Lately I've known many people leaving their current jobs due to something they ascribe to "politics" in their respective organizations. I'm not entirely sure what politics means to you, fellow grinders, but I love the Wikipedia definition:
The use of one's individual or assigned power within an...organization for the purpose of obtaining advantages beyond one's legitimate authority.
This isn't just a big-business problem. In Startups there is a tendency for many people to all come together, collaborate, and audit ventures as they are getting started. Successful founders and teams work together. They constructively collaborate to bring about the venture's true potential. Still, a former coworker likened this to a children's soccer team all charging the ball. Everybody wants to get their feet in the game.
As organizations get larger, this becomes less possible, because the scope of work becomes narrower for some as the load becomes greater. People naturally are relegated to less responsibility for sanity as well as productivity reasons. Most founders either have been or will ultimately be on both sides of this organizational equation. Some will counter being restructured with politics, but a great leader will be able to create order, mentor, and help counsel with those that may be moving into a narrower field of responsibility. Experience has shown me some people, during this transition, may need more nurturing and support.
Great founders inspire their team with a clear vision so that no matter what an individual does, it is a reward to give their best to the organization. Adam Lashinsky's portrait of Apple comes to mind. People sacrifice glory and pomp to build something truly revolutionary. When you have a team willing to sacrifice their titles, time, and personal credit to work together to build a product or service, then you have a sufficiently strong vision.
If you find a lot of politics in your organization, it may be time to spend more time reaching out and engaging the employee base. Everybody has a role, but in successful organizations collective credit can frequently yield the best brand results. That's not to say there won't be people looking to claim more credit than they deserve, but finding the right people is a recurring theme to the lessons founders share. Being willing to part amicably is also something Scott Heiferman brought up. It's not easy, but sometimes management has to clear roadblocks.
Politics draw lines of demarcation. This is my territory, this is yours, and never shall we cross uninvited. It is said to be toxic to constructive collaboration and innovation. But disruptive, recombinant innovation requires teams to collaborate across group or team lines to iterate and improve. When someone raises a flag that there is a problem, we may as founders and managers be tempted to sweep it away. There should always be someone deputized to flag issues and empowered to raise an alarm.
Bo recommended an inside, outside, and product team. Let them inspire one another. Let their teams collaborate with each other, but he specified an order to all things. Adam Lashinsky describes Steve's return to Apple to be a return to order, with a slash-and-burn approach to stomping out the fires of politics. When he was done, he had set a vision, marked territories, but had empowered people to work together. He also tended to keep his all-seeing eye on important projects.
Just remember: inspiring your team is different than getting results. Things may work and success may come in spite of dogged battles, but focusing on vision, and productivity should give you a net win every time.