The key players in any political system (namely, where you work) are the individuals who can help make your department more effective and who can provide positive role models to you and your employees.

Key players are those politically astute individuals who make things happen in an organization. You can identify them by their tendency to make instant decisions without having to refer people "upstairs," their use of the latest corporate slang, such as Six Sigma, and their affinity for always speaking up in meetings if only to ask, "What's our objective here?"

All the following factors are indicators that can help you identify the key players in your organization:

• Which employees are sought for advice in your organization?
• Which employees are considered by others to be indispensable?
• Whose office is located closest to those of the organization's top management and whose are located miles away? (Have we arrived in Siberia yet?)
• Who eats lunch with the president, the vice presidents, and other members of the upper management team?