It's All Politics: Winning in a World Where Hard Work and Talent Aren't Enough [Paperback]

Kathleen Kelly Reardon Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 19, 2006

As management professor and consultant Kathleen Reardon explains in her new book, It's All Politics, talent and hard work alone will not get you to the top. What separates the winners from the losers in corporate life is politics.

As Reardon explains, the most talented and accomplished employees often take a backseat to their politically adept coworkers, losing ground in the race to get ahead—sometimes even losing their jobs. Why? Because they’ve failed to manage the important relationships with the people who can best reward their creativity and intelligence. To determine whether you need a crash course in Office Politics 101, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I get credit for my ideas?
• Do I know how to deal with a difficult colleague?
• Do I get the plum assignments?
• Do I have a mentor?
• Do I say no gracefully and pick my battles wisely?
• Am I in the loop?

Reardon has interviewed hundreds of employees, from successful veterans to aspiring hopefuls, examining why some people who work hard and effectively at their jobs fall behind, while those who are adept at “reading the office tea leaves” forge ahead. Being politically savvy doesn’t mean being unethical or devious. At heart, it’s about listening to and relating to others, and making choices that advance everyone’s goals. Like it or not, when it comes to work, it’s all politics. And politics is all about knowing what to say, when to say it, and who to say it to.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Showing how to break complex office politics down into its simpler emotional parts, USC management professor Reardon eschews canned advice and cuts to the neediness and manipulation that define many workdays. Using hyper-realistic, no-nonsense sample dialogues that contain everything from colleagues who blindside to shoot-the-messenger bosses, she demonstrates how to shade language, alter timing and shift tone in a plethora of complex situations. More long-term advice includes engaging in advance planning, forming relationships and developing prepared responses to common situations, but Reardon freshens these chestnuts by treating them as the very difficult tasks they really are. The consistent use of an intentionally cheesy single character throughout the book, "Reginald Strongbrow," illustrates the path of a person from political naïveté to astuteness. While acknowledging that political strategy and intuition do not come naturally to most, Reardon's behaviorist approach and realistic expectations ring true and are carried off with a directed sensibility. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Advance Praise for It’s All Politics

“This is Reardon’s most important book and a terrific read. She makes a brilliant case for a new and important force in the workplace, political intelligence. Understanding this force is vital for success.”
—Warren Bennis, distinguished Professor of Business, University of Southern California, and Author of On Becoming a Leader


Acclaim for Kathleen Kelley Reardon’s The Secret Handshake

“The Secret Handshake is like a crash course in Business Psychology 101 . . . Reardon writes crisply and to the point . . . You owe it to yourself to read her book.”
—USA Today

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business; Reprint edition (September 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385507585
• ISBN-13: 978-0385507585
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #594,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As you may already know if you're visiting this page from Huffington Post or one of my blogs (comebacksatwork.com) or bardscove, I'm a professor of management and organization at the University of Southern California where I also spent over fifteen years on the faculty of preventive medicine.

My work began with a focus on persuasion. PERSUASION IN PRACTICE, my first book (revised edition), is a thorough overview of persuasion research and theory. It was described by Public Opinion Quarterly as "a landmark contribution to the field."

My first trade book, THEY DON'T GET IT, DO THEY?, focused on the similarities and differences in male and female communication and how those affect working together. It followed a "Harvard Business Review" reprint bestseller, "The Memo Every Woman Keeps in Her Desk." I appeared on Good Morning American and in a segment done for NBC Nightly News and later The Today Show.

Then came THE SECRET HANDSHAKE, which was an amazon business and nonfiction bestseller for some time. It still sells well because it's an inside look at the politics of business that each of who works deals with on a daily basis. Four types of political arenas are described from mildly political to pathologically political. And, styles that suit each type from the Purist to the Maneuverer are introduced. There's much to learn here about the shadow side of business and what you can do to thrive no matter the level of politics where you work.

IT'S ALL POLITICS followed and took a somewhat more advanced look at what was introduced in THE SECRET HANDSHAKE. It is also very hands-on so you can start experimenting right away with the strategies provided. One of the best aspects is a collection of scenarios not uncommon at work that you can immediately begin to connect with your own. And, then try out the suggested ways of dealing with them.

THE SKILLED NEGOTIATOR, academic and trade versions, include what I've shared with my negotiation students and senior executives I've coached. The trade version didn't get much attention due to focus on the academic one, but I love this book. As the amazon top reviewer wrote, it is very special and anyone who negotiates will enjoy it.

My latest book, with Christopher Noblet, is COMEBACKS AT WORK: USING CONVERSATION TO MASTER CONFRONTATION. I'd wanted to write this book for some time because when I consulted, coached and taught in the international MBA and Executive MBA programs at USC, I'd regularly meet very talented people who just couldn't respond effectively on their feet. And that hurt them at work. This book provides what seems like the secret of those who are good at responding in awkward, challenging, embarrassing, and offensive situations. And, it provides a host of comebacks to learn and practice using at work and elsewhere. These range from mild to what we call "wish you were never born" comebacks.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide to office politics but a bit plodding here and there January 15, 2006

By Jonathan Groner VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Reardon's topic is winning at office politics -- getting along and rising to the top in a corporation or similar organization by understanding human interactions. This book will be useful to anyone, particularly a new employee or a recent college graduate, who is trying to figure out how things really work on the job.

