It's All Politics: Winning in a World Where Hard Work and Talent...

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 256 pages
• Published by: Doubleday Business September 19, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0385507585
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0385507585
• Book Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 6.4 ounces

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 human being 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.

Product 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 --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: It's All Politics: Winning in a World Where Hard Work and Talent Aren't Enough (Hardcover) Considering corporate politics exist in all corporations, it is amazing how little it is studied. In fact, many corporations deny that politics even exist in their organization (yeah right!) This book is written by an academia with a PhD from one of the better business schools (USC). This alone makes this book unique since most books on corporate politics seems to be written by used car salesmen rather than by a rational intellectual. The author attempts to tackle the heavy challenge of explaining the nature and ways of power and politics in 232 pages. Overall, the book contains lot of valuable information such as "read between the lines" and "ability to see things as others do is paramount". I felt several key components of corporate politics and power were missing or were dealt supreficially. For example, leadership (ability to put the team first and persevering through inconsistencies of human emotions and behavior) and emotional intelligence (ability to be calm and collective even when the situation demands anger and impulsive action) was not emphasized at all. I also believe that appearing detached from politics (even one is fully involved in strategizing) and being a "hard to get" person to all suitors of power is important. Finally, nothing gives you more power than knowledge. If you are more of an expert in a specific technical field, you are intrinsically more powerful. Although I do not believe this book can, and does not, contain all the information related to power and politics in the corporate world, it is nonethless one of the most credible.