If you hate office politics, chances are you already know what you’re “supposed” to do.
Be more visible.
Speak up.
Show impact.
Manage up.
And yet — you don’t do it. Or you do it once, awkwardly, and then drop it.
Most people don’t use the system for two reasons:
It contradicts their values.
They were never taught the rules.
I’ll be talking about both — a lot — here and on my Instagram and LinkedIn.
But today I want to give you one move.
Not a framework. Not a mindset shift. One concrete thing.
The move: start your 1-on-1s with wins from the past week
Every manager 1-on-1.
First 3–5 minutes.
No exceptions.
Not a status update.
Not a justification.
Wins.
Sounds simple.
Almost stupidly simple.
Very few people do it consistently.
Examples:
“Last week I closed X — it unblocked Y.”
“This decision saved the team Z hours.”
“This issue looked small, but it prevented a bigger risk.”
That’s it.
Why this is harder than it sounds
If you feel resistance reading this, it usually comes from one of these fears:
“I can’t take credit for this alone.”
“What if I say everything is fine, but inside the project is messy?”
“What if it sounds like I’m bragging?”
“What if I’m exaggerating?”
Notice what’s happening.
You’re not afraid of visibility.
You’re afraid of being seen inaccurately.
Of overpromising and underdelivering.
Of being judged.
Of being exposed.
That’s psychology, not office politics.
How to open the conversation (so it doesn’t feel fake)
You don’t need to perform confidence.
You can start like this:
“Before we go into everything else, I want to flag a few things that went well this week.”
“I want to make sure you have visibility on what moved forward.”
“Let me quickly walk you through the impact points from last week.”
Calm. Neutral. Adult.
Watch what happens to the tone of the 1-on-1 over time.
Managers relax.
Conversations get clearer.
Decisions stop feeling random.
And it is finally not because you worked more. Because your work became legible.
This is the beginning.
why office politics triggers so much internal resistance,
how values like honesty and fairness clash with real systems,
and what to do when you know the rules but can’t bring yourself to play.
I won’t talk you into becoming someone else.
I’ll help you understand the system and your reactions to it.
With care,
Alena Guzharina (@alena.speaks)
Psychology counsellor & coach, speaker and content creator
Book a complimentary intro call with me
www.alena-speaks.com