Don't fall for the myth that 'making friends' with your boss is smart workplace politics. The truth is: False friendships are a waste of time, and real friendships may be wonderful in your personal life but they are very likely to complicate your situation at work. The smartest workplace politics is to keep your work relationships focused on the work. That's not to say that real friendships do not or should not occur in the workplace. They do. Of course they do. You have a lot in common with people at work: "That's where you work? Me too!" If you have a lot of other things in common or you happen to have a personal connection with that person, maybe you become real friends. Real friendships develop over time at work, including real friendships with people who may be your boss. If that's your situation, then you'll have to work hard to protect that friendship from the realities of the workplace.

What is the best way to protect a real friendship with a person who is also your boss? Make sure your work relationship goes smoothly so that problems at work don't contaminate your personal friendship. That means you need to manage that boss very well, not just for the sake of your success at work, but also for the sake of your friendship.

So, what about the vast majority of situations, where the boss is not actually a 'real friend.' This is a situation where you have (or might be tempted to) build up a false-friendship that looks like personal rapport; a false-rapport that stands-in for genuine rapport on the authentic terrain you actually have in common (the work). Maybe you shoot the breeze. Maybe once in a while you have a brief personal connection, a moment of sharing something personal on one side or the other. There is the occasional social event outside of work. The problem is that this 'false rapport' is very thin and it collapses the moment the work gets serious.

The good news is that you can build genuine rapport with your boss, regardless of whether you are friends. How? By talking about the work on a regular basis. That is what you actually have in common. And that's a lot to have in common. That is authentic. That is the kind of rapport that makes the work go better. That is the kind of rapport that won't collapse as soon as the work gets serious. That's the kind of rapport that will help you solve problems when things go wrong.

What is the best workplace politics? Build authentic relationships with your bosses by having lots of real conversations one-on-one about the details of the work: Planning projects, tasks and responsibilities. Reviewing best practices, standard operating procedures, and checklists. Clarifying expectations, goals, deadlines, and guidelines. Evaluating work in progress, looking for opportunities to improve, considering course corrections. Celebrating success and enjoying the rewards you have earned through your valuable contributions of good work. That's the kind of real rapport that makes the work go better.