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You need to develop a thicker skin. People will disagree with you. You will disagree with them. Ignore the conversations about politics and just do your job. How it makes you "feel" is something you need to deal with not your manager.
Honestly I agree with the above.
I have worked for many organizations with supervisors/managers/executives have made many political and even racially motivated comments.
One that was particularly interesting was when I worked in GA and my boss's spouse ran a construction business and she was complaining about the new anti-illegal immigration bill that had passed in GA due to her husband hiring illegal aliens because they "worked hard" and were "cheaper" and how now her spouse would have a burden in regards to his business. She insinuated that I and another (male) black co-worker would be in agreement with her because she thought all black people were against laws regarding the issue of illegal immigration. My black male co-worker was/is actually a conservative and votes GOP and he was very much for the legislation that had passed. I am an independent but my son's identity was stolen by an illegal immigrant when he was 5 years old and I admittedly am "prejudiced" against illegal immigrants due to that and I am in favor of both tougher restrictions and a route to citizenship for those who have been in the country a long time and not having been in trouble. Both my male black co-worker and I were for that bill which I believe was passed in 2011 or 2010, can't remember.
My boss subsequently, upon hearing my view of the matter as I told her that her husband should hire American born workers. This was during the recession and I felt that there were plenty of American born people who would love to work on her spouse's construction projects.
The conversation ended up turning into a racial conversation where she (FWIW she was white and a southerner and a very staunch conservative on most issues) accused both myself and my male GOP black co-worker of "voting for Obama" only because "he was black" to which I laughed and told her that I did vote for him but it was because I liked him better than McCain in 2008. My male co-worker did not vote for him in 2008. She then started speaking similarly to posts you see around here in regards to black people wanting "handouts" and that was the reason why most voted for him. I told her, like I say around here, that black people do not get any more handouts than other people and that most of us get nothing, same as whites and I mentioned that the conversation was making my male co-worker uncomfortable and we should stop talking about politics at work. She apologized to the male co-worker.
FWIW, I have had very staunch Democrat/liberal bosses as well. The one before the supervisor mentioned above is one who I consider a black "Super Democrat." She was super liberal and super Democratic and felt all people who were not liberal and Democratic had something wrong with them or were evil people (similar to how many liberals feel about conservatives). Again, I am an independent and she was never one to mince words in regards to politics. She actually is very good friends with people in the Obama administration and has worked with Obama before herself and in 2008 she was pretty nutty IMO politically to where she and other co-workers were constantly arguing and almost insulting each other on political issues.
I was accused many times of being a "black Republican" and the male co-worker mentioned above was always lambasted for it by her.
Sometimes these conversations just occur at work. The political ones really don't bother me and even the racial ones don't bother me that much anymore except when I am called rude names (I was called a n*gg** b***h before at work by a client because I wouldn't do something they wanted me to do that was against rules/regs).
FWIW, both of those supervisors are still very good friends of mine even though we no longer work together. Both were very nice people personally, helpful to others, and they were great mentors for me in regards to being a strong woman in the workplace.
People can have their political beliefs at work. Political party is not a protected class.
You've misinterpreted what I've said. I'm not asking for the manager to value my political opinion; in fact, I've never brought it up to him or anybody who I support, and that doesn't matter anyways. The problem is the divisiveness between coworkers based on political opinions which don't need to be brought up at work, or the "groupthink" they feel they're a part of, which has nothing to do with the job. It causes people to mistrust or mistreat based on opinions that aren't part of the job and didn't need to be brought up in a team meeting that has nothing to do with it.
Do you bring up controversial religious topics or sexual topics during team meetings that have nothing to do with them? Do you want to watch people argue and insult each other all day? If someone brings up something at a team meeting that you heavily disagree with that has nothing to do with why you're there, and the other people start trashing people like you, do you feel that's a good thing to have at a meeting? Or do you believe in groupthink and think that people should just fall in line or get out? Maybe you're a manager who wants people to hear your highly-divisive unrelated opinions at meetings when they don't need to and it's all about the strongest voice wins no matter what decoherence you've caused, does it concern you at all what problems you're causing and that not everyone's going to agree?
Do your job or find another one where you fit in. Sounds like you're worrying about how someone else is doing theirs.
This thread needs a tissue.
Our manager went on a business trip Friday, and when asked about it at the team daily standup, the first thing he says is "I saw a bunch of [x political candidate's] protesters", at which point someone on the team started trashing and insulting them with their own biases. A few people laughed but I quickly changed the subject to what business-relevant thing the manager actually did on the trip, which seemed to be a bit difficult to get out of him.
I then got some uncomfortable stares while giving my part of the standup, and I've noticed some coworkers be a little offish when I don't respond to them trashing certain candidate's supporters (calling them idiots or a-holes basically, etc) or try to deflect it, and it's been pretty on the down-low until recently, and I only know a few people's political biases, but I can see easily how the disagreements and bashing of certain groups of people can be very divisive even among co-workers that have gotten along great.
