In this episode, Work Mom Lori Jo Vest discusses the importance of workplace politics and relationships. Her main piece of advice? Prioritize creating positive, connected relationships and exhibiting strategic behavior in the workplace. She offers many ways to play the emotional contact sport of business, from being cautious about joining companies with toxic politics to the importance of conflict resolution, emotional management, and building alliances with power players. Themes discussed in this episode Workplace politics involve unspoken dynamics, power structures, and power struggles Being strategic and intentional with your language, actions, and decisions is essential Build alliances with power players in the workplace Handle conflicts successfully to avoid burning bridges Collaborative conflict resolution–finding solutions together–is most effective Be authentic while also being strategic by bringing your best self to work Episode Highlights Timestamped inflection points from the show 00:28 – You must make connected, positive relationships a priority in the workplace02:42 – Be mindful of joining an organization where the leadership team has romantic relationships. It may indicate a toxic business culture.04:03 – When you go into a new company, find the power players and align with them by creating strategic relationships with them.06:10 – When emotions rise, step back so you can come back when you’re calm and manage the situation strategically. Links Connect with me on LinkedIn. Order my book! Transcript Hello. I’m Lori Jo Vest, also known as Work Mom, and I am here to talk to you today about workplace politics. There’s so much they don’t tell us when we start a new job or a new career, and politics is important. There’s a lot to be said for your relationships at the office, and those relationships will either serve you or hold you back. One of the things that I will say right up front is that it’s critical that you make connected, positive relationships a priority in the workplace. Anybody that you work with, even if you socialize with them as well, the positivity of that relationship, the level of connection that person feels with you, how well they feel they know you, how authentic you are. Can they trust you? Those factors are really critical to being successful in your job and in your career. So politics. What is it in the workplace? What does that even mean? It means basically the unspoken dynamics. Whenever you have a group of people working together, there will be a power structure. There will be power struggles. There will be people who truly believe that they know more than others. There are people who truly may know more than others who don’t think they know that much. There will be people with big egos who want to come in and take over because they know their way is the right way. There will be people who will be sideways with how they get things done and how they get their way. It’s really interesting. One of the most critical things you can do at the beginning of your career, throughout your career, and especially at the beginning of any new job, is to be very strategic in how you think and be intentional in what you do.So when you get into a situation in a meeting where it seems like you may be going in a direction that you know is not going to serve the client or the company or your job, do you say something, or don’t you? That depends on the strategic answer. Sometimes, in a meeting like that, you would say, “Hey, you know what, guys? I have a devil’s advocate perspective. I’d love to share,” and share your perspective. But there are other times when maybe you know that the people in charge don’t want to hear it, and it’s just going to backfire on you when you may choose not to do that.The power dynamics in a workplace are really importan