Reardon - The secret handshake : mastering the politics of the business inner circle

The Secret Handshake, Kathleen Reardons new and most important book, takes organizational politics out of the closet and illuminates the darkness surrounding that topic. It is an extremely original, brave, and useful book about the social etiquette of modern bureaucraciesi.e., how to get things done through people. And its a topic that, if discussed at all, is usually spoken about in dark and uninformed ways. Reardon not only clarifies the topic but shows convincingly that unless one has an enlightened view of what organizational politics is all about, one is doomed to failure.

Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at USC and author ofManaging the Dream

The Secret Handshake delivers powerful insights into the real calculus of corporate decision-making. It not only sheds light on the poorly understood pinnacles of power, but provides a primer for those who would play the game.

Bill Davidson, chairman, MESA Research,
and author ofThe Art of Market Leadership

If you are warming to the idea of focusing on your political side, then you should grab your own copy of The Secret Handshake. Even if you dont yearn for the highest ranks this book cant help but smooth your everyday path through the organizational life.

Executive Bookshelf

Without losing academic rigor, the author brings a practical focus to the subject and does not require the reader to be superhuman or to change personality beyond recognition. Professor Reardon successfully demystifies a subject that too often is used to create barriers to individual personal progress. It is likely that every reader will gain significant insight from the book, probably both at a personal level and in relation to the behavior of colleagues and organizations.

Mary Walsh, PricewaterhouseCoopers

We are all political animals. But politics exercised in a ham-handed manner can be unbelievably destructive to any organization, large or small. Here, Reardon shows us how we can apply politics, in the best sense of the word, toward personal, professional, and organizational success.

Jos I. Lozano, publisher and CEO, La Opinin

My first reaction was I wish I had read this when I was twenty-one! But I quickly realized that it is just as useful to me today. This is an important book for anyone who hopes to maximize their personal power.

Pete Hart, former CEO, MasterCard International

The Secret Handshake was originally published in hardcover
by Currency in January 2001

A C URRENCY B OOK
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
a division of Random House, Inc.
1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036

C URRENCY and D OUBLEDAY are
trademarks of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.

Please visit our website at www.currencybooks.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition
of this book as follows:

Reardon, Kathleen Kelley.
The secret handshake: mastering the politics of the business inner
circle / Kathleen Kelley Reardon.1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Office politics. 2. Interpersonal relations. 3. Negotiation in business. I. Title.
HF5386.5 .R4 2000
658.409dc21
00-043216

eISBN: 978-0-385-50519-2
Copyright 2000 by Kathleen Kelley Reardon, Ph.D.

All Rights Reserved

v3.1

with love
to my children:

Devinendearing comic, pianist, and
baseball base-stealing maverick

Ryanalways caring, imaginative, slugger
with enduring heart

Shannondeeply affectionate, charming,
dancer extraordinaire

and Chrismy husband,
my best critic, my best friend

T his book was a journey down an avenue not previously traveled at length. Politics is a critical aspect of business, yet it is an understudied one. So when Roger Scholl at Currency/Doubleday decided it was ground worth breaking, I couldnt have been more delighted. Rogers encouragement, energy, keen insight, and critical thinking were central to making this book possible. From the time we first talked, Roger exuded a confidence in this project and in me as a writer that made the process more enjoyable than its supposed to be.

My agent, Peter Ginsberg, deserves my heartfelt gratitude for his constant interest in my research and its implications for practice. He was the first to see the potential in the topic of politics in the workplace. Over the years that Ive worked with Peter, he has been both an agent and a mentor. He is not easily pleased nor happily diverted from the path he sees as having the most promise. He draws the best from his authors by hearing them out, suggesting, and encouraging. What more can an author ask of an agent? He is the best.

My children, Devin, Ryan, and Shannon, have watched Mom at the computer at all hours of the day and night. Yet weve spent many wonderful hours together for baseball, Cub Scouts, Brownies, dance, sports, and travel. Shannon now writes books of her own, telling friends that she is going to be a writer. Devin became my photocopying assistant and enjoyed it for nearly a hundred pages. His loving Hows it going, Mom? often led to welcome writing breaks and discussions of the latest in a twelve-year-olds life. Ryan kept me company, playing Star Wars around, over, and under my feet, knowing almost instinctively when it was time to tone down the sound of fast-approaching enemy ships.

My husband, Chris, is a talented writer himself and has provided me with superb advice. He ignores reams of paper scattered here and there during intense writing periods and finds spare time away from his work to take a look at a chapter that I know is not quite there yet. My brother, Kevin, with whom Ive coauthored articles on leadership, has talked with me at length about workplace politics. My sister-in-law, Susan, my nephew, Brian, and my niece, Meghan, have always been supportive of my writing endeavors; Brian even turns my books around on bookstore shelves so that the whole front cover is clearly visible. My mother-in-law, Connie, and father-in-law, Earl, provide not only support but also valuable insights. Jonathan, Kevin, Dennis, and Matt and my sisters-in-law Karen, Joan, Helen, and Tamre take a long-distance interest in my work and have shared political experiences of their own over the years. I am fortunate to have such a wonderful family.

At the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, there are many people to thank. My years teaching in the through speeches they gave at a conference honoring Warrens career. Alan Rowe, professor emeritus and expert in decision theory, influenced my views about leadership and politics during our work together.

My gratitude extends to many communication scholars for their superb research and writing, from my days as an undergraduate (and later a faculty member) at the University of Connecticut with Martin Hunts encouragement, through M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of MassachusettsAmherst, where Vernon Cronen, Jane Blankenship, Jennings Bryant, Fern Johnson, and Barnett Pearce influenced my research, on through many International Communication Association and National Communication Association presentations and debates, where the ideas for this book were given form. Being a communication scholar opens up so many fascinating avenues of study. Politics is only one of them. After all, management itself is communication. There is nothing soft about this subject: it is the hard stuff of business and of life in general.