People treat corporate politics as like a unconfortable game. To me, most of it is just work that nobody taught you. 2 skills cover key things you need to care: manage up, and know what to do when you meet a manipulator
Manage up
Can your manager read your mind? No. So tell them your style directly: how you like to receive feedback, how often you want to sync, which channel reaches you fastest. It feels awkward to say out loud. It saves months of friction.
Then streamline the boundary of management. Agree on what you own alone, what you decide and then inform, and what needs their call before you move. When the boundary is explicit, they stop guessing and so do you.
Agree upfront on behavior when bad things happen. My rule is that the boss hears it from me first, early, with what I am already doing about it. A manager who learns about your problem from someone else will trust your updates less.
And use the 1:1 for what it is for. I think of problems as bags. Someone has to carry each one. The 1:1 is the right place to hand a bag over, to give them an FYI about a new bag, or to take a bag off their shoulders. Group meetings and chat threads are bad places to pass bags.
When you meet a manipulator
Some folks play a different game. You will not spot a manipulator from their words, because their words are the best part of their game.
Look for transparency instead. Decisions keep happening behind closed doors? Raise your guard. Promises change silently, with no explanation of what changed? Raise your guard.
Then verify intentions through references or peers. Ask people who have worked with them longer. You are not collecting gossip. You are checking whether the story they tell you matches the story everyone else has lived.
Politics does not go away when you ignore it. Manage up so the honest game works, and keep your guard up for the other one.