Can you be successful without playing politics?
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Do you ever feel like in order to get ahead in your career you need to play politics? I felt this many times in my career. I’m not one to play politics so I have looked at other ways to accomplish my goals.
I have read many books on the things you need to do in order to be successful in your career. I understand it, but I don’t often agree. I want to be authentic and real, I don’t like to sugar coat anything, but maybe that isn’t the right way to be if you want to be successful.
What is success anyway?! Success is determined by you and only you. If you are happy in your career and love what you do, you are successful.
So what if you aren’t happy and you feel that you still want to do more and get ahead in your career. Do you need to play politics? I don’t think so, but here are some of my suggestions:
Let your voice be heard - Do not sit in meetings and not speak up. I know it can be difficult at times to speak up in a crowded room. Everyone is speaking and you’re trying to get a word in. You have to find that right moment and speak up! If you do feel afraid to speak up in meetings, I would suggest to write down a few thoughts and questions ahead of the meeting on the topic of discussion. This will help you feel prepared and ready to speak when the moment is right.
Share your accomplishments - Keep a list of everything you are working on and what value you have added in the process. Be sure to let management know what you have accomplished. It can be a simple “FYI - this was completed”. Sometimes your manager or their manager may be too busy to notice so you need to keep them informed.
Set up that meeting with a senior manager - yes it’s scary at times, but they are just people too. Set up that meeting with the senior person that really scares you. Tell him/her what you do and why you add value to the firm. It’s important that they know who you are and what you do.
Ask - I love the phase, “if you don’t ask, the answer is always no”. This has helped me in the past to ask for things even when I knew the answer may be no. I still felt I had to ask it because maybe the answer might just be yes. And sometimes it was yes! You have to do these things to push yourself to meet your goals.
I don’t always listen to my own advice. I have definitely gotten better at doing so, but it can be hard at times. We all need to stop listening to that voice in our head that says we are not good enough. We are good enough!
I really don’t believe in playing politics. I feel if you work hard and smart, build relationships and look for ways to build a better more efficient company, you will be successful. You will need to market what you have done so that management recognizes your accomplishments.
If you do these things and management still doesn’t recognize you, then it could be time to look elsewhere. Sometimes you may not be the right fit for the company. I don’t know the reasons for this, but it could be a company culture doesn’t fit with your way of thinking.
There could also be cliques in the company that make it difficult for others to fit in. I have seen this where you may not be the “popular” person in the company even though your work speaks for itself. Don’t let this stop you from using your voice to be heard about your ideas. Even when you may not agree with something that management is doing, speak up in a constructive manner to help change occur.
These are just a few recommendations to help you get to where you want to be in your career. Careers can have many challenges on your journey to get to where you want to be. Sometimes even when you are where you want to be, it can be challenging to stay there. Don’t worry so much - just do the best that you can do and you will feel much better about where you are.
Here’s to your success!
Best,
Rene