Workplace Poker: Are You Playing the Game, or Just Getting Played?

ACT SOON • Become a student of your business model, work to develop a broad and deep understanding of every department, function, and process that impacts business success. • Identify those in your business who seem to be really good at navigating the human dynamics within the organization and begin to model their behavior. • Begin playing “positiv

If you fail to understand the business culture within which you work, or within a prospective employer, this can put a brake on your career progress. In Bobbie’s case she eventually went back to work at Sprouts, was much happier, but had to accept a cashier’s position until an assistant manager position opened up a year later. There is no question

WHEN THEY SAY: I ASK: I work in an abusive environment. Why do you choose to do that? I’ve had a series of bad bosses. What does that tell you about yourself? I don’t play corporate politics. Why do you refuse to play? This was the best job I could find in the area. Why did you limit yourself to this area? Everyone in this industry is struggling. W

Employees do not all have clear goals and objectives, tied to direct business impact. • Late projects and tasks are the norm, not a rare occurrence. • Employees tend to wait passively if their progress has been halted by another employee’s failure to meet an expected timeline. • Responsibilities within work teams are unclear or contradictory. • Fai

If there is one absolute fundamental rule for your career and your life going forward, it has to be taking complete personal responsibility for every situation and circumstance. If a volcano springs up in your backyard tomorrow and spews out lava onto your entire home, you are still responsible. Shouldn’t you have been paying greater attention to t

So while it is important for you to INTERNALLY accept total responsibility for difficult circumstances, be thoughtful about how you communicate this externally. This is not meant to imply that you should consciously try to shift blame to others, but be careful about letting others off the hook. You can take responsibility and hold others accountabl

When it comes to employment there is no luck, good or bad. There are no accidental circumstances. There are no victims. Everything happens for a reason. And just because you are surprised, or are treated unfairly, does not mean that you can abdicate your own responsibility for the situation. You have made choices. And even when you felt that you we

There is a degree of deep confidence you see in people who are fully aware of, and comfortable with, their own faults and failings. They are “comfortable in their own skin” so to speak and we often find ourselves drawn to them, at ease around them, because there is no pretense, no bloated ego, and no self-loathing. The closer you can get to this pa

Know exactly why you’re doing it and know your endgame (including timeline). • Trust no one, and understand that most are playing the same game you are. The rest are TRULY nuts. • Give the Personality all the ego stroking he or she demands, but expect nothing in return. Do not expect consistency, reliability, or integrity.