Episode 159

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Published on:

29th Jul 2025

Mastering Office Politics: Power, Promotion & Playing to Win with Michael Wenderoth

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In this episode of the HR L&D Podcast, host Nick Day sits down with executive coach and author Michael Wenderoth to explore what it really takes to get promoted in today’s corporate world.

Michael is the author of the bestselling book Get Promoted and host of the 97% Effective podcast. He shares actionable strategies for advancing your career without compromising your values.

From navigating power dynamics and office politics to building influence and mapping organizational power, this conversation is a must-listen for HR leaders, L&D professionals, and ambitious professionals who feel stuck despite doing great work.

If you’ve ever wondered why top performers don’t always rise and what you can do to change that, this episode is for you.

Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchangwenderoth/

Nick Day’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/

Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea

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(00:00) How Power, Politics & Influence Drive Promotions

(03:19) Why HR Needs More Power Inside Organizations

(05:40) The Story of “Matt” & Why Top Talent Gets Ousted

(11:32) Redefining Power as a Neutral Force

(15:44) Using “The Rock, The Map, The Snowball” to Get Unstuck

(21:00) What Power Maps Reveal That Org Charts Don’t

(25:12) How Oversharing & Being “Too Authentic” Can Backfire

(34:32) How HR Can Shift Culture Without Creating Toxicity

(38:21) The Real Reason People Leave Their Jobs

(41:56) Rethinking Leadership in a Hybrid & AI-Driven Future

(46:45) Why Michael Named His Podcast “97% Effective”

(49:58) Bold Advice for HR Leaders, Promotions & Game of Thrones

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About the Podcast

The HR L&D Podcast

Leadership, recruitment, culture. Conversations with HR's best

HR gets handed the problems nobody else wants to own. The restructure, the grievance, the engagement survey that came back badly. And then gets asked why people are leaving.

I'm Nick Day. I run an HR recruitment agency, which means I spend most of my week on the phone to HR directors, HR leaders and people leaders talking about what the job is actually like rather than what's written on the job spec. This HR Podcast came out of those calls. I kept hearing things worth repeating, and nobody was repeating them.

Every week I sit down with HR leaders, chief people officers, L&D specialists and the occasional academic who has changed how I think about work and people engagement. We get into leadership, and what happens when someone brilliant at the technical side gets promoted into managing humans.

Employee engagement past the survey score. Diversity, equity and inclusion in a climate where saying those words out loud has become a decision in itself. Pay transparency, talent management, reducing bias in hiring, HR digital transformation and the HCM systems everyone is being sold. And of course we cannot forget HR AI tools and platforms that are flooding the landscape as AI in HR becomes a hot topic every people leader is keen to understand and leverage.

Wellbeing comes up constantly, and it usually turns into the same question. Who looks after the HR team.

I'm not an HR practitioner and I don't pretend to be. I'm the person who hires them, which puts me in a useful position. I get to ask the obvious question that everyone in the room already knows the answer to and nobody says.

No script and no polite version. Mostly it's the conversation you'd have with someone doing your job at a different company, if you ever got the chance to sit down with them.

If you work in HR, people management or L&D, or you're building a career in it, start by subscribing to The HR L&D Podcast. We have had guests including Stephen Covey, Alan Stein Jnr, Andrea Wareham and Dr. Thom Mayer among other HR Leaders who are shaping the future of work and leadership.

Need HR staff? I run JGA Recruitment, an HR and payroll recruitment agency. www.jgarecruitment.com or info@jgarecruitment.com

Want to be on the show? Nick@jgadigital.com

If payroll is closer to your world, I also host The Payroll Podcast, the most listened to payroll show in the world.

Topics include HR leadership, workplace culture, retention, people management, employee engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI strategy, AI for HR, AI recruitment tools, talent management, HR digital transformation, HCM, staff wellbeing, pay transparency, reducing bias, L&D and HR recruitment.

About your host

Nick Day