Politics and Personality In the Workplace

12Oct08

Not too long ago, I responded to a forum question that asked viewers if they had different personality traits at home than they did at work. Before I responded, I glanced through some of the responses already posted. Every person on there had said no, they were the same no matter where they were. My response started, “Well it may just be that I’m crazy but unlike everyone else here, I have some definite differences.” At work I am organized, patient, rarely (if ever) get angry, and am fairly outgoing. At home, I can never find my keys, or remember to take medicine, have been none to get impatient and irritated, and am pretty shy and quiet unless I am around my family or close friends. Around them, I can have a pretty big mouth, caustic wit, and definite opinions on just about everything.

Looking back on that now, I don’t think that it’s a bad thing.

Every one of those that had responded prior to me on the forum had stated in some form or another in their post that of course they didn’t change, their morals at home remained their morals while at work -almost as if the person who had first asked the question was insulting them by asking it. This seemed kind of obvious to me. I mean, with the exception of the sociopaths of the world, don’t we all have our own individual core morals that pretty much remain with us throughout our lives? Granted, for every ten people you talk to you will probably find ten different sets of core morals but, regardless of what they are, they do exist. For me the question was more superficial. A good example of what I mean by this is the subject of politics.

Do you find it appropriate to communicate,debate, and/or promote your personal political beliefs at work? The upcoming presidential election is expected to bring in record numbers of voters, making it what is likely the most universally popular election of our generation. The debates have all had record numbers of viewers and voters have had previously unheard of interaction throughout the campaign with the use of Twitter and MySpace. It is diffiult to find someone who does not have a political opinion. At home, I am free and open with my political opinion and arguments. I downloaded ringers for my mobile phone supporting my candidate, and on days when I forget my coffee cup at home, I will choose the cup at 7-Eleven that supports my candidate. But this is as far as I go bringing politics to work. Unless directly asked, I do not discuss who I support and if I am asked, I smile and decline to state. The only exception to this rule would be my working “friends”, and then I simply state my preference and refrain from being drawn into an argument. To do otherwise, I believe, is to invite discord into the office – and that is never a good thing.

On the other hand, in the state of New York, there are currently some teachers who are suing for the right to wear campaign buttons in the classroom. If allowed to wear the buttons, could this be perceived as teachers forcing their political views on the students? Or would it be an invaluable lesson to students about the importance of becoming involved and voting? If the latter is true, then couldn’t the teacher’s achieve the same effect by wearing “Remember to Vote” buttons to class and only wearing their campaign buttons on their personal time? It would certainly decrease the risk of controversy. Even if the teachers were level-headed enough to wear the campaign buttons and refrain from doing any active campaigning to the students otherwise, they would still face the problem of parents. A large number of Americans feel very strongly about their political beliefs and not all are level-headed enough to see a situation like that as merely a “learning opportunity”.

So what are your opinions? Do you have different personality traits at home vs at work? Should politics be brought into the workplace at all? If so, where do you draw the line – at bringing in a coffee cup with your candidates name on it, campaigning in the office, or where? I’d love to hear your views.

Filed under: Tips and Advice   |  2 Comments
Tags: communication, morals, personality, politics, workplace