2205: Ducking the Crosshairs: Five Ways to Deal with Office Politics by Laura Stack on Workplace Communication
Optimal Work DailyOctober 14, 2026
2205
00:07:58

2205: Ducking the Crosshairs: Five Ways to Deal with Office Politics by Laura Stack on Workplace Communication

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Episode 2205:

Laura Stack shares five ways to stay out of the line of fire when office politics turn ugly, drawing on her own experience as a newly minted MBA whose plant safety report was buried by colleagues who resented her. Her rules are to refuse gossip in both directions, stay out of other people's causes, avoid griping aloud even to work friends, resist the pull to suck up, and push back on a boss who dictates who to be friendly with. She is direct that none of it guarantees immunity, but that quietly doing the work is still the better bet for a career.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://theproductivitypro.com/blog/2017/08/ducking-the-crosshairs-five-ways-to-deal-with-office-politics/

Quotes to ponder:

"Avoid gossip. Don't spread it, and don't listen to it."

"Don't gripe aloud at work, even to people you consider friends."

"Even if you keep your head down, there's nothing you can do to avoid office politics if someone wants to target you."

Optimal Work Daily is a daily career advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on productivity, entrepreneurship, and work-life balance, read to you by a professional narrator so you can grow your career a little more every day.

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