The Office Politics Podcast with Fexingo: Workplace Dynamics, Influence, and Getting Things Done

In this episode of The Office Politics Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the strategic power of workplace generosity — not just being nice, but using small acts of help to build real influence. They dig into a study from the University of California that found employees who proactively share knowledge and resources are rated 23 percent higher on leadership potential by peers and managers, even when...

Episode 28 tackles a risky career skill: pushing back against a boss or senior leader in a way that preserves your credibility and your job. Using the real-world case of a software engineer at a Fortune 500 company who successfully challenged a flawed product roadmap, Lucas and Luna break down the three-step framework the engineer used — timing, data packaging, and issue ownership. They explore wh...

Episode 27 of The Office Politics Podcast explores how to build and leverage mentorship relationships strategically without appearing needy or transactional. Lucas and Luna dissect the difference between asking for advice and asking for sponsorship, using the example of a junior analyst who turned a 15-minute coffee chat into a career-boosting advocate. They discuss the specific language of effect...

This episode examines how where you sit in a meeting room can affect your perceived influence and career trajectory. Lucas and Luna break down research on spatial dynamics — including a 2023 study from the Journal of Organizational Behavior showing that people who sit at the head of a rectangular table speak 32% more often than those in the mid-sides — and discuss how to use seating as a quiet too...

Lucas and Luna explore the art of recovering from a failed project at work. Using the example of a product launch that flopped at a mid-sized SaaS company, they discuss the three-phase recovery framework: owning the failure publicly, reframing the narrative around learnings, and rebuilding trust through small wins. They also touch on the psychological trap of 'spiral of silence' and why staying vi...

In this episode of The Office Politics Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the delicate skill of declining requests at work without damaging relationships or reputation. Using the story of a product manager at a mid-sized tech firm who turned down a high-visibility project and still got promoted, they break down the psychology of 'no' in a collaborative environment. They discuss the 'opportunity cost...

In this episode of The Office Politics Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how to gain real influence at work without relying on a formal title. They zero in on a specific strategy: becoming the go-to person for a scarce, high-value skill that sits at the intersection of two departments. Lucas cites the example of a mid-level product manager at a logistics firm who taught herself SQL and Python to bui...

Lucas and Luna dive into the hidden currency of workplace favors — the informal barter system where a small ask creates a future debt. Using a case study from a 2024 Harvard Business Review experiment on 900 knowledge workers, they explore why 'favor banking' is more powerful than formal authority, how favor reciprocity builds trust faster than competence, and the danger of becoming the office fix...

Lucas and Luna explore the delicate art of leading meetings when you lack formal authority. Using the case of a mid-level product manager who turned chaotic cross-functional stand-ups into focused decision sessions, they break down four specific tactics: setting the opening frame, using the 'decision parking lot,' managing time visibly, and issuing a written recap with named owners. They also disc...

Episode 20 of The Office Politics Podcast: Lucas and Luna delve into the challenge of building trust when you're the new person in an organization. They discuss the reality that new hires start with a trust deficit, regardless of their experience. Lucas explains the 'trust bank' concept and the need to make small, consistent deposits through reliability and integrity. He cites research from MIT's...

Episode 19 of The Office Politics Podcast. Lucas and Luna explore the subtle art of managing upward — influencing your boss's decisions, priorities, and perception of your work without triggering their authority reflex. Using a real case from a Fortune 500 engineering team, they break down the three moves that actually work: information shaping, decision pre-wiring, and credit framing. They also u...

Lucas and Luna explore how knowing when to stay quiet can be more powerful than making the perfect argument. Using the 2015 NBCUniversal-Comcast carriage dispute with Dish Network as a case study, they break down how silence creates leverage, shifts power dynamics, and changes the trajectory of high-stakes workplace negotiations. Lucas shares concrete tactics like the 'flinch pause' and how to avo...

