My Life in a Serial Drama.

I suppose it was only a matter of time before one gets sucked into the morass of politics that characterises the middle-to-upper rungs of the career ladder in any organisation. The recent Friday drinks with my "godfather" have been sobering (that is, after the hangover subsided). I have an enemy. Ok, so I kinda suspected that already, I still remember how said enemy failed to realise that he hadn't successfully hung up on me before mouthing off about me. We all know that work's like that, you can't always get the job done right without stepping on some toes. But apparently there's a ... strategic undertone to this enmity. Which explains all the unsolicited, probing and free cigarette breaks. (Damn you nicotine!)

Godfather (as he will hereafter be known) says I should lie low and stay neutral. Because Enemy's part-time Godfather is my Lecherous Boss (as he will hereafter be known). According to Godfather, nobody in Senior Management has made any complaints about me, Lecherous Boss included. Apparently Lecherous Boss falls short in the integrity stakes and is known to unfairly criticize some of his staff in order to promote others - usually the "good soldiers" who deliver whatever Lecherous Boss wants, without cognisance of right or wrong (or even logic or reason, as experience has shown).

Fortunately for me (i) Lecherous Boss has ZERO allies amongst Senior Management since the change in Chief Executive, formerly his (only) patron; (ii) Enemy has ZERO fans amongst Senior Management since he's quite stupidly decided to suck on the one man with no allies; and (iii) the rest of Senior Management are decidedly in positive net favour of me.

The wildcard is the new Chief Executive. As one would expect. Prior to his departure, I had asked my former Director for "tips" to deal with the new Chief Executive. According to the former, they're pretty good friends. Also according to the former, once you're in the latter's bad books, you're pretty much screwed for the rest of your lifetime in that organisation. And it's difficult to "feel" where one's boundaries lie, because the new Chief is generally a very amiable and friendly guy, who only shows his displeasure after you've passed the tipping point.

According to Godfather, this assessment is pretty much spot on. And Lecherous Boss may have passed that tipping point. But it's unlikely he'd be let go off (is that grammatically correct?), because he's done well to make himself indispensable by means of information-hogging. Plus nobody's really made to leave the organisation unless they've well and truly fucked up.

Godfather says I should stay neutral, keep my opposing opinions to myself and pretty much wait until I'm assured of the next level in my career. And that I shouldn't trust anyone (I'm guessing anyone but Godfather). He's offered me a transfer to his division where I can wait things out and get promoted while the shit settles. I've declined it because as much as I think Godfather is the most sensible person in the entire organisation, I am also discouraged by the very operational and intellectually dormant career options under his watch - requiring skills so unique and essential that they have no market value outside of the organisation. Of course the way I explained it to him was that it would be irresponsible of me to ask for a transfer just one month into my new role, that I should give at least the usual two years first. But I think he understands.

Back to the first point - dealing with the Enemy. Keep your friends close, your enemies closer. I'll keep going for those cigarette breaks, make him think I'm on his side, reveal nothing except a complete lack of competition. I'm cultivating an ally of my own, same rank, same trajectory (same birthday). Endear myself to the right people, especially those who will take over the reins in the event that Lecherous Boss is made to lose control. Win the hearts and minds of everyone else, especially the younger ones, the ones I will depend on for ground work.

The difficult part is keeping opposing opinions to myself. Need to figure that one out.

I hate politics.


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