Politics is very much a part of every human organization, whether it be in the family, nonprofit organizations, government agencies or, especially, in the corporate world. In fact, when there are more than three people working together, politics is inevitable. Corporate politics affects people and performance, and, as a result, profits. It eventually becomes a serious issue when it hurts employee morale.
Corporate politics springs essentially from conflicts between the corporate agenda, the group agenda and an individual’s agenda. Whenever people try to advance their own agenda into the mainstream, politics looms.

In the corporate world, the highest is the board of directors. Each director brings to the table a different background and different experiences, and thus a different perspective. When they feel strongly about a particular agenda, they begin to lobby other directors. That is the seed of corporate politics.

From the board, the politicking moves down to the executive team — CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, etc. Ultimately, it reaches managers and individual workers. In addition, pockets of politics exist in different sectors of the organization. Politics also relates to the egos of strong personalities who lobby for a personal agenda and create an environment that hurts others. Gossip starts, tension is created, people become fearful, not sure whose side to take or what to say. They worry about their jobs, their security, and their pay. “Who will win? Will I survive?” they ask. OPEN COMMUNICATION
What does it take to deal with, manage it and minimize corporate politics? How do you really create good politics so that together you move the corporate agenda, rather than the individual agenda, forward? The starting point in dealing with corporate politics is to grasp and accept that politics is part of corporate culture. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s there, and you can’t get rid of it, so you have to really make the best of it.