[buffy12]

I stink at office politics. I always have. I am friendly and nice and considerate, but I am emotional and will have an occassional outburst that will severly damage my reputation (this has happened at every place I've worked). I have loudly complained about policies I didn't agree with and became known as difficult.

I'm sure much of it comes from working in environments that don't really suit me or not matched with my abilities, but I fear that if the day ever comes when I DO have the "dream job" that I will do the exact same thing.

When someone is passive aggressive towards me I lose my mind. My supervisor (who clearly does not like me. This is NOT paranoia talking) said to me today while explaining something I'd done wrong "you see you need to write this down verbatim, THAT IS word for word" implying that I might not know the definition of the word verbatim. It was her tone that made me go nuts and further reject authority figures in general, especially those who are condescending and abusive of their power.

I am a person who in life has experienced being loved or hated, seldomly in between. I speak my mind and can be bold at times, but I'm honest in my feelings and never mean or mean spirited. There are people in this world who will love you for that, but many more who will hate you.

I don't know how to play the game without becoming someone I hate. Whenever I pretend to be a stepford employee I make myself sick. How can I retain my sense of myself while making a good impression on the boss?

[FaithisAlive]

It could be as simple as finding your place in the job market.. that "dream" job...but sometimes it is all about self discipline.. knowing WHEN to protest.. or HOW...

Office policies often need changing and maybe you are the kind of person who can make change happen.... if you do it right... instead of protesting. maybe taking action to change things would be better... Advocacy has to start somewhere...

Don't worry about impressing your boss.. just do the best you can at your job...be yourself.. maintain some control and your boss will be impressed on your own merit.

And when you feel like you need to let loose... count to ten and back to one again over and over...or you could quote the Lords prayer in your head slowly... this gives you a few seconds to "chill" before you do...

Good Luck! Faith

[Rhapsody]

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buffy12 said:
I stink at office politics. I always have. I am friendly and nice and considerate, but I am emotional and will have an occassional outburst that will severly damage my reputation (this has happened at every place I've worked). I have loudly complained about policies I didn't agree with and became known as difficult.

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<font color="purple"> ((((((( HUGS ))))))) ~ ~ ~ ((((((( HUGS ))))))) </font>

Hang in there....... for I am sure that this has happened to all of us at one time or another.

LoVe,
Rhapsody -

[sobs1410]

Hi!

I recently read a very good article on Office Politics. Here's the link:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/man...-politics.html

Hope you find it as useful as I did!

[sabby]

I too refuse to play the office politics game. As long as I know what my job is and what is expected of me, I live up to that expectation the best way I can while maintaining the best attitude I can with my fellow employees.

I know that we won't get along with everyone all the time. At those times when I'm frustrated with others I become quiet and think about the situation, take a break and breathe. Then I try to look at all the possible reasons as to why something is going wrong with the boss/fellow employees.

Great suggestion made about changing policies....if you have a policy that you don't like, come up with options to re-writing the policy.....offering the information without expectation of change but with hope of change. Sounds like an excellent way of opening up communication in that way.

Wishing you well!
sabby

[StarPonysMama]

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buffy12 said:

I am a person who in life has experienced being loved or hated, seldomly in between. I speak my mind and can be bold at times, but I'm honest in my feelings and never mean or mean spirited. There are people in this world who will love you for that, but many more who will hate you.

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I work in accounting for a very LAID back yet successful worldwide agency. I kinda just stick here in my office and keep to myself.

So I cant offer much advice but I can tell you - I WHOLEHEARTEDLY can identify with the above quote. Follows through my entire life and yes, many, many people will HATE you for bold honesty. It sucks.

Big hugs and I hope things work out for you.

[Wants2Fly]

Work? What can I say -- I have a cynical perspective. They call it work because it isn't play. If it was fun, they wouldn't have to pay us to do it.

[AAAAA]

At the risk of sounding unsupportive, no matter where you work there is going to be office politics. And most probably they will only be positive to you if you own the firm you’re working for. Every place I’ve worked there have been people that have no productivity whatsoever, but they are coddled for some reason by the higher ups.

I got into a frank discussion with my boss on this subject at my last job during my yearly employee review. My boss did everything that he could to make the job easiest for some lazy slugs in our department. And I felt that since I rarely asked for assistance, when I did, I felt that my request should be taken seriously and dealt with in a timely manner; which it was not.

He looked at me very surprised and said “you really don’t know!” No I don’t! He told me “you’re going to work no matter what. If you run into a problem, you’re going to figure it out, perhaps not as quickly as you’d like, but you’ll come up with the right answer. I don’t have to worry about you or your crew, you’ll keep them in line. You should take it as a compliment that I don’t run right over when you call. I have to babysit those bozos.”

While it was very flattering to hear that he appreciated the work I did, his input and support would have cut my frustration level in half if he’d been there when I needed him. Why are these other people still employee? I’d like a baby sitter from time to time too! The “bozos” were getting paid the same amount of money I was and they had NO stress! Why can’t I have bozo status?!?

I wish I could give you a way to deal with it, I never learned. I was known to be courteous and fair, but I don’t think that anyone would have called me friendly. I was always willing to help out when needed and answer any question asked. But I have a zero BS tolerance. Don’t ask me to do something for you when you’re thumbing through a magazine and tell me you’re busy or I’m better at it because I’m not going to do it. And Lord have mercy if you lied to me!