In the classic cowboy western films of the 1950's, the good guy was easily identifiable: he was strong and silent, and he wore a white hat.
That's us, the "whitehats", the ones who stand tall against the bad guy even when the odds seem insurmountable.
The bad guy wore a menacing black hat that casts a shadow over his cold, calculating eyes. The "blackhats" are underhanded and cunning; their sole motivation is personal gain at the expense of others.
In the modern office, however, we can't be sure which color hats our colleagues are sporting. We can only be sure of one thing: the good guys don't always win the day.
We whitehats are usually very good at our jobs, but often find ourselves blindsided by the politics around us. We believe that our competence alone should be enough to carry us forward and that we don't need to pay attention to office politics.
But then, reality hits.
We are passed over for promotion, have a negative performance review, receive a written reprimand, have openly hostile managers, or our arch-rivals seem to have the undeserved favor of management. At this point, we realize that our reluctance to engage with office politics has left us vulnerable, our futures within the organization hanging in the balance.
If this sounds all too familiar—if you find yourself (or that of a loved one) in hot water politically, overwhelmed with uncertainty and frustration—then this book is for you. Even if you think it's too late, that the damage is done and the situation is irreversible, or that you don't have what it takes to play politics, be assured that this is not the case.
In fact, the more impossible your case may seem to be, the more dramatically we can turn it around.
However, when we try to simply ignore office politics and let them develop untended, we leave our destinies in the hands of others.
Looking at the various books out there about "office politics" and related topics, we see four major genres:
Despite reading extensively about office politics, the whitehat vs. blackhat analogy my manager and mentor, Dave, shared with me over 20 years ago has been unmatched in simplicity and effectiveness. His guiding principles have served me well throughout my career in major corporations all over the world, so now I want to share them with you.
Whitehat Politics is not just another playbook for scheming and manipulation so that everybody can start trying to undermine each other. It is a manifesto for change, a call to arms for the good cause, without compromising our ethics and values.
The mission of this book is to help whitehats realize their own political power and to help make our organizations better places to make a living. If we do happen to advance our positions in the company, so much the better. Then we will have more power to bring along other whitehats and maybe even influence the overall corporate culture.
Right now, though, whitehats need answers for their immediate political problems. Whitehat Politics not only shows strategies that work but explains why they work. You will be able to find your situation within these pages, and the exact steps required to start playing politics effectively. By changing our perception of the political landscape, we intuitively become better politicians.
But it won't be easy.
Shedding old beliefs and embracing a new way of thinking requires courage and conviction. In fact, accepting the principles in these pages will probably be the hardest thing any whitehat can do. We have misconceptions about our jobs that society has instilled into us all our lives, and which can be very disconcerting to let go of. Above all, it is hard for the whitehat ego to accept that politics is one thing we are not so great at.
It is despairing to see good people being sidelined, victimized, or even abused. Not to mention the detriment to the organization.
So, the choice is yours: remain a passive bystander in the game of office politics or explore the empowerment of being a politically-savvy whitehat who makes a stand against the blackhats.
Welcome to the wild, whitehat frontier.
NEXT: Chapter 1 "Play the Game"
