Office politics are everywhere.
From backstabbing colleagues to power-hungry climbers, knowing how to navigate them is key to protecting your status—and advancing your career.
This guide breaks down the main political players, their tactics, and how to handle them.
You’ll learn:
✔️ Their psychological profile
✔️ Real-life examples
✔️ Proven strategies to outmaneuver them
Let’s dive in.
Contents
1. Power Hustlers
“The world, chico. And everything in it“
AKA ‘overachievers’ who:
- Always have something to add
- Seek responsibility and power
- Tirelessly self-promote
Psychological Profile
They’re high in personal drive and low in empathy.
Nurtured overachievers grew up in families with high expectations, for example with narcissistic parents (McBride, 2008).
There are several types of overachievers:
- Dr. Jekylls = They can be nice on their own or when nothing is at stake, but ‘switch on’ with bosses, upper management, or opportunities to “shine”
- 24/7 overachievers = It’s “always on” with them, and they’re often lonely
- Machiavellian and socially skilled = Put on a facade of teamwork and mission-orientation
Example
Teacher: What are we missing?
Tracy: (raises her hand as high as possible, jerks it to be even more noticeable)
Solutions
If they’re socially unskilled everyone can see the ugly side of their ambitions so you must only surface and thread-expand it.
Here are some ideas that also work for the more Machiavellian ones:
1. Catch them in the act & speak up
Renee Evenson says that the best way to deal with overachievers claiming credit for teamwork is to speak up right away.
I agree.
If you let them frame themselves as leaders, that reality cements in people’s minds. And your resentment grows inside of you, which is unhealthy.
2. Take the issue to your boss
If the credit taker gets awarded with money, bonus, a promotion, or public praise for a shared achievement, let your boss know you’re not happy.
The Dale Carnegie Training says not to complain lest you sound like a whiner. They say that at work, the person who sounds the most adult and mature wins.
That’s often true, and they propose this approach:
You: Dear boss, I understand you’re happy with Tracy’s work and I’m glad about it because she delivered some important parts.
But there’s one thing concerning me: this was a group effort and many of us did great work. When the time comes for my performance review, I want to make sure I get the same recognition
3. Rally the troops against him
Chances are you’re not the only one to dislike them.
Leverage the discontent and slowly but surely isolate them.
The colleagues and people around you will fall into two categories: the apathetic ones who are too dummy to notice and care; and the smarter ones who care, notice and hate.
With the haters talk about the issue openly.
With the apathetic ones, go for an alliance based on friendship.
4. Keep your eyes on the prize: the boss
If they’re ‘working the boss’, watch out you’re not left behind.
If your boss doesn’t like over-ambition, you’ve almost won: the more you can make their game obvious, the more they will be digging their graves.
If your boss is a dummy, you gotta keep on playing the game.
Also see:
5. Avoid 1-1 battles, avoid lecturing on morals
Overachievers are driven and resourceful, often going places.
Like it or not, that makes them high-value.
So avoid picking up a fight.
P.S.:
Don’t guilt-trip them on “morals”: they’ll either hate you for shaming them, or they’ll think you’re weak.
Him: (lectures overachievers on morals)
Overachiever: (destroys him)
2. Social Climbers
“Can you please do that for me? Thanks!”
There are many ways to social climb, and we’ll focus here on ‘tasking’.
The general power dynamic of tasking VS execution is:
Those who assign tasks look like bosses, and those who execute look like subordinates.
By telling you what to do, they position themselves above you (and push you down in the process).
Psychological Profile
Taskers are power-conscious individuals.
Some of them resent being told what to do by their bosses, and, in a sort of “the oppressed becomes the oppressor dynamic”, they seek revenge on their colleagues.
In some cases, taskers can also be insecure bosses who over-task just so they can “show who’s boss” (the meme being a humorous example).
And finally, the last category of taskers are highly ambitious individuals who want to climb the corporate ladder and have a good career.
Usually, they pick people they think are easy to boss around. However, the most ambitious and dominant of them will try to task almost anybody.
The most knuckleheaded taskers will even try it with their own bosses.
Power Strategy
Very simple:
They task you, you execute, and they gain status to your detriment.
When promotion time comes, nobody promotes the low-status guy who executes other people’s tasks.
Examples
- 🗨️ “Can you please do X for me” <— The standard format
- 🗨️ “Can you (please) take care of it by EOB it’s very important” <— To sound leader-like and strategic
- 🗨️ “Can you come here please, I need your help on something” <— You go to them = you’re the flunky supporting those doing real work.
