16. Politics and Your Brand

Politics are a fact of life in an organization.  The higher up you are in the organization, the more important they become.

Years ago I worked for a boss that was full of common sense.  The important fact he taught me about politics was that you don't have to play many of the political games, but that you do need to understand them.  If you don't, you are sure to be hurt by them.  His advice to me, which I have tried to live by for over twenty-five years, was "Be True to Yourself and Always Keep Your Integrity."   Some of this relates to a key principle of management - the need to treat everyone fairly.  That doesn't mean that you need to treat everyone the same, only that you do so fairly.

You have a Personal Brand at work whether you realize it or not.  One of the best books I have read on this is Career Warfare by David D'Alessandro.  The subtitle is "10 rules for building a successful personal brand and fighting to keep it".  Not surprisingly, corporate politics can have a large impact on your brand (substitute career, if you'd like) your actions - and reactions to people and situations - truly count.  The book has multiple great examples.  I'll share a personal one of my own.

Years ago I was hired in as a project manager for a project that for a large variety of reasons was a victim of "Analysis by Paralysis".  My charter was to cut what could be cut and get it completed and implemented.  I cut much and two weeks before go live we had a review with the CEO (who I had never met).  I had gone over my presentation with the IT Director and the CFO multiple times and we thought it would take thirty minutes and then we'd have a brief demo.  Instead the review went from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm with a short break for lunch.  It then continued until 7:00 pm for the demo.  Simply put - it was brutal and I felt like the target.

Afterwards I was in the IT Director's office and I asked two questions:

1. What happened?
2. Should I start looking for a job tomorrow?

He told me to not worry; that I had done fine and that the point of the review was to ensure that the IT Director and CFO never had as a long a project again.  And in the fifteen years until the CEO retired, there never was.

More importantly, from a personal perspective, was that I passed the CEO's test and until he retired he took and active and positive role in my career.

In today's world your brand is also impacted by Social Media, so think before you post that picture.