How to Survive Office Politics

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Hi, I am Judith Gerberg. And I am a New York Carrier Counselor. I am really looking forward to sharing my thoughts and expertise. Someone has described me as combining New York street smarts with creative vision. And that is what I like to bring to you today.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were taken by surprise? By some else getting promoted even though you get a better job, you are smarter. It was a big shock. The one who things hits most people when they first step their job when they are in a situation, where they are doing a good job they think that is it. That is they do their job function whether it is editing or banking or being an associate lawyer. We are only trained in academia where we make sure that your cross your T’s and put periods and comments on the right places. But the workplace is a little bit different. The workplace is more than just your job function. The workplace includes all of those relationships that you need to develop.

People want to know how to get along in the office work force. One of them is a very simple way. It is to be cheery. If you are not naturally cheery or if you are brought up in a grumpy family that does not mean that you cannot learn optimism. It is a really a skill, it is not something that you are born with, although of course it helps to have role models around you, who handle things looking for possibilities at all times. Joy requires constant effort, it is something that you can learn and will help you no matter where you are working. A colleague of mine once said the most important thing in being successful in a new job is finding those five people that you need to become essential to. And what you do is just to become aware of where the power is; sometimes it is in somebody’s assistant, sometimes if you are in a certain environment, it is being able to work with the construction people. There is all kinds of ways of knowing where the real power, where are the real opportunities are, so one of the things that is important is know that the work does not speak for itself. You have to learn how speak for it and we can teach you.