The Secret Handshake: Mastering the Politics of the Business Inner Circle

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!


best I've ever read, by far!   July 13, 2002
Chen Sun (Houston, TX United States)
26 out of 26 found this review helpful

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.


The Corporate Politics equivalent to "Myers-Briggs"!   March 12, 2001
Nature Mom w/ 2 children + EE & Management degrees (Massachusetts USA)
29 out of 32 found this review helpful

Remember the first time you took a personality test and learned your personal style and that of your co-workers? Your eyes were opened to a new style of communication. This book does the same thing for the corporate politics arena. You'll take quizzes to understand your political style (and figure out co-workers and executive management's style too) as well as your company's overall style - and how to stretch your style at times to meet certain needs. Some of the most helpful sections of each chapter are the descriptions of a situation, the various options of actions/words that can be taken, and the potential reactions to each option. You'll also learn how to handle recognition, patronizing behavior, separating offense from insult, influence cultivating, how to be gracefully right or wrong and much more. This book isn't only for those wanting to climb the corporate ladder - but for anyone wanting to improve productivity by learning the tools and understanding the options for making the politics involved in most any project work FOR you.


Good Book. Nasty Subject   April 16, 2004
John Galt (Houston, TX United States)
19 out of 20 found this review helpful

I've noticed a wide variation of reviews, with most of the negative reviewers unable to separate the book and the subject. Office politics IS a distasteful activity...it wastes time and prevents many skilled workers from getting the rewards they deserve.

But--as the author herself notes, it is here to stay, so either arm yourself or be robbed.

I have read a number of office politics/OB books. What sets Reardon's book apart from the others is the following:

--Self-evaluation tests...of your workplace and your personal style. Knowing yourself is the first step to optomizing yourself.
--Relevant anecdotes...Reardon is an academic, and academic politics is really the second worst out there (the military is the worst). Furthermore, her experience as a consultant means she sees more politics in a year than most of us will see in a career.
--She covers all aspects of the game. When to fight, when to give in, how to make up, how to build bridges, how to recognize barriers.

This is a good overview of a nasty, brutish subject. Was it useful? Ask me in five years, when I'll have either made it or not.


i borrowed it from the library, then listen to its cd's, and finally bought a copy to keep   January 18, 2006
Y. Wang (Columbus, OH USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

This is a fantastic eye-opener. As a technically-competent guy, I am always puzzled that certain managers like me a lot, while others seem the other way. This book gives me the answers.

I read the book from library several times during my vacation; then listen to its CD's on my way commute; and finally decide to own a copy of the book to put onto my shelf.