Dirty Tricks at Work: Five Ways to Protect Yourself
When people go to work, they often go to play. Surely work is a serious place for many, and I am not referring to childish play, but to the serious work of the group of people who serve themselves and that is why it is okay to take advantage of their naive colleagues. People who have a strong sense of integrity often find themselves maneuvered and destined to arrive staring at the podium from a distance as the winners display their trophies.
You will be amazed at how easy it is to equip yourself with self defense knowledge and skills. Ever since I wrote “21 Dirty Tricks at Work,” I have loved the way avid readers have studied and been able to learn the techniques to win with integrity.
The priority is to create awareness. Here are some of the most common dirty tricks played in the office …
Creative magpie: Exaggerating participation in the ideas and good work of others or blatantly stealing them while hiding the valuable contributions of the creators.
Development opportunity: The tactic of motivating someone to take on a task, project, or assignment that they could reasonably decline, pretending it is a development opportunity.
Email to the gods: Using email to embarrass or coerce another. Usually it is an email that comes from a colleague (including true or false information) presenting allegations of guilt, which are also copied to bosses, directors, clients, suppliers, etc.
So you need to learn to protect yourself. Here are my top 5 tips …
Tip No. 1: Be curious and ask questions. Don’t ask them in an accusing way. Make sure to keep it light and keep asking until you get to the bottom of what is really going on.
Tip No. 2: Control your emotions. Sure you can get upset when you see a dirty trick from “Fall Guy” coming your way, but if you lose your temper, it will be more difficult to deal with. So keep a cool head.
Tip No. 3: Try to find out why they are doing it. There must be a reason: what benefit do they get if you fall for the trap? If you can figure this out, you might be able to implement the following tip more easily.
Tip # 4: Be constructive. Once you’ve asked a lot of questions, try to find some creative solutions that both of you can win.
Tip No. 5: Try to maintain your own integrity. Don’t be tempted to play tricks on you, they will likely see you coming and are ready to trip you up.
If you practice these tips, you will soon begin to realize how quickly you can progress without getting into an argument. You will find that you don’t have to be a victim of office politics. And the more positive action you take, the less likely your more Machiavellian colleagues will attempt a game with you. So cheer up, there is something you can do to deal with political games and dirty tricks without participating!