Office Stress and Politics

 

Photo Credit: The Hans India

Office Stress and Politics

Old timers, meaning those with 5 to 10 years left for retirement will find it difficult to manage the current management style which is more about networking, politics and influencing people than what happened earlier. The new lot of employees find it easier to adapt as it is happening all around them and they are all fast learners.

The trick is in maintaining inter-personal relations regardless of what the other person does to you. In the office today, in many places it is – you are either with me or against me – like the Russia-Ukraine conflict which is on now – NATO vs Russia.

Another cause of office politics is underperformance – people then play the game to hide their inefficiency or take credit for others’ work. Swamiji has mentioned this in his discourses many tikes – sadhaks take credit for other people’s guru-karya, this only impedes your spiritual progress as its karma starts binding you.

If you have been meditating for a long time you will always be calm in such adverse situations. In fact, you can set your own standards as lying and backstabbing are not the skills required in most organisations! If you find it difficult to work in such an environment and if even after your best efforts, things don’t improve, then it is best to move on. Swamiji always says that if the people around you do not vibrate at the same frequency, they will move away from you or vice versa.

It is best to be upfront and face such people directly – very few people can look you in the eye and lie, they will always look away. Your own state should be like a lotus flower, beautiful even in the muck! Most office politics is played out of fear and greed, it is best to call such people out in the open whenever you face it.

If you are a leader, then it is best not to get involved directly, be curious and mindful, find out all facts before taking any decision. Be a guide and mentor to such people and show them the error of their ways, and if they still do not change and are affecting the overall environment and efficiency of the office, it is best to let them go.

Clear communication and transparency will always trump such politics. When everything is out in the open politics is difficult, as that game is played in the shadows. Stress that one takes is based on the individual – it is best to ignore politics and be happy in your own aura. We can always be decent and nice to one and all, regardless of how they behave with us. If people don’t change then it is best to keep away from them – but life is karmic – so if you try to escape from one situation, who is to guarantee that your next job or department will not give you the same treatment or worse than what you were enduring?

Escape is never the solution, face the situation calmly and things always work out. Your aura protects you even from such people, they may play dirty with others and not with you. Meditation and prayer are a potent combination to keep you safe from such office politics and its underlying stress.