Office Politics

“Office politics.”
The invisible layer underneath the org chart.
Fear, identity, and belonging drive more decisions than job titles ever will.

We talk about it like it’s vague or mysterious, but at its core, office politics is simply human behavior, power dynamics, and psychological needs playing out in real time.

The part we rarely name?
🧠Unmet psychological needs.

And when those needs go unseen or unsupported, they can show up as:
control or power-hoarding
gatekeeping
fear-driven decisions
attention-seeking
subtle (or not so subtle) manipulation
silence and withdrawal

Not because people are ‘bad,’ but because our nervous systems are wired to protect what feels threatened.

Even in great cultures, politics exists because humans are wired for:
🤲 Belonging
🤝Connection
✌️Safety

These are beautiful instincts — that get distorted under pressure.

The difference:
✨Healthy orgs manage office politics transparently.
🫥Unhealthy orgs pretend they don’t exist.

When politics shows up, I ask three questions:
1️⃣ Whose identity, role, or authority feels threatened?
2️⃣ What fear is driving the behavior?
3️⃣ What unwritten rule is being enforced?

Those three usually reveal the whole story.