years old. I decided that I wasn't going to play the status game. I wasn't going to go for the best house and the fanciest car; I was simply going to live a modest frugal lifestyle and invest my surplus at compound interest, and occassionally give to charity. When I made this decision, I exempted myself from a lifetime of stress because so much stress in life comes from trying to keep up with the Joneses. I slammed the door shut on all of that at 16. For those of you who haven't yet stepped outside the matrix and streamlined your priorities like I have, I suggest giving it a shot. You can always go back to doing it your way if you don't like my way, so you got nothing to lose!