- 🗨️ “Thank you for taking care of that for me” <— A covert power move. Framed as if they were thanking you, a power move that makes them sound like magnanimous leaders who properly recognize their teams’ work
- 🗨️ “(Standing up to go to the meeting room) Come on, let’s go” <— They lead, you follow
Little Dogs Task The Nastiest
Junior taskers don’t have the actual authority to dispense tasks.
So they’ll seek to task you when it’s most difficult for you to refuse them.
For example:
- Small, inconsequential things just to show they matter (i.e..: “pass me the pen, please”)
- TThings you were going to do anyway (i.e., “send me that report, please”, when sending the report is exactly what you were supposed to do, and going to do)
Read more on how to execute tasks high-power:
3. Grumpy Players
“Bark bark”
The grumpy players operate on the assumption that the fewer people who can ask them, the more freedom and status they gain.
They play office politics defensively, fortifying their desk turf from encroachment and keeping as much of their time for themselves.
Psychology Profile
They’re low agreeableness and socially awkward.
In everyday parlance, you may say ‘loners and losers’.
Some are frustrated, and just hate people.
None of them know how to speak assertively though.
Instead, they’re either:
Defensive Mechanism
I dealt with lots of grumpy older players as a young consultant in IT, clueless about IT.
Grumpiness, in that case, was a defense mechanism.
They were rejecting being told what to do by someone they perceived below them, who knew nothing about their business.
Power Strategy
Their strategy is pure defense, and works like this:
The fewer people approach me, the less work I need to do -and the more powerful I look-.
Most of them don’t have huge ambitions, or if they did, they have been thwarted by years of stagnating careers -of course, who would promote them?-.
Example
A passive-aggressive type:
Peter: Milton? Hi, Uh, could you turn that down just a little bit?
Milton: (turns around with a scared frown) but uh, I was told that I could listen to the radio at a reasonable volume, so I don’t see why… <— Irritatingly insecure, but he frustrates his colleague and gets his way
At the far end, they have anger management issues, with Mad Max in “The Wolf of Wall Street” being an example.
Solutions
The standard advice of getting close to them sometimes works.
You may pierce their defense mechanism and become their best (and possibly only) friend.
But from a political and social status point of view, it’s a double-edged sword.
Grumpy players are rarely high performers, and associating with them might drag you down.
As Robert Greene says in “The 48 Laws of Power“: avoid the unhappy and unlucky.
And the grumpy players.
Here is the rule of thumb for you:
Befriending losers as a powerful man is an act magnanimity.
Befriending losers as a powerless man is a case of “misery loves company”.
-The Power Moves
4. Sticklers For The Rule
“Please stick to the guidelines“
Sticklers For The Rules stake their claim to power with laws, regulations, and SOPs.
Psychological Profile
They’re often high conscientiousness and high neuroticism.
And can be very power-conscious.
Their Office Power Strategy
On paper, they’re following procedures and ensuring everyone else does.
But in reality, they are piggybacking the rules for their personal power.
Plus, if they become “go-to guys” for regulations and procedures they become ‘someone’ in the small pond of the office world.
Their Power Is Capped – With A Low Cap
There is a (well-deserved) glass ceiling for them because movers and shakers make things happen.
Examples
You: Hey hi man, my keyboard broke, they told me you guys can help
IT support: Please go through the official channels and ask my boss for allocation I’m busy now
It may take one second to first plug that keyboard on their laptop and check the issue is the keyboard indeed, but… Nope.
They hide behind the rule to tell you to f*ck off.
5. Fawners
“Just like you said, boss“
Their God is their boss.
Psychological Profile
Contrary to what many believe, brown-nosers are rarely ambitious.
They might want to be bosses one day, but rarely can they even fathom themselves as CEOs or entrepreneurs.
Many are motivated by fear and security, rather than maximum advancement. And just infants seek mothers, fawners seek bosses.
Example
O’Neil: (follows the boss, lights up a cigarette for him, looks at him for confirmation after he speaks)
Solution
Fawners dependent on poor leaders.
So if you have a great boss, you don’t need to worry.
Otherwise, never complain about them to your boss!
Most bosses are average folks, and they love those who adulate them.
When you complain you sub-communicate your boss may not deserve the adulation. And they’ll hate you for it. People prefer the lie of adulation to the truth of reality.
The best strategy is keeping a great relationship with your boss, while doing better work the fawner.
