Office politics are often a challenging aspect of professional life. We asked industry experts to share one piece of advice they’d give their younger selves about navigating office politics. Here are their insights on how to establish healthy professional relationships and effectively manage workplace dynamics.
- Stay Focused and Build Genuine Connections
- Foster Open Communication and Collaboration
- Create Win-Win Situations Through Office Politics
- Observe First to Navigate Workplace Dynamics
- Develop Emotional Intelligence for Professional Success
- Speak Up Strategically and Build Trust
- Lead with Compassion and Authenticity
- Prioritize Integrity to Attract Like-Minded Professionals
- Choose Battles Wisely and Invest in Relationships
- Highlight Accomplishments with Respect and Clarity
- Track Wins and Nurture Professional Networks
- Build Relationships Before You Need Them
- Maintain Boundaries and Trust Your Instincts
- Focus on Collaborative Problem-Solving and Recognition
- Cultivate Genuine Interest in Colleagues’ Work
- Understand Influence Before Attempting to Use It
- Develop Cross-Functional Alliances with Integrity
- Build Relationships Based on Mutual Value
18 Tips for Navigating Office Politics from Seasoned Professionals
Stay Focused and Build Genuine Connections
I’d tell my younger self: you don’t need to get involved in every drama. Just pay attention, stay true to yourself, and protect your peace.
To build healthy relationships at work, it’s important to be respectful, honest, and reliable. Listen well, be kind without overdoing it, and do what you say you’ll do. People trust and connect with those who authentically show up and treat others fairly.
Natasha Nurse
Neurodivergent Innovator, Dressing Room 8
Foster Open Communication and Collaboration
I would advise my younger self to avoid workplace drama as much as possible. Establish genuine relationships with coworkers—this includes your peers and those who work above you. Be accessible and easy to talk to—create a space that is welcoming, a space that allows people to feel comfortable enough to talk to you and tell you about their day. Always remember that everyone is a human being first before anything else. Share information whenever possible and always be open for collaboration.
Nneoma Oguejiofor
Dance Teacher/Choreographer, Omachoreography
Create Win-Win Situations Through Office Politics
I was 26 years old and in graduate school when I began to work full-time during the summers and part-time during the school year for the Human Resources Legal department of Honeywell, Inc. I worked there for two years until shortly after I graduated.
My boss for the second year was Marv Granath, who led the department and reported to the CEO. Although I was very low on the corporate ladder, he was very high, so I was able to participate in many matters that employees at my level typically couldn’t. One of the wonderful things that Marv did for me was show me how corporate or office politics can be used for good. He was a master at that.
Marv never failed to consider the needs and wants of every stakeholder in every significant matter that he was working on. He looked for ways of helping each achieve those goals, knowing that those people would later look for ways of returning the favor…and they inevitably did. Marv viewed the world not as a zero-sum game where someone needed to lose in order for someone to win. Instead, he viewed the world as full of opportunities to collaborate by creating win-win situations.
Marv’s lessons stuck with me. I’m always looking for ways to create win-win outcomes, whether through office politics related to my coworkers or something related to external stakeholders such as customers, partners, and vendors.
Steven Rothberg
Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, College Recruiter
Observe First to Navigate Workplace Dynamics
When dealing with office politics, start by observing more than speaking. Take the time to genuinely understand group dynamics, communication patterns, and relationships among colleagues. This will help you get a clear picture of your surroundings. Notice details: who influences decisions, whose opinions carry weight, and how different people express disagreement.
By intentionally listening and observing first, you can gather valuable information about how to communicate effectively with each person. You’re more likely to share your ideas clearly in ways that genuinely resonate, by reducing potential friction or conflicts. This doesn’t mean being passive or avoiding participation; it’s about thoughtfully positioning yourself before getting fully involved.
Over time, this approach will simplify your interactions, promote collaboration, and build deeper, more authentic professional connections.
Bayu Prihandito
Psychology Consultant, Life Coach, Founder, Life Architekture
Develop Emotional Intelligence for Professional Success
As a digital and content manager, navigating office politics can be a delicate dance. If I could offer my younger self one piece of advice, it would be this: Cultivate emotional intelligence and practice empathy.
