It doesn’t matter how much you try to hide an emotion in an office, like the bubbles in a glass of champagne they always rise to the top. Working in an office can be a very emotive experience, it can range from sheer dread to a deep feeling of satisfaction. It’s a different experience for everyone, a rollercoaster ride from one week to the next. Unless you happen to be one of those dead souls that spends their week inching through life just happy to collect the next pay cheque. If you took a snapchat of any office around the world you could fill an entire database with different angles and takes on the collisions that take place. All these emotions play a very substantive role in the organisation. The very culture of the workplace can be defined by the behaviours and attitudes of employees.

Office politics can sink a career in the blink of an eye or it can parachute an individual into the top job. A dream role that once seemed so out of reach can be suddenly thrusted upon you. The charming networker can bypass the talented introvert. A quick game of golf with the boss can open the door to what was a seemingly dead end. A life time of hard work can disappear like water down a sink all because the right words may have been uttered to the wrong person. Ultimately we all talk about negative and positive emotions, but it’s how keep these emotions in check that can dictate how we feel when we leave the office at the end of the day. Rash decisions are made because of something that may have been said in error or someone has misread a situation. The ability to gauge the emotions of others around you is a priceless skill.

Relationships, and the way you communicate with those around you is every bit as likely to play a part in how successful you are in the work place. It will be as important as how hard you work. Differences of opinions, conflicts of interest, personal agendas they all contribute to office politics. I’m coming across a lot of cases now where people are jeopardising really good roles both financially and personally all because they believe they can’t handle certain situations in the work place. Sometimes the right solution is to take yourself out of a toxic environment. However if the case is that this is your dream job then you may have to learn to fight your corner. The most basic human response of fight or flight will kick and you need to be sure that you can leave your ego at the front door. Too much fight and you might put more resistance in your path. Too much flight and you will only come across as a push over.

For me the most basic rule that you can follow is that there can be only one winner in 99% of conflicts. The ORGANISATION. So it’s a good rule of thumb to take this into account next time you are backed into a corner. Ask yourself does my issue have a positive or negative effect on the company as a whole. A lot of the time we have no control over decisions that are made in the work place so complaining and moaning to colleagues can be a complete waste of time. In fact this is often the biggest cancer to morale. Learn to understand who has your back and who appreciates you. Feedback from them will be invaluable and can be good outlet to control negative emotions. More importantly remember to never let get things personal. You don’t know what is causing the person on the other side to flare up, but you can be sure they won’t forget if they are being insulted and you will never know when this might come back to haunt you.

Sometimes in your career you will have to lose to win. Attaining a bigger picture outlook in business is so important. Remember to get where you want to in life someone else will have to lose out. Keeping these people on side may help you further down the track. Building and maintaining alliances is key. I’ve never bought into the idea that you should just suck it up and deal with it. Working in a place that matches your ideals and belief system will allow you to achieve more. If you stay true to your values you won’t go too far wrong