Workplace politics has a reputation problem.
Say the word and people recoil — like you’ve just confessed to bribery or backstabbing. We treat it like a dirty game, as if the smart and strategic thing is to stay above it all. But here’s the truth: if you’re not playing the game, you’re being played by it. Workplace politics is the career killer no one admits they’re afraid of. And it’s also the one thing keeping them stuck.
They told us to keep our heads down, do good work, and the right people would notice. What they didn’t say—what they failed to warn us—is that staying out of workplace politics is a political act. One that often costs you the influence, visibility, and decision - making power to do anything with your so-called good work.
At a pivotal moment in my career, I was leading a region that had just delivered record numbers. I assumed the results spoke for themselves. I didn’t realise the conversation about my next opportunity had already taken place—without me. Over drinks, on a golf course I never played on, in WhatsApp groups I wasn’t part of. I was in the running, but ultimately someone else—less qualified, but better connected—got the nod.
Workplace politics isn’t about backstabbing or brown-nosing. It’s not about scheming in the shadows or making friends with power for its own sake. At its core, workplace politics is the art of human systems: who trusts you, who includes you, and who listens when you speak. You can’t lead what you can’t access. And yet, the word “politics” itself is coated in disdain.
According to a 2023 study by the Center for Creative Leadership, over 50 per cent of professionals say they avoid politics at work—despite acknowledging it’s essential to career advancement. Why? Because the connotations are toxic: manipulation, self-interest, betrayal.
What if politics wasn’t about playing dirty—but playing smart? What makes workplace politics feel so murky is that it lives in the grey. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. The favour bank. The unspoken quid pro quo. There are green zones—strategic, values-aligned moves like building cross-functional allies or speaking up in rooms that matter.
There are red zones: gossip, sabotage, and taking credit for someone else’s work. And then there’s the grey: supporting a leader’s pet project not because it’s a priority, but because you know it buys goodwill. Is it ethical? Depends on your compass. Is it real? Absolutely.
In many ways, workplace politics mirrors national politics—deals made in corridors, back-channelling, image management, coalition-building. Some players campaign loudly, others wield quiet power. But either way, power is being negotiated. Decisions are being made. And like in real politics, opting out doesn’t protect you from the consequences.
Especially as a woman, worse, a woman of colour, you’re already navigating power structures not built for you. And here’s the quiet injustice: the same behaviours celebrated in men—assertiveness, strategy, ambition—get women labelled difficult, political, or worse. So we perform humility. We over-index on delivery. We wait. And we wait. And we wait.
I’ve made political miscalculations. I’ve been too trusting. Too silent. Too slow. Like the time I helped land a multi-million dollar partnership, navigated the internal blockers, built external buy-in , and put my credibility on the line. Just as it was about to close, someone else swooped in to present it as theirs. I was thanked politely. They were rewarded publicly. I had no political insurance, no ally in the room, no favour owed, no narrative pre-seeded.
Reclaiming workplace politics, for me, meant shifting the question from "How do I avoid being political?" to "How do I lead with influence and stay in integrity?" The answer wasn’t less politics. It was better politics. The most successful leaders I’ve worked with don’t avoid politics. They understand it. They navigate it with intention.
They know when to lean in, when to let go, when to speak up, and when to play the long game. They build alliances before they need them. They understand that power, like trust, is cumulative. Workplace politics isn’t going away. So maybe the question isn’t whether you’re willing to play the game.
Perhaps the real question is: do you want to be in the room where it happens—or not? And if the answer is yes, then play it your way. Don’t just work hard—work strategically. Don’t just keep the peace—build the coalitions. Don’t just survive the game—reshape it. Because if you don’t take the power you’ve earned, someone else will take it for you. And they won’t lose sleep doing it.
(Uma Thana Balasingam is a leadership and reinvention strategist, entrepreneur, writer, keynote speaker and movement builder. She previously led billion-plus dollar businesses across 48 markets and has been recognised multiple times on global technology lists. She is also the force behind Lean In Singapore, Walk The Talk and The ELEVATE Group, communities that have empowered thousands to lead and rise in their careers.)
