CHAPTER 13

1. CHAPTER 13 POSITIVE POLITICAL SKILLS

2. LINK AMONG POLITICS, POWER, AND INFLUENCE • Organizational politics refers to gaining power through any means other than merit or luck. • Power is the ability to control anything of value, and to influence decisions. Power Control and Influence Political Tactics

3. SIX SYMPTOMS OF POLITICAL TENDENCIES (SAQ 13-1) • The boss or team leader is always right. • It is wise to flatter important people. • I laugh heartily at my boss’s humor, even if I do not think it is funny. • Never waste lunchtime with somebody who can’t help you in some way. • Tell people what they want to hear. • Staying late just to impress the supervisor.

4. POLTICAL SKILL AND SENSITIVITY TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS • Sensitivity to surroundings and other people helps make you politically aware. • Cultural sensitivity is a special type of sensitivity to one’s surroundings. • During job interview, a person with good sensitivity would size up the environment to choose the appropriate attire. Could be formal attire, could be business casual.

5. POLITICAL SKILL, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE • Emotional intelligence helps you read emotions to establish rapport with people. • Social intelligence helps you understand how relationships affect brain and body. • Good relationships act like vitamins, energizing us to perform well. • Arrogance can cause emotional distress that impairs brain’s ability to learn and think clearly.

6. POLITICAL SKILL AND RELATIONSHIP BUILDING WITH LEADER • Political skills can help you develop higher quality leader-member exchange (LMX). • Study shows that political skills can help develop good LMX even when two parties are demographically different. • Study also showed that quality of LMX was not due to gender or age. • Political skill helped overcome relationship problems based on racial differences.

7. WHY STUDY ETIQUETTE? • Points way toward refined and acceptable behavior. • Using proper etiquette contributes to individual and business success. • Helps you present yourself with the kind of polish that shows you can be taken seriously. • Might give you competitive advantage.

8. POLITICAL SKILL AND OVERCOMING EFFECTS OF INJUSTICE • Study suggests that political skill can help overcome effects of injustice in the organization. • Procedural justice is fairness of policies; distributive justice is about rewards. • Under conditions of injustice, political skill was associated with high performance. • Politically-skilled workers rated highly regardless of level of distributive justice.

9. IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT • Impression management is a set of behaviors directed at enhancing one’s image by drawing attention to oneself. • Impression management can be directed toward superficial aspects of self such as clothing and appearance. • Can also be directed toward deeper aspects of self such as performance and appearing self-confident.

10. TACTICS OF IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT • Display organizational citizenship behavior. • Become admired for going beyond the call of duty. • Possible motive behind citizenship behavior is to foster good impression. • Citizenship behavior leads to being perceived positively. • Citizenship behavior helps both individuals and the organization.

11. Impression Management, continued • Build Trust and Confidence • A key strategy for creating a positive impression. • Project authentic impression of person who can be trusted to execute faithfully and ethically. • Take only fair share of boss’s time, and give alternatives to problems you see.

12. Impression Management, continued • Be Visible and Create a Strong Presence • Be perceived as valuable contributor. • Visibility attained in many ways such as being assigned to key projects, volunteering. • Face-to-face and electronic visibility both count (including intranets and blogs). • Important to be known as contributor.

13. Impression Management, continued • Admit Mistakes • Many people believe that covering up mistakes is better for their impression. • Higher level of political skill is to admit mistakes to appear more trustworthy. • Saying “I goofed,” will often bring sympathy and support. • Requesting guidance shows humility.

14. Impression Management, continued • Minimize Being a Yes-Person • Conventional view is that being a yes-person develops good relationships because “the boss is always right.” • Likely to create a better impression by expressing constructive disagreement when appropriate. • Explain how to enhance boss’s plan or avoid errors.

15. Impression Management, continued • Create a Healthy Image • A physically fit appearance has gained in importance in the workplace. • Many firms offer rewards for physical fitness and avoiding smoking and obesity. • Emotional fitness, including appearing relaxed, also creates a positive impression.

16. Impression Management, concluded • Be yourself when managing your impression. Put your best foot forward but keep your identity and integrity. • Good political skills are important for impression management. • Study showed that workers with good political skill who used impression management received high evaluations.

17. WHY STUDY ETIQUETTE? • Points way toward refined and acceptable behavior. • Using proper etiquette contributes to individual and business success. • Helps you present yourself with the kind of polish that shows you can be taken seriously. • Might give you a competitive advantage.

