The Secret Handshake: Mastering the Politics of the Business Inner Circle [Paperback]

Kathleen Kelly Reardon Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 15, 2002

In The Secret Handshake, top corporate consultant and USC management professor Kathleen Reardon explores and reveals the hidden rules on the ins and outs of corporate politics that you won’t find outlined in any employee handbook.
Based on hundreds of candid interviews with executives at Fortune 500 companies who have achieved their goals and joined the inner circle, The Secret Handshake lays bare the unstated conventions that govern and shape corporate hierarchies. Taking readers inside boardrooms to learn firsthand how the top decision-makers view and assess the employees under them, it offers invaluable advice on such career-building tactics and skills as getting noticed, networking, persuading others, knowing which battles to fight, and mastering the art of the quid pro quo. For all those who aspire to be part of the decision-making body of their organization, The Secret Handshake is the ultimate intelligence report on whom to trust and whom to watch out for, how to manage the inevitable conflicts that will arise, and how to read between the corporate lines.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Reardon, an academic and business consultant, describes her book as a journey to help the reader become better informed, better armed, more confident, and considerably more adept at mastering the interpersonal politics of work. In her view, political savvy is a prerequisite for the inner circle, even more so than job competence. Through information gleaned from hundreds of interviews of CEOs, senior managers, and high achievers during her 20 years of consulting, she explains the role of politics in organizations and provides ideas for gaining admission to the inner circle. Topics covered by the author include knowing your political style and when to change it, forming relationships the politically savvy way, the art of conversational politics, creating positional power, and managing conflict and cultivating influence. Although many will not agree with all of the author's theories and advice, she is probably correct when she states that politics is the way things work in most organizations. This book is thought provoking and offers valuable insight. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"This isn't how to be sneaky, how to sabotage... This is more geared to the truly ambitious who hope to make it to the inner circle...like a crash course in Business Psychology 101. You owe it to yourself to read this book."


 
--USA Today

"I read a little bit and I was hooked...full of practical advice, illustrated by the kinds of (short) point-making stories that they tell in business schools.  I gave a copy to my daughter."

--The Boston Globe

"A gold mine of strategy and information...shows readers how they too can place themselves in the inner circle.  A fascinating book that helps shine a light on the sometimes murky world of corporate politics."      

--Dallas Morning News

"Best of the Month...selection for best career tool...While insisting that you refuse to play politics might be a good career strategy, everyone who works is a politician and you might as well be good at it. "

 
--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Even if you don't yearn for the highest ranks and the Secret Handshake, this book can't help but smooth your path through the organizational life."

 
--Baton Route Business Report

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business; Reprint edition (January 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385495285
• ISBN-13: 978-0385495288
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,775 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

102 of 110 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Defensive Aid for the Politically Challenged February 3, 2001

By Donald Mitchell HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

To my knowledge, this book is the first thorough look at the subject of office politics. As such it will surely stand as the foundation of all work in this field for many years to come.

The book obliquely alludes to the secret fraternity handshakes that men use to identify each other as "brothers" and often help to accelerate the formation of relationships. Instead, Professor Reardon refers to "The Secret Handshake" as "the acknowledgment one in-group insider gives another . . . ." which is the broader form of this phenomenon.

Those who like to work the political side of any situation hardly need any more tips. The downside of this book is that the moderately adept influencers will become more skillful in their apple polishing. The upside of the book is that those who are getting creamed by office politics will have a better idea of how to defend themselves by finding environments where they can prosper. This appropriateness of this book will be as controversial as Machiavelli's Prince has been. In my view, this book has both great potential for harm and for good. It all depends on who uses it . . . and for what purpose. Unfortunately, the author has framed the book in terms of personal career advancement. That will increase the likelihood of misuse. She is aware of the issue and addresses it in the book, but I think her good intentions exceeded her effectiveness in implementing those intentions.

Basically, this book is all about ways to overcome the communications stall. There is much fine work in here on that subject, which is why I graded the book at five stars. If I were grading the book for its likely impact on the effectiveness of organizations, I would rate it vastly lower.... So if you see this book starting to show up in your office, beware!

The best parts of the book come in two quizzes you can take to determine your own leadership and negotiating styles. These quizzes are very well designed, and I found the results very valuable for me. In particular, it helped me to understand how my own style differs from those of others I see by articulating the alternative styles in good depth. Then, Professor Reardon provided good information on what types of organizations would make best use of your or my style. She also points out ways that we can shift our styles slightly to make them better fit the circumstances we are in. At that point in reading this book, you would be well advised to read NLP Business Masterclass for specific ideas for shifting your effectiveness.

Your understanding of the psychological bases for the points she makes would be greatly expanded by reading Robert Cialdini's classic book on this area, Influence. When you read that book, you will be much impressed by how he handles the ethical dimensions of helping people to be more persuasive.

