Someone asked me how to deal with office politics. Here are my lessons learned the hard way, because I am bad at it. I’ve never been one of those people who can gracefully mingle with the seniors and say the right thing.

1. Judge every situation and case on the merits of the argument. Focus on the facts. Don’t be swayed on whether or not you like the person: you want to be an impartial judge. You don’t want to be known as the person who “always sides with Tom”.

2. When in doubt, ask “What’s the right thing for the company?” I guarantee it will crystallize the way forward when emotions run high.

3. Be Switzerland. There’s no benefit aligning yourself with one group over another: power changes hands quickly, and people can quickly fall out of favor. Rather than trying to figure out who the survivor will be, stay focused on being on the right side of the argument.

4. Pretend you’re the lawyer presenting the case: whatever your position is, make sure it’s clear why you believe what you do, based on facts and information. If you can’t defend it, how can you take a position?

5. If office politics stops you from doing the right thing, being your best self, or makes you miserable, you need to find a new role.

When office politics become the way to win more than performance, it’s time to do something else.