The Simple Guide to Staying Out of Office Politics
Have you ever had a coworker spin your half of a neutral conversation into a tirade（n.抨击，激烈演说） against your management team and then report it to them? Ever had someone encourage you to push out a great worker while they were on bereavement leave? I have. And as you can imagine, it was ugly with a capital U. So it’s with nasty experience and a survivor’s instinct that I offer a guide to one of the most dramatic ways to simplify your life: staying out of office politics.
Your office is not a game of Survivor. Skip the alliances.
Even though The Office made light of （蔑视，轻视）alliances, some folks still think they need a “team” to defend themselves. Here’s the truth: your best shot at job security is performing your job tasks to the best of your abilities. Win friends by helping them when they need it, sharing credit when it’s due, and being a generally nice person.
Identify office gossips and steer clear.
(You can usually identify them by the way they whisper with other workers while looking furtively（adv.偷偷地，悄悄地） around. Seriously. Most gossips aren’t that smooth. They want people to know they’ve got information.) Office gossips will eventually try to suck you into the imaginary world of power plays and inter-office drama. By being seen chatting in hushed tones with an office gossip, you put your credibility in jeopardy（n.危险）.
Keep to neutral subjects in the workplace.
Sticking to work-related topics is a fantastic way to stay out of office politics. Having true friends at the office can be wonderful, but be aware that when you share personal information with a coworker, you’re trusting your job to them. Make sure they deserve that trust.
Keep your ears open for leading questions.
If you get the sense that someone is looking for a specific answer on a personnel issue, find a way to get out of the question. When conversations turn to inter-office politics, get out before someone can misinterpret your words to fit their cause.
