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Playing office politics
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July 31, 1998: 5:36 p.m. ET
Author tells embattled workers: listen to your 'evil twins,' get what you want
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - It's time for a raise or perhaps you have your eye set on that corner office, but Ronna Lichtenberg, author of a popular book on surviving workplace politics, says it's going to take a lot more than just talent to get your dreams to come true.
A partial transcript of her comments on CNNfn's "Business Unusual" follows.
BEVERLY SCHUCH, CNNfn ANCHOR: The title of your book is Work Would Be Great, If It Weren't for the People. An unusual title indeed.
RONNA LICHTENBERG, AUTHOR: But everybody feels that way.
SCHUCH: But you are saying that our performance alone is not going to get us there.
LICHTENBERG: No, you can't get to the task of what you are doing without going through people. That's pretty much the deal. If there are three of you trying do something, you need to work out a way to sort out your agendas.
SCHUCH: So what do we need to know? What are some of the guideposts here to working with other people - superiors and . . . ?
LICHTENBERG: Almost everybody. You know. It's your boss. It's your subordinate. It's your colleges. It's your friends -- who maybe aren't your friends - and your enemies. Although I actually think friends are more dangerous than enemies sometimes. And I'll tell you why, because you have somebody at work you think is your friend, like, let's say, Linda Tripp, and then you tell them all of your secrets.
But then it's like a giant pinata -- all the secrets fly out when you are not friends. And friendships end over things like you get a raise. Or suddenly, you are somebody's boss, or they are your boss. With enemies, it is more straightforward because they always tell the truth about you. If there is a criticism of you that you need to hear you can usually hear it faster (from the) enemy.
SCHUCH: So it is not possible to be lousy at office politics and still get ahead?
LICHTENBERG: No, not if you work with other people. There are folks who say to me, "I don't listen to gossip. I don't get into it. I just stay to myself." And then they call me back and say, "You know what, we reorganized, or there was an acquisition, and now suddenly, I got reorganized out."
SCHUCH: Now, you are not just an author, but also founder and president of Clear Peak Communications. And you say that you started the company and wrote this book all at the same time.
LICHTENBERG: In that fever of activity.
SCHUCH: Why did you feel compelled to write the book?
LICHTENBERG: I always thought of doing it. I always wanted to do something that was mine.
SCHUCH: And it is a hilarious book. It's so funny. I mean, you could just read it just for the humor in it alone.
LICHTENBERG: But it is also because I see all these people who go through office politics and they are miserable. And I certainly had my misery - you know, those 3:00 in the morning moments. Or you go to the dentist and you need a stress guard, because you are grinding (your teeth) over how miserable it is.
And I wanted it to be funny so people could step back and say, "You know what, this isn't the end of the world. It's not just me. I'm not the world's only victim. I can handle this."
SCHUCH: But something that you point out without pounding it into people's heads is you are in control of your work situation. And how people respond to you and how you respond to them is strictly how you want to control it, how you want to handle it.
LICHTENBERG: I mean the thing is most people who complain about office politics say it's "them." This person is getting more money, and this person is doing that. And so it's whole litany about "them."
They give away their own power because they perceive themselves as a victim. Well, that feels kind of good. I mean I like to feel sorry for myself too. Get out the Haagen Dazs and spoon it out, woe is me.
SCHUCH: Sure, you like to indulge yourself.
LICHTENBERG: Right. Except that that doesn't do you any good. So if you accept that you really are playing politics and that you are in charge, then you can change your environment.
SCHUCH: Is playing politics just being nice?
LICHTENBERG: No, no. Because nice means you don't pursue your own agenda. When everyone says, "Oh, Beverly is so nice," that sometimes means, "Let's not fire her until after Christmas" because it means you are not getting things done. Politics is you have a job to do and you can't do it unless you influence other people. That's politics.
SCHUCH: How do you deal with somebody who seems like they were sent from hell as an obstacle to just ruin your life?
LICHTENBERG: Well, usually it is your boss. I get e-mail every day from people saying, "My boss is the biggest idiot that the Good Lord ever made."
SCHUCH: They are certainly getting enough books written about bad bosses.
LICHTENBERG: Right. And most people do exactly the wrong thing, which is think, "Maybe I'll just leapfrog over my boss's head to my boss's boss, and then the big boss is going to see how brilliant I am, and my life is going to be cool." Very bad idea.
You hurt your boss, and your boss hurts you. Normally when someone hates you, I think the first thing to do is try to help them succeed. You want to calm them down. Especially, your boss. You don't want to leave your boss like some wild horse with the white showing around the eyes. Not good.
With any enemy, if you can help them succeed, or even help them succeed in finding another job. One of the things I've done is give enemies names of headhunters. You know, I never stab you in person. You want them to succeed - just, you know, somewhere else.
SCHUCH: What's the biggest difference for you going from having a boss to being the boss?
LICHTENBERG: Well, I think it's easier to lie to yourself about politics when you are the boss. A lot of bosses say to me, "Oh, my staff doesn't have politics." And then I go to the people working for them and say, "Well, so what's it like?" And it's brutal. So when you are the boss, people tell you what you want to hear. Particularly if you have sent out these signals, "I don't want to know. I don't want to know." And you have to work harder to know what's going on when you are on top.
SCHUCH: Do you find it easier though?
LICHTENBERG: It is just different, and it is more subtle. The higher up you go, the more subtle the game is and the smaller the moves. And part of rising to the top of any organization is understanding that the political game gets harder and it gets a little harder to see.
SCHUCH: Interesting. You talk about how we all have an evil twin. And sometimes, we've got to take the evil twin's advice on handling a situation. Give me an example.
LICHTENBERG: Well, the evil twin is that voice in your head that "I'm not going to take it any more." Remember in "Network," that "I'm mad as hell"?
SCHUCH: Yes, yes.
LICHTENBERG: That is the evil twin. And I believe in listening to that voice, because that's the voice that keeps you from feeling like a victim. And that's the voice that gives you options. So you are listening to the evil twin.
Let's say we are working with Fred, and Fred is just a big blowhard who wants to tell everybody everything he's done. And the evil twin says, "You know what? Let's help Fred." So you get Fred more opportunities to be in front of people. You get him speaking engagements, get him on a television show. He's going to step on his tongue sooner or later.
SCHUCH: Let's talk about some of the subtleties, or maybe aren't so subtle, actually, things about -- as we see on "Ally McBeal" -- the shared bathroom, or having gyms at the office, or even a dress code, or how you dress.
LICHTENBERG: Right. Yes, I know that's tough. And people don't admit that we pay attention to (the subtleties).
SCHUCH: Yes, we do.
LICHTENBERG: And it changes how you see people. There was this awful evil twin moment -- one woman's staff hated her, she was just an awful manager. And they knew she wouldn't go to the bathroom except by herself. So they spelled each other all day. They would go so one person was always in there and she couldn't go.
SCHUCH: (That's) really mean. I think that's taken this show to a new level. I'm not sure what that is, but you talk about also the value of flattery.
LICHTENBERG: Yes, well, I talk about actually sucking up and the difference between that and brown nosing. Because nice people are nice to people junior to them, and nice to people lateral to them, but they are usually not nice to people who are senior, because they are afraid they are going to look disgusting. So sucking up is you find one thing that you really believe.
SCHUCH: Right.
LICHTENBERG: So you say, you know, "Gee, when you gave me feedback on how to lay this out, that was really helpful." That's OK. Brown-nosing is some big generality like, "Ah, you must be the best boss in the whole world."
SCHUCH: And even a male could probably see through that.
LICHTENBERG: Yes. 
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