18. KEY AREAS OF BUSINESS ETIQUETTE (Outline) • Etiquette for work behavior and clothing • Introductions of people • Relationships between men and women and people of different ages • Dining • Working in a cubicle • Cross-cultural relations • Interaction with people with disabilities

19. ETIQUETTE FOR WORK BEHAVIOR AND CLOTHING • Work behavior includes completing work on time, punctuality, being a team player, listening, and following through. • For example, completing work on time shows respect for others. • Size up the situation for proper clothing, but remember that casual does not mean sloppy or dirty.

20. INTRODUCTIONS • Present lower ranking-person to higher- ranking person. (Mention higher-ranking person’s name first.) • Provide a little information about the person being introduced. • Remember people’s names, and pronounce them correctly. • Extend right hand, shake firmly, and establish eye contact.

21. MEN AND WOMEN, PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT AGES • Business etiquette is based on equal treatment for all. • Person in lead holds door open. • Man follows woman on escalator but precedes her on stairs. • Treat elder with respect, yet equally. • Avoid touching except for handshakes. (Fist-to-fist contact is in style.)

22. DINING ETIQUETTE • Etiquette covers planning, seating arrangements, bill paying, tipping, table manners, proper alcohol consumption. A few less obvious guidelines to follow: • Arrange seating for meal in advance. • Establish with server who will pay check. • Place napkin on lap right after being seated.

23. Dining Etiquette, continued • Bread should not be used to push food onto a fork or spoon. • Pace your eating to others at table. • Let wait staff move plates around table. • Circulate rolls and bread to the right, not the left. • Order alcoholic beverage only if invited by sponsor, and he or she does. No getting high or drunk (duh!).

24. CUBICLE ETIQUETTE • Challenge is that your everyday work behavior can be readily observed. • Speak low enough so phone conversations do not annoy others or reveal confidential information. • Watch what you put on your monitor. • Do not take care of personal hygiene (such as flossing) while in cubicle.

25. CROSS-CULTURAL RELATIONS • Proper etiquette may vary across cultures. • Study culture carefully, including asking questions, to understand right etiquette. • Violating customs, such as how far to stand from people, is poor etiquette. • When in doubt about proper etiquette, observe how host or successful person in group behaves.

26. INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES • Be natural and open as you can. • Speak directly to person, not companion. • Place yourself at eye-level to person in wheelchair. • Do not shout at blind person. • To get attention of deaf person, tap his or her shoulder or wave your hand. • Except for above, treated disabled people as you would anyone else.

27. POSITIVE POLITICS AND CAREER SUCCESS Impression Management and Etiquette More Polished Professional Worker Relationship Building Avoiding Political Blunders

28. RELATIONSHIPS WITH MANAGERS AND OTHER KEY PEOPLE • Network with influential people. • Help your manager succeed (the primary reason you were hired). • Understand unwritten boundaries (dividing lines of behavior appropriate to different roles). • Volunteer for assignments (shows right kind of initiative).

29. Relationships with Managers, continued • Flatter influential people (yet be sensible and credible). • Use information power (includes knowing how to access valuable information). • Appear cool under pressure (also a good leadership characteristic) • Laugh at you manager’s humor (helps establish rapport with manager)

30. Relationships with Managers, concluded • Express constructive disagreement (if you believe boss is wrong, base your disagreement on careful analysis, and be tactful). • Present a clear picture of your accomplishments (explain exactly what work you are doing, problems you are solving, and successes attained).

31. NETWORKING WITHKEY PEOPLE • Must gain trust and confidence of influential people in the network. • Must identify the power players. • Must have sensible reason to contact network members. • Be clear and concise about your needs. • Explain benefits you are offering. • Avoid being a pest (too much contacting).

32. COWORKERS AND OTHER WORK ASSOCIATES • Maintain honest and open relationships • Make others feel important. • Be diplomatic. • Exchange favors. • Ask for advice. • Share constructive gossip. • Minimize micro-inequities (slights). • Follow group norms.

33. AVOIDING POLITICAL BLUNDERS • Criticizing manager in public forum. • Bypassing the manager. • Displaying disloyalty. • Being a pest. • Being poor team player. • Burning bridges. • Indiscreet behavior in private life. • Trashing company on Internet.