Mastering Office Politics

How often have you heard that the only way to win at office politics is with dirty tricks? The truth is that getting ahead is really about subtlety, finesse and the artful orchestration of your agenda. Mastering Office Politics is divided into six concise sections:

• advancement


• removing roadblocks


• teamwork


• leadership


• change


• managing difficult employees

• Taking a Step up the Ladder


• Capitalize on Someone Else’s Good Ideas


• When You’re on the Road to CEO


• Sell Your Ideas to Advance Your Career


• Get Invited to Meetings That Count


• Just How Effective Is Your Network?


• Make the Mentor Connection


• Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling


• Stay on Top of Your Promotion


• Master the Art of Power Schmoozing


• How High Is High Enough?


• Opportunity for the Acting Manager


• Outperforming Others Comes at a Price


• A Lateral Move Can Lead Upward


• Taking a Temporary Step Down


• Strive to Accumulate Power


• Competing for a Plum Promotion


• Why You Should Pick Your Successor


• Practical Intelligence for on-the-Job Success

• When to Go Over Your Boss’s Head


• Living With a Boss Who’s Domineering


• Distance Yourself From a Boss in Trouble


• How to Disagree With Your Boss


• Making Points With a New Boss


• Pitfalls of Socializing With the Boss


• When Your Boss Shoots Down All Your Ideas ...


• When a Consultant Studies Your Operation


• The Division Manager’s Survival Guide


• If It Isn’t Broken, Break It


• Don’t Promise More Than You Can Deliver


• The Fine Art of Dealing With Criticism


• Are Others Stealing the Credit You Deserve?


• If You’re Operating on a Short Fuse ...


• Working With a Hotshot Assistant


• A Colleague Seeks Advancement at Your Expense

• Your Department May Be Losing Its Memory


• Consensus: How to Achieve It


• Try Using Participatory Management


• Turn Tensions and Conflict Into a Positive Agenda


• Strategies for Building a New Team


• Reinforce the Importance of Staff Loyalty


• Knowing When to Referee


• The Art of Motivating Employees


• Don’t Let Scarce Resources Divide Your Group


• Don’t Be Swayed by Office Politics


• Ways to Gain Allies in Your Company


• Stand Tall: Refuse to Be Intimidated


• When a Colleague Steps on Your Toes


• Defending Yourself Against Verbal Bullies


• Working With Someone You Can’t Stand


• Don’t Let Yourself Be Seduced by Veiled Flattery


• Deception—and Those Who Practice It


• Clever Ways to Disarm a Back-Stabber


• Bad-Mouthing Can’t Always Be Ignored


• Using EEO to Your Advantage

• When Others Presume on Your Friendship


• Guarding Against Male Bias


• Sexual Harassment: A Minefield


• Dilemma: One Promotion, Two Candidates


• Making Room for the Stellar, Promising Rookie


• Are Performance Appraisals Doing Enough?


• Coping With Employee Resistance


• Getting the Message Across Under Fire


• Their Hidden Message: ‘Leave Us Alone!’


• When Kindness Fails ...


• When It’s Time to Say, ‘I’m the Boss!’


• How to Help Your Staff Through Personal Crises


• Needed Today: More Positive Discipline


• Inheriting a Less-Than-Ideal Department


• Ask Yourself: Are You Seen As ‘Them’?


• Can You Be Trusted As a Boss?


• The Art of Delivering Bad News


• Is a Trusted Subordinate After Your Job?


• The Art of Positive Leadership

• Surviving Your Company’s Merger


• Coping With Change


• The Art of Initiating Change


• Downsizing: Caught in the Middle?


• The Dangers of Being Politically Naive


• Being an Outsider in Your Own Company


• Leading a Turnaround Team


• It’s a Brave New dot-com World


• Success in the New Corporate Structure


• Managing Change for Yourself


• ‘Will I Have a Job Tomorrow?’


• Transition From Power As You Grow Older

• Stamp Out Insubordination


• When a Promotion You Made Fizzles


• Dealing With the Dissenter


• Coping With the Poor Performer


• Handling the Hostile Employee


• Why Your Staff May Go Over Your Head


• A Sniper Can Damage Your Operation


• Handling the Bypasser


• Managing a Rift Among Jealous Peers


• Spotting and Handling Manipulators


• Managing a Whistle-Blower


• Handling Difficult People