Chief Change Officer
#104 Growing Beyond Office Politics with Jennifer Selby Long: Escaping Toxic Cultures That Linger - Part One
Sun, 15 Dec 2024
Part One. Ever left a toxic boss or workplace, hoping for a fresh start, only to land in the same chaos at your new job? It’s a frustratingly common cycle. The truth is, office politics are everywhere. From power plays and subtle maneuvers to that colleague who always seems to win, navigating workplace dynamics can be exhausting. In this two-part series, leadership expert Jennifer Selby Long joins me to unpack why office politics happen, how some people thrive in politically charged environments, and why others struggle. We’ll explore toxic cultures, power dynamics, and the hidden forces shaping your work life—and how to navigate them without losing yourself along the way. Feeling stuck or burned out? These episodes are packed with relatable stories and actionable insights to help you take your next step forward. Key Highlights of Our Interview: Finding Your Ally Among the Majority “In political environments, success hinges on securing a powerful ally. Aligning your interests with theirs and elevating them as a leader in your cause is essential if you plan to stay and thrive in such an environment.” When Conversations Clash, Progress Pauses “Business meetings often default to task-focused debates where differing perspectives turn into verbal standoffs. Rarely do teams pause to acknowledge the conflict and approach it constructively, missing opportunities to uncover deeper understanding.” No Permanent Friends, No Permanent Enemies—Just Interests “Drawing from the wisdom of Martin Luther King’s attorney, Clarence Jones: the game of politics is about aligning interests, not forging everlasting alliances. Understanding this can shift how you approach your workplace dynamics.” Assumptions: The Silent Saboteur “Most conflicts arise not from genuine disagreement but from unchecked assumptions about others’ motives or goals. Pausing to clarify and validate these assumptions can eliminate a significant portion of perceived conflict.” _________________________ Connect with us: Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Jennifer Selby Long --Chief Change Officer-- Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself. Open a World of Deep Human Intelligence for Growth Progressives, Visionary Underdogs, Transformation Gurus & Bold Hearts. 6 Million+ All-Time Downloads. Reaching 80+ Countries Daily. Global Top 3% Podcast. Top 10 US Business. Top 1 US Careers. >>>100,000+ subscribers are outgrowing. Act Today.<<< --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.18 Million+ All-Time Downloads.80+ Countries Reached Daily.Global Top 1.5% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>170,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: What are the common challenges with office politics?
Now, there is a newer factor that I think contribute today, and that's the global and virtual nature of many businesses combined with what I'm going to boldly call a certain willful blindness on the part of nearly everyone to accept some of the hard realities and trade-offs of that situation or condition.
So fundamentally, what we know is even in today's more virtual environment, people who need to make difficult decisions together in a complex business environment actually need to be together in person far more often than most of us realize.
So the resistance to this comes from both employees who've now gotten used to working at home, they're resisting traveling to get together for off-sites, resisting coming to office locations to work together in person, and from senior leaders who winced at that travel and entertainment budget that's going to be needed to bring people together who aren't in the same city, certainly quite a bit more than once a year.
Now, Vince, would you like a recent example? Yes, please. An example would be nice. A leadership team that I worked with over several years now, and they used to work together really well. In fact, when I first started working with them, we didn't even do any sort of team effectiveness assessment because I assessed informally this team is very effective. That's not what they need my help with.
But as I watched them over the past year, they were beginning to feel threatened by each other. There was backbiting. There was bickering. There were power struggles among this team. And this became very concerning to me. Now, their membership had started to change a little bit. A key team member was leaving to retire.
And their responsibilities at a team and the pressure on them had broadened considerably. They were leading a type of business transformation that had never been attempted before. And so... You've got to start asking what is going on here that this team is becoming, if you will, political. They're getting in these power struggles with each other and these battles.
And this was rolling on down through the organization to where all the people in their organization were starting to complain and say, you seem to be battling with each other all the time. We're not ever sure quite what to do. You don't move as one anymore like you used to. In this situation, I really needed to get this team together in person to work through this.
But the T&E budget had been slashed to basically zero in that organization. In my opinion, that was where we would call a penny wise and pound foolish decision.
to cut those T&E budgets across the company because the team all agreed once we were able to get together to push hard for an exception to that T&E budget situation that we did the work that they really needed to do with a vigorous and proper assessment of what is going on, what is in the way, why has the team performance deteriorated, why were they in a split battle.
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Chapter 2: Why do office politics exist in modern workplaces?
It feeds the neural networks that are more survival-based, right, to keep you in that more survival-based mode. But actually staying in that mode doesn't help you to be a better problem solver, right? And if you think of politics as a problem to be solved like any other, you really need to get your brain going with every possible strength that it has. The second one is step back and analyze things.
with a certain curiosity and even some empathy. Be curious about it versus frustrated by it, even if you can only maintain that curiosity for a few minutes as an alternative to your frustration and anger. And so say, I'm really curious. I wonder why someone would think that would produce a good result. I wonder why someone would behave in that way. I wonder what's going on with them.
I wonder what kind of a situation they're in. I wonder what they've been instructed in. And continuing to just stay in this curious mode could give you some insights into the interests of these various people in power. And then you need to look at how are your interests aligned with the interests of these people in power. Right.
And if you do have interests that are aligned with some of these people in power, that's when you need to find yourself an ally among those other people. And get that person to become a co-leader with you in whatever it is that you want to happen, whatever change it is that you want to happen.
That's not just someone who says they agree with you, but someone who would step up, put some skin in the game, co-lead with you, someone who would get as much credit as you get for maybe solving the problem that people were in a power struggle over. And maybe that person will get even more credit I put myself in situations like that.
Even though it's not particularly fair, if it does help to break down those power dynamics, having that ally who is really a co-leader is pretty important. Stay focused on the outcome that you want and the interests and needs of the people involved. That's really the last real ongoing thing in that little process.
approach that I've recommended because the interest and the needs of yourself and the others are what drives really just about everyone's behavior. And staying attuned to those becomes pretty vital to lessening the power struggles, right? And to keeping them at bay over the long time. I think we talked a little bit about how
Sometimes very sort of average people seem to excel in these environments that are politically charged. And one of the surprising reasons is there's maybe 25 to 35 percent of the general population that has a natural temperament that's just generally not bothered as much by political issues. clashes. They just aren't.
They just naturally get very interested in quickly assessing the situation, figuring out how to get to the goal. And I would imagine those people aren't even listening to this podcast. They're not even interested in it. And so there are some people who are just, they're built in a way that they just have a natural buffer against it.
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