In today’s fast-paced, collaborative workplaces, emotional intelligence is a superpower. It allows you to read between the lines, understand different perspectives, and communicate effectively with diverse personalities. Empathy, on the other hand, fosters trust and builds genuine connections with colleagues.
Become a keen observer of body language and nonverbal cues. Subtle gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice can reveal a wealth of information about someone’s true feelings and intentions. By honing your ability to interpret these cues, you can navigate interpersonal dynamics more adeptly, defuse potential conflicts before they escalate, and build stronger rapport with your team members. Emotional intelligence and empathy are invaluable assets in any professional setting.
Mahee Chouhan
Content and Digital Marketing Manager, Mitt Arv
Speak Up Strategically and Build Trust
Don’t confuse being agreeable with being strategic.
Early in my career, I believed that staying quiet and avoiding conflict would help me succeed. In reality, I learned that respectfully speaking up, setting boundaries, and understanding the power dynamics at play are essential to succeeding in the workplace. Office politics aren’t inherently negative; they’re about relationships, influence, and communication. You don’t have to play dirty to play smart.
Start with trust and consistency. Be reliable in meeting deadlines, following through, and giving credit where it’s due. Show curiosity about your coworkers’ work, not just your own. One of the best ways to build rapport is by listening to other people’s goals and challenges. It shows that you’re a team player, not just a self-promoter.
Also, don’t wait for networking to happen only at official events. Plant networking seeds by sending a quick Slack message after a great meeting, scheduling a virtual coffee, or dropping a thoughtful comment in a shared document. Authentic connections grow over time through mutual respect, shared wins, and candid conversations, even (and especially) when feedback is involved.
Geoffrey Scott
SEO Content Manager and Certified Professional Resume Writer (Crpw, CV Genius
Lead with Compassion and Authenticity
If I could give my younger self any advice about workplace politics, it would be always to remember the power of compassion and to listen more than you speak. I used to believe that doing the right thing was the most essential thing. However, I’ve come to realize that respecting and understanding people’s motivations goes a long way toward establishing trust and completing tasks.
Focus on being dependable, truthful, and encouraging to create positive working relationships. Be there for individuals, keep your word, and genuinely care about their objectives. It’s about fostering an atmosphere where everyone feels appreciated and seen, not about playing games. The appropriate people will seek you out, and the politics will usually work themselves out if you are an authentic leader.
Jared Weitz
Chief Executive Officer, United Capital Source
Prioritize Integrity to Attract Like-Minded Professionals
My advice is simple: stay true to yourself and always prioritize authenticity and honesty. Don’t engage in office politics or speak negatively about others if it contradicts your core values. By consistently being genuine, you’ll naturally attract people who value integrity and authenticity, creating healthy professional relationships built on mutual respect.
Jack Perkins
Founder and CEO, CFO Hub
Choose Battles Wisely and Invest in Relationships
Choosing your battles carefully is crucial when negotiating office politics. Not all conflicts or issues call for a full-scale altercation. Actually, choosing your battles wisely can keep your workplace more upbeat and productive while preventing you from becoming mired in needless drama.
The secret is to distinguish between issues that should be addressed and those that might be better left alone. Consider whether the issue at hand is essential to your job, the goals of your team, or the organization’s success as a whole. If so, it’s probably worthwhile to voice your opinion and support it.
But that doesn’t mean you should keep your worries to yourself. It all depends on when and where you choose to do it, as well as how you present your points in a cooperative, productive manner. Instead of being confrontational, approach disagreements with a mindset of problem-solving. Look for win-win solutions whenever you can and consider making concessions.
It takes more than just taking care of your immediate transactional needs to build strong professional relationships. It’s critical to invest in relationships that transcend the tasks at hand if you want to create genuinely meaningful connections.
Spending time getting to know your coworkers as individuals, rather than just as coworkers, is a crucial step in achieving this. Try to find out about their motivations, hobbies, and personal lives outside of work. Find common ground on subjects unrelated to your work responsibilities, have informal conversations, or laugh together.
This kind of interpersonal interaction promotes a stronger sense of trust and camaraderie while also humanizing your professional relationships. People will be more willing to go above and beyond to support you and your common goals when they perceive that you genuinely care about them as individuals.
Ryan McDonald
COO, Resell Calendar
Highlight Accomplishments with Respect and Clarity
Listen!