Lucas and Luna explore the career trap of becoming the go-to problem solver at work. Using the case of a senior analyst named Priya who spent 40% of her time fixing colleagues' errors, they break down the hidden costs of being the office fixer — from burnout to stalled promotions. They discuss how to set boundaries, delegate fixes upward, and avoid being typecast as a cleanup crew. With specific t...

We all make mistakes at work — a botched presentation, a missed deadline, a poorly worded email that goes viral internally. But the difference between a career setback and a career-ending event often comes down to how you handle the recovery. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the anatomy of a workplace mistake and the specific steps you can take to rebuild trust and credibility. Drawing on r...

In this episode of The Office Politics Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the hidden infrastructure of workplace influence: informal networks. They unpack a 2023 study from MIT's Sloan School of Management showing that employees who strategically build ties across departments get promoted 2.5 times faster than those who don't. They discuss how one engineer at Procter & Gamble used cross-functional co...

Episode 14 of The Office Politics Podcast tackles the delicate art of workplace alliances. Lucas and Luna explore a real-world case from a Fortune 500 marketing department where a junior employee's close alliance with a senior director backfired during a reorganisation. They break down the difference between a strategic network and a risky clique, discuss how to assess whether an alliance is mutua...

Lucas and Luna explore how your workplace reputation gets shaped by small, overlooked moments—not just big wins or failures. They break down the concept of 'reputation debt' and why staying proactive about how colleagues perceive you can determine your career trajectory more than your resume ever will. Using examples from a Fortune 500 internal survey on trust and visibility, they discuss practica...

Episode 12 of The Office Politics Podcast tackles one of the most frustrating workplace dynamics: a supervisor who consistently presents your ideas, data, and reports as their own. Lucas and Luna break down a real case from a senior marketing analyst at a Fortune 500 retailer, tracing how credit theft erodes trust, stalls careers, and creates a culture of silence. They discuss practical escalation...

Episode 11 of The Office Politics Podcast digs into the subtle economy of workplace favors — how to give, ask for, and repay informal help without damaging relationships or appearing transactional. Lucas and Luna break down the psychology of reciprocity using the example of a marketing analyst who needed a data set from engineering but avoided the official request channel. They explain why favors...

In this episode of The Office Politics Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore a counterintuitive career strategy: strategic invisibility. Drawing on the case of a senior engineer at a Fortune 500 tech company who deliberately avoided high-profile projects for two years, only to emerge as the go-to expert on a critical legacy system, the hosts unpack when lying low actually accelerates influence. They dis...

It happens to almost everyone at some point: you present an idea in a meeting, and two weeks later a colleague presents it as their own. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down a real case from a mid-sized tech firm where a junior analyst named Priya watched her manager pitch her strategy to the C-suite without mentioning her name. They walk through the psychology behind credit-stealing — why s...

Episode 8 of The Office Politics Podcast with Fexingo zeroes in on workplace coalitions: the informal alliances that form in every organization. Lucas and Luna dissect a real example from a mid-sized tech firm where a junior product manager got entangled in a coalition war between engineering and sales, ultimately costing her a promotion. They break down the signs you're being used as a pawn, how...

Lucas and Luna tackle one of the trickiest office politics challenges: making sure your ideas get recognized without coming across as self-promotional. They break down a real case from a mid-level product manager at a Fortune 500 company who used a specific three-step method to ensure her initiative was adopted and credited to her—without ever having to say 'that was my idea.' The hosts walk throu...

In this episode of The Office Politics Podcast, Lucas and Luna tackle a subtle but corrosive workplace dynamic: leaders who present their teams' ideas as their own. They dissect a real case from a mid-sized tech firm where a senior director took full credit for a junior analyst's strategy, leading to quiet attrition and a broken trust culture. Lucas explains the psychological concept of 'claiming'...

Lucas and Luna unpack why always saying 'yes' at work quietly undermines your career. They focus on a real case: a mid-level project manager at a Fortune 500 firm who agreed to three extra deliverables in a single week, only to miss her own core deadline. The hosts break down the psychology of approval-seeking, the empirical cost of overcommitment, and the 'Strategic No' framework used by a former...