Better yet: let them believe that sucking up is the best way to advance (it’s not), so you remove a competitor from learning and doing great work.
So never talk about learning, self-development, or doing great work.
Talk about people, talk about job security, make him feel the race is on sucking up better, rather than becoming better.
6. Power Aligners
“That’s not what we stand for. This company believes in… “
Power aligners seek power by aligning themselves with those who already have power.
They take on the same values as the boss, of the company (or both) and champion them as if they were their own.
Psychological Profile
Some people confuse them for fawners.
But while fawners take a subordinate role, power aligners don’t.
Instead, they’re more strategic and astute.
Example
Imagine meeting with your boss, you complain about a bad customer:
Power Aligner: But that’s not what we stand for. It doesn’t matter what the customer said to you. I know it can be hard, but we are here to offer the best service we can, no matter what
The boss is nodding at the power aligner’s comment and you’re now in a catch-22.
Tell them they’re right and they win.
Keep defending your position and you dig yourself deeper.
Or imagine your boss is keen in getting discounts:
Power Aligner: Did you ask if they could give a discount? Always ask for a discount, it can save us a lot of money
See what they’re doing?
Acting like your future boss and presenting themselves as representing the company -“us”- (yeah, sure).
Even if you say you did ask for a discount, you are still proving yourself to them.
Power Strategy
Power aligners use a smart strategy well-founded in psychology.
To begin with, we all like people who are like us (Cialdini, 1994) and power aligners mimic their bosses’ personalities and values.
Second, we are hardwired to seek in our ingroup people who support us, and, as legendary GE CEO Jack Welch explains in his book Winning, management wants to promote people who support their ideas.
… And It Works
As Haslam noticed in his “The New Psychology of Leadership“, men who start off presenting themselves as dominant upstart leaders tend to fail.
Those who start off listening, watching, and learning about the group tend to win (see BBC Prison Study as an example).
Slipstream Overtakers
Their behavior mimics the overtaking technique used in motorsports.
Similar to slipstream overtaking, slipstream players align with the boss today, to overtake him tomorrow.
There is a business example in a great movie called “C’eravamo Tanto Amati “. This is the dramatic scene where the final overtake takes place.
Or if you prefer a historical reference, take Brutus. He first became one of Caesar’s favorite and most loyal senators.
And then he championed the palace intrigue that killed Caesar.
So always be watchful of reports who are “a little bit too much like you” and “a little bit too supportive”.
Some of them might be preparing the ground for their own reign. And as their former bosses, your head may be the first to roll.
Also read:
- How to coddle bosses: boss interpersonal strategies for quick promotions
Solution
Never, ever attack a power aligner publicly.
When you attack them frontally it’s as if you’re attacking your whole company.
They’re on the side of the powers that be. The values they (pretend to) espouse are the company’s values, and, never forget, bosses love having watchdogs who help them control the herd.
And don’t even think of taking them on the sideline and having an “eye-to-eye conversation”.
It’s too easy for them to deny everything.
Here is a funny example from Family Guy on what’s most likely to happen:
Player: I wasn’t attacking you, I was just making a point <— The point ‘just happened’ to support the boss, of course
Power aligners will play dumb. They can’t do anything else or their whole game crumbles.
They must keep the pretense that they’re 100% genuine and their buy-in into the corporate missions and values is unwavering.
The result when you challenge them is always the same: they’ll look like a great company fit, real management material.
And you’ll look like someone who should better find a new job.
You must play the same game back on them.
Agree with them, talk about “we”, “us” and “team above all” (or whatever your team espouses).
Here is an example:
Power Aligner: But that’s not what we stand for. It doesn’t matter what the customer said to you. I know it can be hard, we are here to offer the best service we can, no matter what
You: You d*mn right!
Thank you for reminding me!
I let my passion get the best of me. I’m gonna call that customer first thing out of this meeting and personally invite him to dinner to make up for it
7. Shunners
“Oh, I didn’t see you standing there for the last 2h… “
The shunning game is the office politics equivalent of stonewalling and gaslighting of intimate relationships.
The shunners form a clique to socially exclude the victim.
When the target approaches one of them, the shunner is curt, detached, or even ignores them.
The gaslighting effect starts when you ask why they’re cutting you off… And they’ll tell you that it’s not true at all (ie.: it’s all in your head).
Psychological Profile
Shunners are most often, albeit not exclusively, women.
It’s a form of silent social punishment, it communicates that “we’re a group, and you are not part of us”.