If I could give myself one piece of advice, it would be to highlight your accomplishments. Because here’s the truth…I wish it wasn’t, but it is: you are ineffective in the corporate world unless they know what you are doing with solid, impactful numbers. Now, I’m not talking about being disrespectful when you talk to others.
However, you can’t stay silent, because you will just become a number and not an asset. You don’t have to step on anyone, but you have to step up and take credit where it’s due to you. Be respectful at all times, but make it clear who you are and what effect your responsibilities have in a company.
Then, my “young Michael,” you will succeed!
Michael Mayo
CEO/Owner, Just Because Media LLC
Track Wins and Nurture Professional Networks
If I could give my younger self one piece of advice about navigating office politics, it would be this: keep a quiet, running list of your wins, as they happen. Not months later, not when you’re updating your CV, but in the moment. Because when you’re deep in the work, especially in fast-paced environments, it’s easy to forget just how much of an impact you’ve made. The reality is, when you know your strengths and keep track of your results, you carry yourself differently. That energy naturally shapes how others respond to you and helps you to stand up for yourself in situations where this may be needed.
As for building healthy professional relationships, stay curious, be generous with credit, and don’t underestimate who could be valuable to keep in touch with, even after they may leave the business for pastures new.
Eleanor Bennett
SEO Manager, Trash Cans Warehouse
Build Relationships Before You Need Them
If I could give my younger self one piece of advice about navigating office politics, it would be:
Build relationships before you need them—and listen more than you speak.
Office politics isn’t just about maneuvering; it’s about understanding. Every workplace has power dynamics, unspoken norms, and interpersonal histories. The earlier you observe and learn these, the better positioned you’ll be to navigate them with integrity.
1. Be Curious, Not Transactional: Approach colleagues with genuine interest—ask about their work, challenges, and wins. People remember how you made them feel, not how fast you followed up on a Slack thread.
2. Find Common Ground: Connect beyond job titles—whether it’s shared values, a sense of humor, or mutual goals. Trust often forms through small moments.
3. Be Reliable and Respectful: Do what you say you’ll do. Don’t take credit for others’ work. Say thank you. These small signals build big trust over time.
4. Don’t Gossip—But Don’t Ignore Power Dynamics: Stay out of harmful chatter, but don’t pretend politics doesn’t exist. Pay attention to who influences decisions, who gets heard, and how things really get done.
5. Ask for Feedback and Offer It Thoughtfully: Strong relationships grow from mutual respect and development. Be someone others can grow with—not just someone who delivers.
6. Be Kind to the Gatekeepers: Executive assistants, coordinators, ops leads—these are often the most connected and respected people in the building. Respect is a two-way investment.
The most politically savvy people aren’t the loudest or the slickest—they’re the ones who listen well, connect authentically, and operate with quiet confidence.
Jacqueline Hazan
CEO, Hazan Consulting
Maintain Boundaries and Trust Your Instincts
Navigating office politics can be challenging—especially if it’s your first experience in a professional setting. My first job out of college set the tone for what I assumed was “normal” in an office environment. The company relocated me to a new state, and because I didn’t know anyone, my life quickly became centered around work. My coworkers became my social circle, and my identity was tied to my job. At the time, it felt like the natural path—but now, after working in healthier environments, I know how important it is to keep boundaries and maintain a life outside of work.
If I could give my younger self one piece of advice, it would be this: trust your instincts and don’t be afraid to question what’s being asked of you. Ask yourself—does this align with my values? Am I comfortable with this? Is it even part of my role? It’s okay to say no to tasks that don’t sit right with you.
Another key lesson: don’t engage in gossip. It might feel like an easy way to bond with coworkers, but it rarely leads to anything meaningful and can quickly erode your credibility. Staying professional and consistent earns more respect in the long run.
Ultimately, building healthy professional relationships comes down to respect—both for yourself and for the people you work with. Be friendly, be dependable, but don’t feel pressured to blur the lines between your personal life and your career. That balance makes navigating any workplace a whole lot easier.
Brooke Colglazier
Marketing Manager, Spacebase
Focus on Collaborative Problem-Solving and Recognition
I’ve learned that the biggest mistake I made early in my career was treating office politics as manipulation rather than relationship building. I wish I had understood that healthy professional relationships start with genuine curiosity about colleagues’ challenges and objectives rather than focusing solely on my own goals.
