The challenges of climbing the corporate ladder are both fascinating and fluid.
Whether you’re looking to improve your ability to influence or avoid some common pitfalls these books are a great place to start:
1. Corporate Confidential: 50 Secrets Your Company Doesn’t Want You to Know—and What to Do About Them
“Your number one job is to keep your job,” Shapiro, a former human resources executive, writes in this informed and disillusioned take on the corporate life, so don’t ever “publicly complain, disagree or express a negative view,” take more than one week of vacation at a time, “volunteer,” or “tell anyone what you’re doing.” When asked to do anything, acceptable responses are “sure” and “of course,” always accompanied by a smile. Your dress style “should match as closely as possible the style of those at the top.” Don’t make friends at work-it’s “deadly” to want to be liked. The book reads like a guerilla survival manual for the employment jungle written by a hardened survivor.
2. Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t
Pfeffer claims that intelligence, performance, and likeability alone are not the key to moving up in an organization; instead, he asserts, self promotion, building relationships, cultivating a reputation for control and authority, and perfecting a powerful demeanor are vital drivers of advancement and success.
3. Rework
Seth Godin sums it up best: “This book is short, fast, sharp and ready to make a difference. It takes no prisoners, spares no quarter, and gives you no place to hide, all at the same time….I can’t imagine what possible excuse you can dream up for not buying this book for every single person you work with, right now.”
4. Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions
This book will help you improve your influence. After all, the best ideas sometimes need a little psychological help.
5. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful
Goldsmith, pinpoints 20 bad habits that stifle already successful careers as well as personal goals like succeeding in marriage or as a parent. Most are common behavioral problems, such as speaking when angry, which even the author is prone to do when dealing with a teenage daughter’s belly ring. Though Goldsmith deals with touchy-feely material more typical of a self-help book—such as learning to listen or letting go of the past—his approach to curing self-destructive behavior is much harder-edged. For instance, he does not suggest sensitivity training for those prone to voicing morale-deflating sarcasm. His advice is to stop doing it. To stimulate behavior change, he suggests imposing fines (e.g., $10 for each infraction), asserting that monetary penalties can yield results by lunchtime. While Goldsmith’s advice applies to everyone, the highly successful audience he targets may be the least likely to seek out his book without a direct order from someone higher up. As he points out, they are apt to attribute their success to their bad behavior. Still, that may allow the less successful to gain ground by improving their people skills first.
6. Managing With Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations
The big problem facing managers and their organizations today is one of implementation – how to get things done in a timely and effective way. Problems of implementation are really issues of how to influence behavior, change the course of events, overcome resistance, and get people to do things they would not otherwise do. In a word, power. “Managing with Power” provides an in-depth look at the role of power and influence in organizations. Pfeffer shows convincingly that its effective use is an essential component of strong leadership. With vivid examples, he makes a compelling case for the necessity of power in mobilizing the political support and resources to get things done in any organization. He provides an intriguing look at the personal attributes – such as flexibility, stamina, and a high tolerance for conflict – and the structural factors – such as control of resources, access to information, and formal authority – that can help managers advance organizational goals and achieve individual success.*