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The Secret Handshake
Book

The Secret Handshake

Mastering the Politics of the Business Inner Circle

Kathleen Kelley Reardon
Currency, 2002

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Recommendation

In 1513, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Prince, the classic work on how to acquire and maintain power through the ruthless use of insidious politics. Machiavelli argued that when it comes to politics, morality is passé, and hypocrisy and deceit can be eminently useful. Nearly 500 years later, management expert Kathleen Kelley Reardon introduces her own book on the subject of politics and how to use political techniques to get ahead. She details the indispensable political skills that ambitious individuals need to move up inside any modern organization, and explains how to use them effectively and ethically. getAbstract appreciates Reardon’s comprehensive understanding, savvy and wisdom concerning the business world’s most nuanced and little understood subject: personal politics. Many dislike politics and find its practice unseemly. However, as Reardon writes, without it, nothing gets done and no one gets ahead. Once you accept this fact, learning how to use politics morally and advantageously makes perfect sense.

Take-Aways

  • Politics can give your career a powerful boost. In fact, to get to the top of most organizations, you must be political.
  • Your political moves can be proactive to achieve your goals, or reactive to protect yourself against direct and indirect attacks.
  • Some workers (“purists”) hate the idea of politics while others (“street fighters” and “maneuverers”) relish it.

About the Author

Kathleen Kelley Reardon, Ph.D., teaches management at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. She also is a frequent consultant to Fortune 500 corporations and other major companies.

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