A great strength of this book is also to be found in the examples. Professor Reardon conducted hundreds of interviews and discussions as background for this book. Unlike most books about working, this one has as many examples from women leaders as from men. As a result, female readers will find much of relevance for their specific situations of how to exercise influence in environments where most other leaders are men. Male readers will benefit from hearing about the special problems that women face.

A valuable contribution to sociological research comes in the ways that Professor Reardon has characterized working environments by their degree of politicization. She astutely points out that each degree of politicization can exist inside the very same organization, in different places.

The book does not do enough to help the reader understand how to reduce the politicization of an organization, or to shift it into more productive paths. I hope that Professor Reardon's future work will focus more on improving organizational effectiveness, and less on career management for the individual. The former task is a far more important one for leaders than the latter one.

Reading this book should cause you as a leader to think about what sort of working environment is optimal for what you want to accomplish. How can you identify the elements that need to be changed in your environment? How can you make it appealing to everyone to make the needed changes to enhance group and personal effectiveness and career progress?

Basically, the challenge is to overcome the problem that the optimization of one person's career is usually the sabotaging of the organization's opportunities and thus everyone's progress. For example, Professor Reardon tells the story of one executive who artificially created problems that he could solve as a way to get promoted every 18 months. That's just horrible!!!

Communicate the need to cooperate for building more . . . in improved ways! Read more ›

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars best I've ever read, by far! July 13, 2002

By Chen Sun

Format:Paperback

I'm half way through reading this book, and am surprised by the diversity of reviews and ratings. This is a "foundation of basics" type of book, that provides a workable framework to then enhance one's skill set. It's fast, short reading, and, unlike most business books, worthy of being reread.

I think highly of this book because I'm one of the politically challenged type of person--no idea what's going on. One of these guys walking around the world, wondering why everyone else is doing the funny things they're doing. And I think it takes someone who is from outside the social-realities world to really appreciate this book.

This isn't Plato or Machiavelli that describe the full implications of power, but this is the best I've seen on how to get power. Most of the popular how-to-get-power books describe common-day tips and anecodotes. This book though, gives a set of simple principles, hence a framework, that one can use to assess a situation and oneself to then deploy how to get and use power. As such, I'd say that it's a better book on how to get power than (dare I) Machiavelli's the Prince, which claims to teach about power, but doesn't really say much on how, in my opinion.

I find it's actually very difficult to "see properly" without a framework. Most people learn about power naturally. I had to read this book, before I could see. Perhaps that explains the wide range of opinions here--some reviewers who understand power think this book is obvious and silly. Others, like me, believe it's simply the best set of principles to use to start learning about power....

A truly fast reading book--I've learned more that's valuable about business, politics, and social relationships in the estimated 3 hours it'll take me to read this book than I've learned about anything in semester long textbooks. Read more ›

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Politics 101 September 26, 2005

By Dr Cathy Goodwin TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

As a career consultant, I'm always looking for books to recommend to clients and ezine readers. While we tend to assume corporate managers are all savvy, in fact many are surprisingly naive and we all can stand to learn more.

Secret Handshake is not as strong as Reardon's first book, They Don't Get It, Do They. The first book included novel and original ideas about a subject the author obviously cares about. But it's worth a quick read - not much more.

Reardon begins by categorizing both companies and employees in terms of their political styles. I'm always suspicious of profiles, but her ad hoc approach offers a face-saving way for people to say, "Hey, I'm just not political."

Overall this book includes useful perspectives, although some readers will not be impressed by the common sense reminders. Most corporate employees can figure out that one-upping the boss is bad timing. But some ideas (like he PURRR technique) will save some careers. The section on getting heavy-handed will be especially valuable.

And some will disagree with Reardon's interpretation of a situation. For instance, a young woman visits a recruiting booth while the company recruiter talks to Reardon. She politely excuses herself for interrupting and insists on leaving her resume. The young woman was interested in a sales job; in my opinion, her persistence should have been applauded!

I read this book after hearing Barbara Ehrenreich speak on her latest book, Bait and Switch. What a contrast! Ehrenreich questions everything that Reardon takes for granted. Reardon warns against "showing up the boss (p 59), while Ehrenreich would point out that stifling disagreement wouldn't be in the best interests of the company in the long run.... Reardon accepts corporate values -- or at least implies, "Hey -- that's the way it is." I can just see Ehrenreich rolling her eyes and raising her eyebrows.

There are a couple of minor bloopers on pages 66-67. On page 67 is a reference to Daphne Merion - I think she means Daphne Merkin, a rather outspoken writer for the New Yorker.

And I question Reardon's version of the story behind Madeline Albright's nomination as Secretary of State. Reardon seems to suggest that Albright got the job in part because of her connections to Clinton. But other sources suggest that Clinton actually resisted naming Albright until he was pressured by female legislators. And in fact, some have questioned whether others were equally qualified.

But perhaps the biggest criticism of this book is that, although insights are valuable, it's..well, dull! We need more war stories and more anecdotes. The material has the potential to be as gripping as a novel -- and Reardon's first book (They Don't Get It Do They) managed to come across as much more reasonable. Read more ›