Part 2 of the mini-series “The Neuroscience of Influence & Power”

This article is part of an ongoing series exploring how influence, power, and presence are built from the inside out. Each piece looks at leadership through the lens of neuroscience and human behavior not as tactics, but as patterns of the brain and body that shape how we connect, communicate, and create impact.

And few areas test that connection more than office politics.

Why We Misunderstand Office Politics

For many women I coach, the phrase office politics triggers discomfort. It feels manipulative, performative, or inauthentic.

But here is the truth: politics exist wherever people and power intersect. It is not inherently toxic. It is simply the emotional undercurrent of how decisions, alliances, and influence move through an organization.

Avoiding politics does not make them disappear. It only makes them harder to navigate.

Every system has informal rules; who is trusted, who gets access, who is consulted before big moves. When you understand these dynamics, you can work with the system instead of constantly being blindsided by it.

The Social Brain and Power

Neuroscience shows that our brains are wired to detect hierarchy and belonging. This sensitivity to social standing is ancient, it helped our ancestors survive in groups.

When you sense power imbalance, your amygdala activates. It scans for cues of inclusion or threat. If you feel excluded, your brain releases cortisol, the same hormone triggered by physical pain. That is why being left out of a key meeting hurts more than we admit.

But when you are seen, valued, and included, the dopamine system lights up. Dopamine fuels motivation, optimism, and confidence. It literally helps you show up with more presence.

This is the real foundation of office politics, a neurochemical exchange between safety and reward.

Why Avoiding Politics Keeps You Invisible

Many women withdraw from political spaces to preserve authenticity. But silence is also communication.

When you stay on the sidelines, others fill in the blanks about who you are and what you stand for. In the absence of narrative, perception takes over.

The prefrontal cortex, which manages judgment and empathy, helps us read intent. But when we are stressed or disengaged, it defaults to bias. That is why people who are less visible or less vocal often get misread as less confident or less capable.

Navigating politics is not about pretending. It is about learning to translate your value clearly within the system you are part of.

The Neuroscience of Political Intelligence

Political intelligence is not manipulation. It is social calibration.

It requires three brain-based skills:

1. Empathy without enmeshment. The anterior cingulate cortex helps you tune into others’ emotions, but you must stay grounded in your own nervous system.
2. Perspective-taking. The theory of mind network allows you to imagine what others might be thinking or fearing. This is the neural foundation of strategy and foresight.
3. Reward awareness. Dopamine drives every system. Knowing what motivates people: recognition, autonomy, trust helps you build alliances without flattery.

When these systems work together, your brain reads the room with accuracy instead of assumption.

How to Engage Without Losing Integrity

1. Map relationships, not roles. Influence flows through trust, not titles. Notice who people consult, who they defer to, and who they protect.
2. Regulate before you read. When you feel slighted or excluded, pause before reacting. A dysregulated brain exaggerates threat. Clarity requires calm.
3. Ask, do not assume. Replace stories with questions. Curiosity reduces cortisol and invites collaboration.
4. Communicate with clean intent. Be transparent about what you want, but align it with shared goals. Authenticity is not honesty without tact; it is truth delivered with awareness.
5. Use visibility as service. Being seen is not self-promotion when it models permission for others to do the same.

The Leadership Reframe

Politics are simply relationships in motion. They are the invisible threads that connect power, perception, and people.

When you learn to navigate them with self-awareness, integrity, and emotional precision, you stop surviving systems and start shaping them.

The most politically intelligent leaders are not the most strategic or outspoken. They are the ones who understand what drives human behavior and choose to engage it consciously.

Leadership that ignores politics remains idealistic. Leadership that understands politics becomes effective.

And when you combine both awareness and integrity influence becomes effortless.

Inside Reset to Rise, this is the real work. Helping high-achieving women redefine what powerful leadership feels like from the inside out.