Politics in a company is when employees advance their careers or agendas through means other than merit and contribution. The CEO is almost always the unwitting cause — it's not bad people creating politics, it's good processes done badly.

Never discuss the possibility of a raise or promotion for an employee with that employee outside of a structured performance review. If someone asks for a raise, the worst thing you can do is engage; you create an incentive for everyone else to lobby too.

If executives want to hire their friends or former colleagues, make them go through the same rigorous interview process as anyone else. Skipping process for 'known quantities' is how a company ends up with two classes of employees and a politicized org chart.

Design promotion and compensation processes that are uniform, transparent, and decided in a forum where managers must justify decisions to peers. This makes it impossible for the loudest or most politically skilled manager to win disproportionate rewards for their team.

Watch out for three behaviors that look like leadership but are actually politics: executives doing deals behind your back, complaining about peers instead of confronting them, and assembling political coalitions to push agendas. Address each directly the moment you see it.

The standard for performance and behavior in your company is not what you preach — it's what you tolerate. Politics flourishes wherever a leader sees bad behavior and lets it slide.