You may be terrific at your job, but going nowhere. There are other elements that must be in place for you to advance. Answer the following statements "yes" or "no" to find out where you stand.

1. My boss's boss knows who I am.

2. At meetings, I make presentations to people at levels higher than my boss's.

3. I am involved in cross-division/departmental committees or problem-solving groups.

4. I am visibly involved in a professional organization.

5. I know what kind of job I want next and have told my boss.

6. I have been promoted at least once in the past five years.

Obviously, the best answer to the statements above is "yes." That is if you want to keep your job and move up. Those statements are all about politics at work. Politics can affect your salary, advancement opportunities and even how much you enjoy your job.

Remember that the biggest mistake an employee makes is assuming her boss knows what she is doing. Charlene Mitchell and Thomas Burdick, authors of "The Right Moves" maintain that, "The way our work is received by management is often more dependent upon politics and your image than its true value." Most of senior management's opinion of an employee is based on an impression made from a five minute greeting when you're hired, five minutes at the Christmas party, and five minutes of what someone else has said about you.

But I'm not talking about dirty politics. There are both good and bad politics. Remember that you play politics by doing an outstanding job, by identifying results that get rewarded with money and verbal recognition, by cultivating a personal support system, by coming up with ideas to make your office or job more efficient, and a host of other ways. That's playing good politics and something everyone who wants to get ahead should be doing.

So what about you? Do you believe that all actions in the office are based on fairness and rationality? That hard work alone will get you ahead? If you believe that, you are in for a rude awakening in the not-too-distant future. See what you can do to improve in this area.