Do you sometimes feel like your place of work is more dangerous than a swamp full of alligators? Are there shady characters lurking behind the photocopier disguised as reliable team players in your office?
Rick came out of engineering school ready to conquer the world, and got what seemed like a good job in a large company in his town. He was a hard worker, and thought he could get ahead in his job by showing how capable he was. But his director suddenly became very cool and distant, and his co-workers started avoiding him. A couple of weeks later, someone less qualified than he was got the promotion he had been hoping for. He was pretty confused, until he finally put two and two together. The knife between his shoulder blades was an invisible one, but just as harmful as a real one in its own way. Rick finally caught on that his chances had been wiped out by a smear campaign carried on behind his back, but by then it was too late.
Unfortunately, this kind of story is played out every day, in ordinary settings that look a lot like the office where you work. Sure, we all hear stories like this from time to time, but we don’t always realise how widespread it is, until it happens to a friend, a loved one or to ourselves. Then we begin to understand, and then it happens again, with a new twist, and again. By the time we figure out how to deal with all the various underhanded tactics that people can think of to unfairly steal a promotion that was rightly yours, or gain influence over the boss at your expense, well, you may be getting pretty close to retirement, and those lost opportunities will never come back. It’s true. Up until now, we have been pretty much on our own trying to defend ourselves when unscrupulous people resort to unsavoury tactics to gain influence or advantages. Tactics that we wouldn’t stoop to use, but that we need to know about to block those people and keep them from taking an unfair advantage over us.
What can you learn from this book?
- A long list of specific tactics that could be used against you any time. Armed with this list, you will see them coming a mile away. You see, a large part of the power of these methods is in their sneakiness, but once you know them, you can detect them and defuse them. Methods that would have disturbed you and left you confused will lose a lot of their power as soon as you are able to see through them.
- 6 specific techniques that people use to make themselves look good.
- 4 ways they have of keeping themselves from looking bad.
- No less than 11 ways, not counting variations, that people use to make others look bad – not a pretty picture, I assure you.
- The deeper reasons that lead them to succumb to the temptation to use such distasteful methods.
- And if you’re afraid that some readers might use this book the wrong way, to improve their ” skills “, don’t worry about that. There’s a whole chapter devoted to the ravages that inevitably result from their use, not just to others, but to themselves. Not pretty either. After reading that chapter, your anger against them will turn to pity.
- What the ” fetid swamp of the wishy-washy ” is, WHY you don’t want to go there, and HOW you can avoid it.
- How to stay strong and balanced at all times, so that they will think twice before choosing you as a victim.
- Detailed, practical advice about how to deal with people so that everyone is better off. Methods that make a lot more sense in the long run, and that won’t keep you from sleeping at night.
- 9 different ways to tell if someone is lying to you. This section is worth the price of the book in itself!
- 5 anti-stress techniques that you can use on the spot to calm yourself down and keep from losing your cool. These are invaluable!
- 6 specific ways to boost your energy and keep it high. You’ll want to use these techniques all the time, not just when you’re at work.
- A detailed rundown of how to handle an attack in various circumstances.
- If you don’t know what the Peter Principle is, you’ll find out here, and you’ll be told how to deal with incompetence when you come across it, and you will.
And a whole lot more!
A complimentary audio book is included.