In this third installment with Gen X executive coach Jennifer Selby Long, we zoom in on one of the messiest, most misunderstood realities of modern work: office politics. Jennifer breaks down why politics often stem less from individual egos and more from structural dysfunction, emotional disconnection, and leadership blind spots—especially in hybrid teams. She explains how outdated views of leadership, chronic misalignment, and even cost-cutting decisions like slashed T&E budgets can quietly poison team trust. But this isn’t just a takedown—Jennifer arms listeners with a real-world playbook to navigate power struggles without becoming part of the problem. For seasoned professionals tired of performative team building and empty culture talk, this episode reframes politics not as inevitable—but as solvable.Politics ≠ Power-Hungry People“The majority of leaders are not political animals.”Jennifer challenges the stereotype that all office politics are about ego—revealing how misaligned strategy and trust gaps often create dysfunction.Remote Work’s Invisible Cost“You might not feel like getting on that plane… but complex decisions require in-person time.”She explains how budget cuts, virtual distance, and hybrid habits are quietly damaging team cohesion.Toxic by Design“I’ve worked with clients who were pretty mercenary at first… but some became the most dedicated leaders.”What happens when cold-blooded management isn’t an accident—but a strategy?Five Moves to Navigate a Political Culture“Stop venting. Start observing.”Jennifer offers a practical five-step approach to surviving—and even reshaping—a political workplace, starting with curiosity, not complaints.Why Some People Don’t Struggle with Politics at All“There’s a portion of the population just wired to be unbothered by it.”From temperament to neural wiring, she explains why some Gen Xers are naturally equipped to handle the drama without burnout._________________________Connect with us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Jennifer Selby Long --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 underlying causes of office politics?
And the second one's failure to align on strategy or strategic direction, which is more the business side. I do think politics are part of a human condition, and they always have been.
Now, there is a newer factor that I think contributes 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 went set 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.
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Chapter 2: How do budget cuts affect team dynamics?
Chapter 3: What are the five moves to navigate a political culture?
We also touched on how some leaders or managers might unknowingly struggle with their personality disorders, which can contribute to these environments. Today, we are honing in on office politics specifically. Let's be real, who hasn't faced them? Whether it's subtle power struggles or outright maneuvering is something everyone has encountered.
Chapter 4: Why do some people thrive in politically charged environments?
Yet, when I type office politics into Google, I don't find as much as I expected. Maybe the term isn't as trendy, but that doesn't mean the problem isn't real or common. People might call it power dynamics, workplace dynamics, but the underlying issue is universal. So Jennifer, let's start with a two-part question. In your view, why do office politics exist?
What factors contribute to the crisis in the modern workplace?
I think it's a very fair and valid question. Why do they exist and what are those factors that contribute to the prevalence of politics in our modern workplaces? In my practice, what I see are two main reasons that office politics exist. The first one is failure to build trust and cohesion, which is, if you will, the subjective or personal reason.
And the second one's failure to align on strategy or strategic direction, which is more the business side. I do think politics are part of a human condition, and they always have been.
Now, there is a newer factor that I think contributes 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 went set 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.
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Chapter 5: How can leaders avoid creating toxic workplace cultures?
Chapter 6: What can we learn from unscripted conversations about office politics?
I still think a lot of leaders out there are running around with what I would consider to be an outdate notion of leadership, that it is somehow about results versus results. when what we see largely is that the stronger teams get the better results. And so the two are not holding, but in fact, the one enabled the other.
And so I can say, certainly I've had some clients who were pretty mercenary clients. When I first started working with them and they became some of the most dedicated and devoted clients in the long run, but I really had to crack them open or crack them over the head in a manner of speaking to get them to see this huge, quite naive disconnect that they were making between people and results. Yeah.
And so some of those folks have become some of our best clients and some of our highest performers over the years. Now, as far as what someone would want to do in a situation like that, if they're not, they believe that they're not contributing to these power dynamics, but they're just on the receiving end of them is a little bit different.
And that's where I think you do need to take a look at how you want to approach this. What is most important to you? I think there are five things that you really need to look at. And I think you want to do these more or less in sequence. The first one, interestingly, is to stop fighting. And you won't believe this, but stop venting to not solve problems.
And in fact, staying in that mode of venting and complaining about a situation actually feeds the neural networks that don't resolve anything, right? 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 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.
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