Playing politics fair and square

Political action, like leadership behavior, may or may not be beneficial to the success of organizations and their personnel. At one end of the scale, political behavior is selfish. Some outliers are even unethical or illegal. In the upper registers, politically astute behavior supplements professional competency. It is beneficial not only to the practitioner, but also to his or her subordinates, superiors, peers, and employer. Negative political behavior is self-serving, manipulative, and violates the spirit of honest communication. It produces resentment and destroys morale. Often what is perceived as politics is merely poor communication. The remedy for this is better use of formal and informal channels of information. Incompetent employees often rationalize their failures by using politics as a scapegoat. To encourage positive political strategies, employers should institute training programs. Such programs should promote teamwork and teach positive interpersonal skills. Seminars on ethical decision making must be supplemented by model behavior on the part of upper managers.