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Tips to overcome Political missteps

1. Can’t hold back? Work on impulse control. Many people get into political trouble because they find
it difficult to hold things back. It’s not that they didn’t know what they were about to say was going to
cause noise, they just have weak impulse control. They say almost everything that occurs to them to
say. It’s even possible that others in the room or in the meeting were thinking the same thing. The
difference is that they kept it to themselves. When you dump everything before you put it through a
political filter, much of what you say will cause noise and will be seen as poor political judgment by
others. One rule is to let others speak first and follow their lead before you dump.

2. Humor seen as offensive? Keep it in good taste. Many people get into political trouble with their
humor. Times have changed. Workplace demographics have changed. Humor that was once seen as
OK is now politically unacceptable and possibly illegal. The guidelines are simple. Refrain from using
humor that hurts or demeans others. Don’t use any type of humor that involves prejudice, such as
racial comments, making fun of someone’s disability, physical appearance, or gender-biased humor.
No humor that is critical or sarcastic is acceptable. This doesn’t mean that people should avoid humor
in the workplace. Humor can have a positive impact. It releases stress, spurs creative thinking,
increases productivity. Encourage appropriate humor.

3. Want to avoid politics? Evaluate your attitude toward politics. Many people confuse the terms
political savvy and being political. When someone criticizes you for not being political, you might
interpret it as the bad political. Being bad political means that your motives should not be trusted.
Being bad political means saying one thing and meaning another. It means being devious and
scheming. Being politically savvy means saying and doing things that fit into the commonly held
beliefs people have around you about what’s appropriate and wise and what is not. It’s about a set of
standards that most people around you would agree to. Being politically savvy means you can
transact with others and get things done in the maze with minimum noise and without triggering an
unnecessary negative reaction from others.

4. Stuck with a predictable approach? Adjust to the situation and the audience. In any culture or
organization, there are multiple ways you can get things done. You could use a direct attack. You
could get an ally first. You could send in a more acceptable substitute for yourself. Some of these
tactics are more effective and acceptable than others. Some people get into trouble because they
treat all situations the same. They don’t do any research about the most effective ways to get things
done for each event. People who are politically savvy operate from the outside in—starting with the
audience, person, group, organization. They pick their pace, style, tone, and tactics based upon an
evaluation of what would work best in each situation. We all have a number of ways in which we can
behave if we want to. It’s the one-trick ponies that get into political trouble because they don’t adjust
what they say and do to each audience.

5. Too honest? Decide whether candor is appropriate. Candor can be a mission-critical requirement
in a 9 a.m. meeting and politically unwise and unacceptable in a 10 a.m. meeting. Many people get
themselves into political trouble with either too much candor that ends up hurting others and causing
noise, or too little candor seen as holding back something important. Many often say, “I just say what
I think. I’ve always believed in saying exactly what I mean. Consequences be damned. If they don’t
like it, they shouldn’t have asked me about it.” While that might get good marks for integrity, it would
fail the political savvy test. Each situation must be examined on the candor scale. Are the right people

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