Office life is a culture unto itself. In every work place you find many stereotypes. The stuck up or arrogant guy, the woman that thinks she is special, the sexist pig, the firm and stoic office manager, the fat lady that everyone has to talk around, the cut throat corporate climbing guy, or the cut throat corporate climbing bitch. They come in all these types, male and female.
Isn't it strange though that no matter where you work, these types exist? Which one are you? Let me guess, none of these. Isn't it strange as we all agree these people exist but they are never us. Let's play a game, if you had to guess, which one are you?
OK, so you've decided and perhaps it doesn't fit you. At least you don't think that that type is you. I have news for you though, it doesn't matter what you think you are. It matters what others think you are. You are what others decide you are and if you are the least bit conscious of what your corporate image is, you'll address it.
Perhaps you don’t' want to guess. Perhaps you want to be really risky and go around the office and ask others. Who am I? What type of person am I? Am I the office slut? Am I the backstabbing co-worker? Am I the office maid? Oh... what's an office maid? I knew one of those personally. The office maid is the person the person that is the office kiss ass. They volunteer for everything, they round up the money for the office birthday gifts and such. Some do it for the brownie points, others do it because they have no life. Back to the types... From the work-a-holic to the slack-ass there are so many, and after all the show The Office is all about these stereotypes except they allow their characters to morph from type to type and that's cool, it's TV.
Then there are things we can't change. We'll sorta. For instance. What if you were the young-gun, the good looking mover and shaker, but now you've been there for a while and now you are the aging co-worker that is looking over their shoulder as some other better looking young-gun has come along. What do you do about that? You feel that edge of despair creeping up on you. You have no way out. You find yourself thinking, "How am I gonna get out of this one?" Because before the new kid on the block showed up you perceived yourself as the fox at the top of the hill. The fox coming up the hill is always hungrier than the fox at the top of the hill. What do you do? Are you one of those people looking over your shoulder? You don't want to be replaced by the younger more attractive attention getter? What do you do? Stereotype yourself and the answer is you become the backstabber. Ah... office politics.
What is it all about? I mean, you are not working for your own money. You are working for someone else’s money. You are putting in your time to earn a paycheck. So what else is there left to do at work but to climb the ladder and play politics. Oh... I mean aside from performing your job.
Years from now you'll be gone. Years from now your job and everyone else in your office will have been replaced. You'll be replaced by someone else playing the same game while you are sitting in some home or hopefully sailing into old age with someone looking out for your back. And those people that obvliviously replaced you will have the same aspirations, the same concerns, the same phobias and the same issues as you once had.
Ask yourself now? What really matters then? Is it your job? Or is it something else? Hey, if you find your job rewarding, then great, so few of us do. But if you don't find it rewarding, then you may come to realize that measuring your life by your job is not the way to live. Stepping out of office politics is not an easy task. Holding back from resenting co-workers, underlings and managers can be alien to who you are. Stemming your own greed for personal gain or just plain avoiding needless gossip is not an easy lifestyle change. And what would you change to? What would you change for?
There is a moral to this story but you have to figure it out for yourself. You can always read this article a second time. ;)
