To create a desirable workplace environment and opportunities for advancement, one must master organizational dynamics. This requires navigating office politics, a necessary reality. This course teaches the “invisible” and “intangible” world of workplace politics and how to build leverage within this realm. Done right, these politics can benefit individuals and organizations. Participants will learn how to identify key political “rules” and tools for building leverage and social capital within an organization, while avoiding the pitfalls of dirty politics. In fact, it encourages ethical behavior that can create beneficial outcomes for the entire professional community. Participants will:
Learn the nuances, parameters and systems that people dismiss as dirty office politics—and survive them
Build excellent leverage with key allies, while negotiating better relationships with adversaries
Craft an organizational and political strategy to maximize social relationships in mutually positive ways
Balance political savvy with powerful ethics
Course Outline
Build Your Political IQ, Balance Professional Ethics
What is Political IQ?
The Value of Politics: Engage Constructive Corporate Citizens
The Rules & Realities of Organizational Politics
The Power See-Saw: Balance political savvy with powerful ethics
Politics and Leverage: The Tactical & Practical
Understand & Embrace Leverage
Bullet-Proof Yourself
Allies and Adversaries
Read Between the Lines: Nuances & Navigation
Fight Fire with Ethics: How to Combat Mudslinging & Mayhem
Craft Your Political Strategy
From Invisible to Indispensible to Influential
Your Political Playbook: A Roadmap for Organizational & Personal Development
"This was an ideal class for... professionals to learn about the aspects of the business environment that you cannot find in an HR manual."
- Kiki Lorenz, College Relations
Manager, Toyota Motor Sales
Faculty
Vu Pham, Ph.D. works with dozens of organizations at the Fortune 500 level. Previously, he held Research Fellow positions through the University of California Office of the President and the Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine. He completed his degree from Cornell University and has a book entitled, Impressive First Impressions: The Most Important 30 Seconds (And 30 Years) of Your Career. His work has been featured on national and international multimedia venues, such as CNN, MSNBC, the Associated Press, Voice of America, The Los Angeles Times, KSCI International Television, Diversity, Inc. and Strategic Innovators. He has given numerous keynote speeches internationally, and has written for both academic and mainstream publications.