The shunners usually gang up on people whom they perceive are a threat, but who are (still) weak enough to be victimized.
Is the new colleague a bit too beautiful, bright, or ambitious? Then she’s not one of us.
Is the new recruit too good and ambitious? You’re not welcome because you upset our little world of entrenched interests.
Those are the psychological drivers behind the shunning game.
In a way, shunning is a reactionary game of fear. Fear of change, fear of losing status, and fear of having our egos upset by the results of the new incumbent.
Example
- Insiders jokes that you don’t get
- If you open up they look at each other as if to say “what the hell was that”
- They laugh at each other’s jokes but not yours
- Warm to each other, but very distant from you
All these behaviors communicate that you don’t belong and they’ll be much happier if you leave.
Shunning games can also happen in your absence.
For example, Sarkozi with Merkel against (absent) Berlusconi:
Sarkozy: (looks at Merkel and smiles until she smiles back) <— Sub-communication 🟰 Berlusconi is laughable, Merkel and I agree on that, he doesn’t belong with us”
Solution
Shunning games can be challenging.
Now imagine Berlusconi had been there in the video above.
He’d know that Sarkozy is an enemy and he’s forming a collation with Merkel against him.
But if he were to escalate openly, he would look childish and argumentative.
As a covert type of aggression, the shunning game can easily be denied.
A better strategy then is the good old “divide and conquer”.
Work up the members of the groups who are least sold on office politicking until you befriend them and break the game.
A shunner dynamic that might be on the way to breaking:
Unconvinced shunner: You look good
Angry shunner: (turns bitter at her friend being friendly)
Unconvinced shunner: What (still wants to be friends with the angry shunner, but also feels like she’s being unreasonable)
The moment a shunner looks too spiteful and too into the shunning game compared to the other players is a sign that you’re on your way to winning
8. Sociopath Player
Sociopaths follow the Pareto rule.
They focus 80% on office politics and 20% on actual work. Given how successful some of them are, we might even wonder what’s more important…
Psychology Profile
There is already much literature on this website on sociopaths and psychopaths, including:
And I can also highly recommend “How Companies Manipulate Employees“.
In a nutshell, though, sociopaths see the workplace as a big chessboard and they have little to no empathy for people.
They consider themselves superior to everyone else and deserving of top management positions.
Many sociopaths can’t stick to long years of continuous work which might put them at a disadvantage.
However, many sociopaths have superficial charm, are smooth talkers, and are good manipulators.
Example
Younger female sociopaths are some of the most dangerous scorporate political players.
Male bosses are easier to bamboozle with charm and sexual innuendos.
And full-on sex is not even always needed, that’s how dumb some men are.
Elizabeth Holmes built a whole empire bamboozling investors, media, and a who’s who board of directors which included former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Defense Secretary, star-general James Mattis.
General James Mattis is famous for his “macho quotes”, including:
James Mattis: When you men get home and face an anti-war protester (..) shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend because she knows she’s dating a pussy
Turns out macho-man James Mattis got so manipulated by the pus*y.
As chronicled by Carreyrou in Bad Blood indeed Theranos’ board was powerless under Holme’s guidance.
Solution
You must match their political savvy while delivering superior results and making sure people know who’s delivering.
At parity of political dexterity, your superior results can win the day.
But just to be sure, create some internal enemies for the sociopaths.
It can be a boss who micromanages them, an exec who sees through them, or a higher-up who’s afraid of the sociopath’s ascension.
If you can combine all three, then you will win:
- Deliver superior results
- & Make sure they’re properly attributed to you
- Play the political game equally well
- Pitch them against someone powerful
In case you’re in need of more, I have a case study up in Power University.
Can Office Politics Ever Be Stopped?
Corporations partially follow the rules of “public good games“.
In public good games, if everyone contributes farily, everyone gains.
But if someone can cheat while others contribute, they gain far more.
So the incentive is always to play up and talk up the teamwork, but trip others and act more selfishly.
So I remain highly skeptical about any workplace being completely devoid of workplace politics.
Workplace politics are simply an extension of human nature.
We are designed, in good part, for the maximization of personal returns (Dawkins, 1976). Gossiping might be a direct offshoot of our nature of social animals (Wright, 1994).
It’s a fascinating topic for a social scientist, but let’s cut it to the chase here.
Where does this take us?
It means that to win the professional game, you must learn the rules of workplace politics.
We teach good men navigate work environments to advance and succeed in Power University
