What
are the details of the book?
If you want to learn organizational
politics, you read this book. If you
want to learn about coaching, you read this book. If you want to advance your career, you read
this book. Linda Sommer’s book titled, Beyond Office Politics: The Hidden Story of
Power, Affiliation and Achievement in the Workplace contains 126 pages
including the Coach’s Notes. The book is divided into seven chapters. The
chapter 1 preludes with hierarchy and positioning; chapter 2 deals with power,
affiliation and achievement; chapter 3 explains coopetition and King Arthur;
chapter 4 dwells that your boss is your customer; chapter 5 outlines that
business is all about people; chapter 6 highlights brand identity and the
answer frame; and chapter 7 describes about the back in the game. Linda hits the bull’s eye with her well
punched ideas, and insights in a story format on office politics in this book.
What
is inside?
The book is a magical presentation of Harvard
psychologist, David McClelland’s Power, Affiliation and Achievement. The author
displayed tremendous creativity in articulating McClelland’s theory in a
conversational tone. Those who failed to understand McClelland’s motivational
theory, this is the ideal book to buy, understand and apply in their real
lives. The book helps readers rate their
motivation levels and also assess others’ motivational levels to achieve the
desired individual and organizational outcomes.
The book is written in a story format
dealing with motivations and politics in the business world. The key character
in this book is Don whose blind spots about politics and communication hold him
back to be considered for a new position.
The style of this book reminds me of ‘One Minute Manager’ as the entire
book revolves around Don in a conversational note which engages the readers up
to the end.
This book helps you understand the
ground realities about organizational politics that often hinder employees
reaching to the top in the workplace. It provides you the requisite tools and
techniques to overcome the challenges of office politics to enable you play
safe, and to be in the good books of your superiors. It helps you advance your
career growth and achieve your professional success. It provides you a
blueprint to achieve career advancement irrespective of the industry you are
into.
This book provides solace for the
career aspirants who are pulled into office politics although they are not
interested in them. The book is well presented, structured and sequenced with
chapters. At the end of each chapter,
Linda provides a link connecting with ‘Coach’s Notes’ which helps assimilate
the essence quickly and ensures effective takeaways.
The book helps readers understand
their personality, leadership styles and aspirations as per power, affiliation
and achievement. It helps them understand what is their predominant area of
motivation to enable them to build a right connectivity, compatibility and chemistry
with others; and manage their roles and responsibilities to excel in their
careers.
Key
Takeaways
- There
are three types of mammals: solo, herd, and hierarchical: solo mammals
like bears and tigers live alone, except for at mating time; herd mammals,
on the other, like gazelles and cattle, also have no social structure but
mingle around one another for safety in numbers against predators; and
hierarchical mammals, however, like chimps, apes, wolves and humans have
an instinct for social organization.
- People
motivated by power have a desire to exert their influence over others and
situations. They often like things done their way, or want other people to
follow their directions. People motivated primarily by affiliation, on the
other hand, want to be associated with other people. They are keenly
motivated by a social orientation. People who are primarily interested in
achievement want a sense of personal accomplishment. They often seek out
challenging and competitive situations, set realistic and achievable
goals, and set a standard of personal excellence for themselves.
- Lists
out the actions one could take to appeal to Power, Affiliation and
Achievement-motivated person.
- Unfolds
that language is behavior. Whenever people talk, their language reveals
their motivation – both conscious and unconscious.
What
is the recommendation?
It is an engaging and informative
book. Linda is passionate about coaching
with a true heart to make a difference in the lives of others. She had
distilled her two decades of experience to share it with others. The book is
useful for the readers and leaders who want to know the real dynamics of
organizational politics to enable them to guard themselves and move cautiously
in their corporate ladder.
After reading this book your
perception towards organizational politics will change. The book contains
pearls of wisdom on coaching and leadership. It is written in a simple and
straight language. Linda wrote this book
based on her two decades of practical experience. Hence, you can imagine the leadership
takeaways from this book. This is a good
resource for learners and leaders to scale their corporate ladder quickly. Enjoy reading this book!
Reference
Life is great!
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World in 2013
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