How do I bring this up? My manager's generally been good at working out problems and not introducing discontent between co-workers at meetings, but I had no idea he was on the side of the political spectrum he is and he's been trashing the other side more and more at meetings. I want to ask him which political candidate the groupthink wants me to support, which party or side, and which legislation and elected politicians, because I'm feeling very demoralized and demotivated to work on a team that expects me to have the same political opinions they do under the threat of being distrusted or mistreated.
Welcome to the war, you didn't know you were in....
The brownies will ALWAYS side with the boss; and insecure bosses who need to be placed on a pedestal will ALWAYS place the brownies at the top of their list.
True, but since the manager is part of the problem nothing good will come of complaining to him. OP will just get branded as a whiner and be marginalized as a team member. Seen it happen a hundred times over the years. Best thing to do is rise above and do your job better than the jerks. Earn the respect you feel you deserve, don't demand it.
So when the manager makes comments that cause their workers to become marginalized over political opinions that have nothing to do with the job and cause discontent among coworkers, the marginalized worker should not go to that manager for fear of being marginalized? I've already earned the respect of my coworkers, this offhand political remark and my attempt to steer it back to business has caused some of them to treat me differently, which was completely unnecessary. Do you think my manager isn't concerned about the cohesiveness of the team and may not want to bring up highly-divisive political topics at meetings that have nothing to do with it?
You've misinterpreted what I've said. I'm not asking for the manager to value my political opinion; in fact, I've never brought it up to him or anybody who I support, and that doesn't matter anyways. The problem is the divisiveness between coworkers based on political opinions which don't need to be brought up at work, or the "groupthink" they feel they're a part of, which has nothing to do with the job. It causes people to mistrust or mistreat based on opinions that aren't part of the job and didn't need to be brought up in a team meeting that has nothing to do with it.
Do you bring up controversial religious topics or sexual topics during team meetings that have nothing to do with them? Do you want to watch people argue and insult each other all day? If someone brings up something at a team meeting that you heavily disagree with that has nothing to do with why you're there, and the other people start trashing people like you, do you feel that's a good thing to have at a meeting? Or do you believe in groupthink and think that people should just fall in line or get out? Maybe you're a manager who wants people to hear your highly-divisive unrelated opinions at meetings when they don't need to and it's all about the strongest voice wins no matter what decoherence you've caused, does it concern you at all what problems you're causing and that not everyone's going to agree?
I don't bring up anything, other than maybe the weather or the score of last nights game, in a professional meeting. I have the good sense to know it's not the time, place or venue to bring up those sorts of things nor do I have the hubris to think my coworkers give a rats what I think unless it has to do with the job.
But, there are ALWAYS going to be people who don't have good sense and will bring up this sort of stuff inappropriately in the workplace. You cannot control them. You can only control yourself and your reaction to them. When I hear this sort of stuff in a meeting, I sip my coffee, refuse to engage and let the jerks blow themselves out so we can get back to the business at hand.
What I don't do is complain about it to my manager especially if he's participating in it. Why put yourself in that position? Why worry if your coworkers don't share your political views? Believe it or not, this election cycle will end (thank God) and the talk of politics will die down. You just don't want to be branded as the team member who can't take the heat when people don't agree with you. If you are, your opinion will NEVER matter even when it has to do with business.
People can have their political beliefs at work. Political party is not a protected class.
Yes, they can have their political beliefs at work, but do you agree that bringing it up at a meeting that has nothing to do with it can be very divisive? I'm not asking to have a protected political party class, I'm asking how to deal with a manager that is dividing the team due to bringing up highly-divisive and frankly insulting political opinion into a completely unrelated (and normally good-willed) daily standup where I've now seen people make incendiary remarks about another group of people they happen to work with, and the squints and stares and cold shoulders from certain people just from trying to return the conversation to business matters.
So when the manager makes comments that cause their workers to become marginalized over political opinions that have nothing to do with the job and cause discontent among coworkers, the marginalized worker should not go to that manager for fear of being marginalized? I've already earned the respect of my coworkers, this offhand political remark and my attempt to steer it back to business has caused some of them to treat me differently, which was completely unnecessary. Do you think my manager isn't concerned about the cohesiveness of the team and may not want to bring up highly-divisive political topics at meetings that have nothing to do with it?
He may not be and if not he's a crappy manager. They are everywhere. I've worked for plenty of crappy managers over the years. They are unavoidable.
He might be one of those types that sees his staff as his posse and expects everyone to dance to his tune. Who know? You just need to determine how you can negotiate this issue with as little impact to your reputation and career as possible. Sometimes that's speaking up and sometimes it's shutting up.
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