The Politics of Life and Work
Amazing day Thriving Ladies,
The topic, of politics, is important to both genders because different facets of our lives are governed by this concept.
Politics is considered to be a very important part of life and its origin can be dated back to time immemorial.
Politics is about identifying your interests and advancing the same for either personal gain or the benefit of others. Politics is multifaceted; it is experienced in the family, in religious groups, at work, in academic groups, and lots more.
Politics can be a good or a bad one. A good politics is that which is fairly played. It is a politics that is applied and beneficial to everyone. Bad politics, however, is politics where there are winners and losers.
The Politics of life is the process of developing certain knowledge and political competence. This is needed to navigate life and achieve personal life goals. It requires identifying interests and aligning with those with which one's interests can be aligned.
Storytime...
An intelligent young man, by the name Kayode once got involved along with older men in molesting a young teenage girl. Kayode, however, had a teacher, Mr. A (name withheld) who was a godfather to him and was interested in advancing Kayode's course to be the head prefect of his high school. However, another student, Yemi, who was in the same class with Kayode and was aware of the horrible incident involving Kayode and as such, was determined never to allow Kayode to attain the position of the head prefect.
Yemi, therefore, had to involve other stakeholders with higher authority than Mr. A. and informed them of the incident perpetrated by Kayode. The report was investigated by the school management and afterward, an order was received to remove Kayode’s name from the list of potential prefects.
In the above context, politics was about everybody’s interest because Kayode's bad act and reputation would have been a stain on the reputation of the school.
In the politics of life, the following should be noted:
- Identify your political climate. In doing this, you need to know whether you are on the right side or the wrong side.
- Have quality social influence. You should be able to network, connect with people and be able to get what you want to achieve.
- Be willing to give and take. Give attention to people and you must be able to help them, without the expectation of getting something in return. Rather, with pure intentions.
The Politics of Work (Organizational Politics)
Organizational politics can be very dangerous if not well played. It can be dirty, bloody, and emotionally draining. It can backfire and can cause setbacks. It can as well be very beneficial. It all depends on how you play it.
Workplace politics is the entire concern that an individual or group of people harnesses to achieve certain objectives. At the workplace, you need to be aware of four kinds of people (Political entities);
- FOXES: People who have political awareness. This set of people are very charismatic, are smooth talkers, and are an interesting set of people because they are socially strong and can connect with people. This set of people mostly have selfish interests and they can see to it that the interests of other people go down the drain, as long as theirs are met. They are attention seekers, never loyal to anybody but expect everyone to be loyal to them. They are brutal and sometimes, they can be very subtle. Their actions can never be predicted. To deal with foxes at the workplace, wisdom needs to be applied. When handling foxes at the workplace, play neutral cards with them.
- OWLS: This group of people knows everything that is going on in the organization and are politically aware. However, they do not have any political involvement. They know everything about everybody and do not play dirty politics. An Owl can, however, be brutal the moment you cross your lane. They can become worse than a fox. The Owls are very quiet and practice a democratic leadership style. They give a chance to everyone to air their opinions and are not too keen on your loyalty to them. They ensure it is a win-win for everyone.
- DONKEYS: They are political players in the workplace that believe that they know people and can do anything and get away with it. They are empty because they assume they know, whereas, in the real sense, their opinions do not count. The donkeys are easily punished for offenses they did not commit.
- LAMBS: They have poor political knowledge and do not play politics in any sense. They can easily be punished around or out of the system. They can be used to their disadvantage. They are the categories of people that the foxes lookout to punish.
- Trust yourself only
- Always define your interest. i.e. what you want to achieve. It is important to note that, there are interests better kept to self until it is being executed.
- Learn to differentiate the players.
- If everything is working to your advantage, treat your opponent fairly and with respect.
Tips about the Politics of Life and Work.
Quotes:
Competence is the ability to govern with fairness, with national interest rather than personal interest, with the ability to drive vision and harness national resources for the commonwealth of the citizens, without prejudice to geopolitical location or religion.
-Adeyemi Ajayi
In politics, speak when necessary, be quiet when necessary but more importantly, know when to act.
-Adeyemi Ajayi
Politics is different from organization to organization. Do not play the politics of an organization in another organization, you may not survive it.
-Adeyemi Ajayi
Courtesy:
The Politics of Life and Work
by
Adeyemi Ajayi
C.E.O. Exitum Consulting, Nigeria.
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