Defining political savvy and its important relationship to climbing the corporate ladder
5/14/2000
Defining corporate politics as "an illegitimate means of getting things done", Kathleen Kelley Reardon sheds light on the elusive yet crucial element of organizational behavior that can make or break a career. Reardon, a management professor at USC, examines the underlying practices and unstated rules of behavior practiced in corporate inner circles. She argues there are two elements that make "the secret handshake" the most desired prize in business. First, the political savvy necessary to open the doors to this elite group is available to the very few. Second, the road to its attainment "is purposely kept ambiguous by many of those who have successfully traversed it."