The breakthrough for me came when I shifted from asking, “How can I get what I need?” to, “How can I help others succeed while achieving my objectives?” This mindset change transformed difficult conversations into collaborative problem-solving sessions. When our engineering team initially resisted marketing requests for technical content, I started by understanding their workload pressures and proposing solutions that made their jobs easier.
The most effective approach I’ve found is documenting shared wins rather than individual achievements. When presenting project results, I explicitly highlight each team member’s contribution and how our collaboration created better outcomes than any of us could have achieved alone. This builds lasting professional relationships because people remember feeling valued and recognized.
My advice to my younger self would be: invest time in understanding what success looks like for your colleagues, then find ways to support their objectives alongside your own. Office politics becomes much simpler when you’re known as someone who helps others achieve their goals rather than someone who competes for limited resources.
John Pennypacker
VP of Marketing & Sales, Deep Cognition
Cultivate Genuine Interest in Colleagues’ Work
The biggest mistake I made early on was thinking I needed to play some elaborate chess game with coworkers.
In reality, most office politics comes down to people wanting to feel heard and respected.
Build relationships by genuinely caring about what your colleagues are working on. Ask questions. Offer help when you can. Remember details about their projects. Do not be the person who only talks to others when you need something.
Also, learn the difference between being assertive and being aggressive. You can advocate for your ideas and push back on bad decisions without making enemies. It is all in how you frame things. Instead of saying, “That will not work,” try, “What if we considered this alternative approach?”
Document important conversations and decisions by email. Not in a paranoid way, but something simple like, “Thanks for the discussion. Just to confirm, we are moving forward with X approach by Y date.” It saves everyone headaches later.
Most importantly, do not get sucked into gossip or complaining sessions. Those always come back to bite you. You can be friendly without getting dragged into drama.
Office politics really is not that complicated if you focus on being good at your job and treating people decently. The rest usually takes care of itself.
Haydn Price
Founder, V1CE
Understand Influence Before Attempting to Use It
What I believe is that the one piece of advice I would give my younger self about office politics is this: understand influence before you try to use it.
In the beginning, I thought hard work and results were enough. But in most workplaces, relationships shape decisions just as much as data does. I would tell myself to observe quietly, learn who really makes decisions, and pay attention to how things get done, not just what is said in meetings.
To build healthy professional relationships, be consistent, be reliable, and show genuine interest in others’ work. Ask thoughtful questions, give credit freely, and follow through on what you say. It is not about being liked by everyone. It is about being respected for how you show up.
People remember who helped, who listened, and who made things easier, not who talked the loudest. That is what creates influence that lasts.
Vivek Nair
Co-Founder, BotGauge
Develop Cross-Functional Alliances with Integrity
Build cross-functional rapport with employees regardless of your reporting structure. Begin networking across departments early in order to create strategic alliances and widen your perspective. It is crucial to develop these relationships in close alignment with your core values, particularly integrity. Doing so will open windows of opportunity and collaboration.
Olivia Dufour
Founder, Olivia Dufour Consulting
Build Relationships Based on Mutual Value
Build relationships based on mutual value, not just personal likeability. This mindset shift completely changed how I approached professional networking in supply chain environments.
When I was younger, I focused too much on being the “nice guy” everyone liked, thinking that would lead to career advancement. However, after years of being overlooked for promotions despite great relationships, I realized that likability without demonstrable value gets you nowhere in supply chain operations where results matter most.
The turning point came when I stopped trying to be everyone’s friend and started identifying how I could genuinely help each person achieve their goals. With procurement managers, I shared vendor insights from other divisions. With warehouse supervisors, I connected them with efficiency improvement resources. With executives, I provided market intelligence from our recruiting network.
This approach proved invaluable when launching my business. Instead of generic networking events, I built relationships by solving actual problems—connecting a struggling plant manager with a logistics expert who reduced their shipping costs by 23%, or helping a procurement director find specialized talent during a critical ERP implementation.
Nine years later, those value-driven relationships became our strongest referral sources and client base. Professional relationships thrive on reciprocal value, not just mutual respect. Focus on what you can contribute to others’ success, and the politics become irrelevant.
Friddy Hoegener
Co-Founder | Head of Recruiting, SCOPE Recruiting
