Top 7 tactics to help professionals succeed amid a politically charged company culture.(EXTRA CREDIT)

With Primary Elections now underway in many states throughout the U.S., politics are top of mind for Americans from coast to coast. However, beyond Senate and Gubernatorial implications, aspiring professionals should also spend time considering the political climate within their own workplace--you know, those productive and counterproductive human factors present between coworkers "jockeying for position" in an office environment.

While office politics are commonly regarded quite negatively as a culture rife with backstabbing, gossiping and brown nosing, it also has a very strong upside. The key to successfully navigating your way through the propaganda lies with making the system "for" you rather than against you, as is often the case.

The good news is this: effectively strategizing and executing an office politics "action plan" can literally make your career. Do it poorly or not at all, and stagnant wages or, worse, a pink slip may very well be in your future. Indeed, the very nature of office politics is strategy, which differs from office gossip in that people participating in office politics do so with the objective of gaining advantage, whereas gossip can be a purely social activity. Accordingly, creating an office politics "action plan" detailing specific, proactive strategies to circumvent political landmines is a worthy exercise.

John McKee, business success coach and author of 21 Ways That Women in Management Shoot Themselves in the Foot, notes, "Office politics will occur anytime there are three or more people in a conversation, which is a very common occurrence in the workplace. It's imperative to use these opportunities to get yourself, your point of view, and your ideas into play." Exactly how might one go about this? Below, McKee offers a number of tactics and approaches to help anyone to become more successful climbing the corporate ladder amid a highly charged political climate:

1. Over-Communicate: Keep others apprised of what you are planning or currently working on. Organizations hate to be surprised and often, when they are, it creates a blueprint for failure--personal or for the project, itself. In many companies this can mean taking meetings with people you may not like or respect, but chalk that up to life in the fast lane. If you think withholding information will allow you to surreptitiously gain professional yardage, think twice. Your concealment can be easily sabotaged based on the plight for secrecy, alone.

2. Mentors: These individuals are still the best way to get an objective handle on what's really going on in an organization as they can better see the forest through the trees. "Company insider" mentors can give you a fast understanding of the company's culture. But, a mentor need not be within the organization, as outside mentors can provide a new, fresh and completely unbiased perspective on both your personal style--what it is and what it "should" be--and how your company's politics are working in general. A mentor is also a confidant with whom you can not only strategize your career, but also vent about a nasty boss and/or co-worker and otherwise get frustrations off your chest without feeding into the office political game. And, it doesn't matter if your mentor is not the same ...