She correctly identifies all white-collar employees as "politicians" and points out that office politics is inevitable. Some people will win and some will lose. Her case studies are fascinating -- particularly the ones that involve responding to nasty e-mails or coping with putdowns by practitioners of "negative politics." To her great credit, Reardon emphssizes that there are times when merely "getting along" is not the right answer and when courage, integrity, and risk-taking are essential. And she gives appropriate weight to issues of personal style: some people face problems head-on, while others defer them; some are "in your face," while others avoid confrontation.

There are places where Reardon's expository energy seems to slow and the book plods along. But soon, the reader is caught up in another case study or interesting e-mail exchange and the book picks up strength again.

34 of 40 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Preys on the naive by introducing obvious information July 25, 2008

By Diverse

Format:Paperback

Kathleen Reardon seems to be laying the groundwork to be the university expert in corporate politics. First her book "Secret Handshake" and now this one. I read them both, and neither was helpful to me, a 20+ year management veteran of the corporate world.

Dr. Reardon gives real life situations for her case studies. She discusses what to do when a person is passively-aggressive in a meeting, or explaining a backstabbing incident.
The boiled down advice all readers should use in all situations is: "Confront the attacker. First with professionalism. If they don't respond, let it be known you will fight and you won't be a pushover. If THAT doesn't work, you'll need to get some senior executives on your side, to confront this person. If none of those work, quit."

Well, the 1st and 2nd pieces of advice are pretty obvious, but don't always work, especially when you're new to a company or department, unsure of yourpolitical capital, and unsure of the consequences of confronting a coworker or boss. Most attackers have support from others, and know how to spin an alternate version of a 'situation' so the victim (this book's reader) is seen as politically paranoid. I've been in companies where nasty people have a lot of clout, and confronting them is not smart.

Dr. Reardon's 3rd piece of advice is hilarious. "Find a senior executive to back you up, so that when the confrontation becomes public, you will have their support." Huh? If i had access to senior executives to back me up, i would drop their name to the politically inept backstabber and win the fight instantly. And most senior executives aren't about to back up junior managers just because they are asked to. They have their own political capital they are building. They're not going to squander it just because you come into their office and ask them to.
To propose getting your Big Brother to beat up the Bully as the "get out of difficult political situations free" option proves she's an academic, buried in theory.

Oh, and if you, the reader, can't get any of these three 'solutions' to work, you should "find another job." Well, finding another job is not helpful to those of us who have families, who want to stay in our neighborhoods, and don't want to create an emotionally traumatic family problem by moving spouse and kids to another state just because the corporate breadwinner keeps getting into political fights at work. Maybe the corporate breadwinner should maneuver out of this small battle, and live to fight another day (or maybe try to not fight at all).

I found all the suggestions sound good while comfortable in your chair at home, but useless come the workweek. Dr. Reardon assumes every reader is in a position to find Goliath's at work to stand behind them, quit jobs they don't like, and change companies and cities if they don't get their way. The options proposed are improbably contrived solutions to intractable problems.

Sun Tzu said "Every battle is won or lost before it is fought." Dr. Reardon gives you impractical tactics to implement while fighting, instead of teaching you how to stay out of the fight and still succeed.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Not ALL Work, Can Be Fun! August 3, 2005

By Betty Burks

Format:Hardcover

This valuable reference book explains the "in's and outs" of office politics, which are the most single factor in getting ahead in the career of your choice. This book is full of commonsense wisdom on how to get along with others and get ahead in life. Dr. Reardon is the author of THE SECRET HANDSHAKE about business psychology. She's great!

Talent alone does not insure success; you must have those important relationships with the people who can best reward your creativity and intelligence. You are encouraged to 'pick your battles wisely' to deal with a difficult co-worker.

When we think about politicians, automatically the words 'unethical' and 'devious' (sometimes flat-out 'lies') come to mind. In the workplace, "knowing what to say, to whom, and how and when to say it." Most of all, you will need to be able to convert enemies into your allies to win crucial support for your ideas.

The only way to avoid politics at work is to avoid people. "For every locked entrance, there is a back door, window, even a chimney;" always be sure there is a way out before you crawl into a corner. It is important to remember that there is more than one way to handle any situation: good, bad or indifferent.

Intuition is needed, but just as necessary is the power of persuasion.Power is a critical part of career politics. People remember those they perceive to be powerful. Power, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.

A good read, wonderful instruction in the ways of life at work and at home, and packed full of good advice. It behooves us to try to follow her instructions as close to the letter as possible. She knows what she is talking about; you can, too.