Synopses & Reviews
Office politics increases in times of change, particularly when people are fearful - and rising unemployment, austerity measures and global financial uncertainty hardly make for a stable, positive work environment.
Jane Clarke defines "savvy" as the ability to deal effectively with politics at work, and its value as a commodity is increasing. Research carried out by executive search firms has long identified political savvy as a critical skill for those who want to progress up the career ladder. Clarke dissects the art of office politics by establishing what constitutes political savvy and who are the effective office politicians.
Practical and insightful, Savvy covers the skills needed to deal with difficult situations, including: the art of influence; how to understand and handle conflict; developing the right mindset; managing the boss; dealing with a bully. With case studies and examples, Savvy is the essential office survival guide that will help you to boost your career and secure your professional success.
Review
"Full of insights and advice, Jane Clarke's highly readable guide to the fast-changing world of work is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to get ahead and climb the corporate ladder." -- Rhymer Rigby, author of The Careerist and 28 Business Thinkers Who Changed the World
Review
"Full of insights and advice, Jane Clarke's highly readable guide to the fast-changing world of work is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to get ahead and climb the corporate ladder." --
Rhymer Rigby, author of
The Careerist and
28 Business Thinkers Who Changed the World "...Clarke has produced an easy-to-read manual of helpful ways to understand and maneuver in office politics... A book as helpful for new employees as for experienced managers and entrepreneurs, Savvy is a clear and helpful guide for those who seek to work with others toward the common good." --ForeWord Reviews
"[I]t can be much easier to deal with difficult people if you understand the type of difficult person youre dealing with. Clarke breaks down workplace personalities into four basic types and she does a nice job of describing the particular interests and motivations of each personality type. If you regularly work with groups of your clients employees, this book might be particularly helpful." --Work Made For Hire
Synopsis
Shortlisted for the CMI Management Book of the Year 2012
http: //yearbook.managers.org.uk/the-commuters-read-shortlist
Dealing with office politics, conflict and difficult people at work, without compromising your values and integrity, can be tricky. With case studies and examples, Savvy will help you understand colleagues' behaviour and power dynamics at work, and learn how to negotiate them successfully.
Practical and insightful, Savvy will enable you to master the necessary skills to deal with difficult situations. It includes step-by-step advice on how tobuild a network, develop the right mindset, handle conflict, manage your boss, influence others and deal with a bully.
Savvy is the essential office survival guide that will help you to boost your career and ensure your professional success.
Synopsis
Savvy is about how to deal with office politics, conflict and difficult people at work. Full of essential advice on developing the right skills to overcome these problems, it will help readers boost their career and ensure success.
Practical and insightful, Savvy expands upon all the necessary skills to deal with these difficult situations, including:
-the art of influence
-how to understand and handle conflict
-developing the right mindset
-managing the boss
-dealing with a bully
With case studies and examples, Savvy helps readers understand behavior and power dynamics at work and learn how to negotiate them successfully.
Synopsis
Professionals faced with office politics or having to deal with difficult people in the work place, while protecting themselves and their career prospects
About the Author
Jane Clarke is an author and director at business psychology consulting firm Nicholson McBride with over 20 years of consulting experience. She has written articles for the Financial Times and the Guardian, appeared on the BBC and written a weekly column on office politics for the Independent. Jane is also the author of Office Politics, Wired Working, and Resilience.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Mary Portas
Acknowledgements
Introduction
01 What is savvy?
How do people perceive the politics?
Why do views differ?
Why are some companies more political?
So what is savvy?
Summary
02 Adopting a positive, proactive approach
Are you a victim?
03 Who is savvy?
Your methods
Your motives
Your savvy
Who are the political players?
Why do people behave in a negative way?
How do you behave?
04 Dealing with the office politicians
General principles
Dealing with a Barbarian
Dealing with a Machiavellian
Dealing with a Naive
Dealing with a Star
05 Dealing with political problems at work
Being caught in the middle
Someone stealing your credit
Someone encroaching on your territory
Being the victim of a smear campaign
Dealing with hidden agendas
Being held down
06 Mastering the art of influence and persuasion
Step 1: determine who to influence
Step 2: establish your influencing strategy
Step 3: follow some basic rules
Step 4: listen
Step 5: use the right influencing tactics
07 Understanding and handling conflict
Understand your own approach to conflict
Understand the source of the conflict
To act or not to act…
Plan your approach
Conflict resolution styles
Horses for courses
Act!
08 Dealing with relationship breakdown
Why do you want good working relationships?
What is a good working relationship?
Win-win
Respect
Trust
Listening
Empathy
What happens when relationships break down?
What causes meltdowns?
How to deal with breakdowns
What are the principles for dealing breakdowns?
09 Managing your boss
Why are good relationships with your boss critical?
What can a boss do for you?
How do you manage your boss?
What do you do when things go wrong?
10 Dealing with a bully
Cyberbullying
How to handle a bully
And as a manager…
11 Making networks work for you
What are networks?
Why network?
Are you a natural?
What are the skills and behaviours?
Who's in your network?
Who might be in your network?
How to do it - the mindset
How to do it - the meeting
How to do it - the event
How to do it - social networking sites
Good people to know
Maintaining your network
12 Making the right impression
First impressions
Shifting your reputation
Identity (ID)
Beliefs/values
Capability
Behaviour
Environment
Checklist for change
13 Summary
Appendix - What kind of politician are you?
References
Index