Eat or Be Eaten!: Jungle Warfare for the Corporate Master Politician - Hardcover

Porter, Phil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0735201439 ISBN 13: 9780735201439

Publisher: Prentice Hall Press, 2000

Synopsis

Comparing the corporate atmosphere to a jungle, outlines over eighty tactics master corporate politians use to respond to management, overcome failures, receive promotions, and survive the cutthroat competition.

About this title

Review

It's a jungle out there. And in Eat or Be Eaten, 30-year corporate veteran Phil Porter reveals what he claims are the secrets to clawing your way up the workplace food chain: using stealth tactics long employed by master corporate politicians to successfully negotiate between their workers and their bosses. Some will find Porter's view of the contemporary executive suite as cutthroat-safari-in-the-Kalahari a bit too cynical; others will enjoy the way he plants his tongue firmly in his cheek. But few will deny the underlying truth in the hundred or so strategies he prescribes for "a fighting chance to survive." Porter frames his suggestions with headings like Work Overtime ("bosses eat this up," he begins), Agree and Do What You Want ("by the time they find out ... you've gained at least another month or two"), and Intimidation ("a very effective tool ... if it is serious and guaranteed to be implemented"). By categorizing and fleshing them out, he offers a not-so-pretty version of corporate America while providing realistic advice for those who have to Tap Dance ("the art and practice of defending yourself to a hostile audience") or deal with someone who must. --Howard Rothman

From the Author

Imagine a game you played as a child. It was called king of the hill, or mountain, and the rules were simple-knock people off the mountain so you could occupy it, and then maintain possession against all comers. People in positions of corporate power are kings of their mountains, and they're simultaneously trying to protect them and take over bigger mountains. This book will provide you with some of the rules and techniques of mountain climbing and siege defense. The higher you rise in any large organization, the less time you will spend on the technical aspects of your job and the more you will spend on the purpose of this book-conquering and survival.

This is a book about turning your subordinates into meat, or if you are a subordinate (and all of us are to someone), keeping from being tonight's dinner. You're right--this is the real world with no crap to clutter it up--just the facts, ma'am. It will inform you, shock you, and scare you to death. Real world--no varnish. Take your time--you've spent the money to buy this, so get your money's worth. Read it twice, and then reread it yearly for the rest of your life. Take it with you to your grave--who knows what the afterlife is like. Eat or Be Eaten is the compilation of over 30 years experience in the corporate environment. Because I treat each tactic separately it will appear as if I got creamed almost a hundred times in my career. Master Corporate Politicians use more than one tactic on a subordinate at a time, some of the very best using ten or more simultaneously. Hence, I do not have more bullet holes in me than a firing range target--I have experienced a lot of tactics.

This book has two purposes.

Eat or Be Eaten is designed to give you more knowledge about how the Master Corporate Politicians do things so you have a fighting chance to survive and allow your career to prosper. If your goal is to be something other than just another hamburger patty, then this book may be almost important to you as the Holy Bible itself. Eat or Be Eaten will help you if your objective is to be a Master Corporate Politician. You're right, I am one, and I want to help breed some more of me--some more of me with a few ethics. Master Corporate Politicians rule the corporate jungle, and if you want to be one, this book is like finding a gold mine-it's full of nuggets that teach you how to survive or conquer, or both.

Eat or Be Eaten covers over a hundred different tactics that are used by some of the most intelligent men and women on the planet. Some are so important that they are touched on several times from different angles. We cover the unwritten, now written rules. We discuss how to get your way in almost any situation, what to do when you know failure is imminent and how to respond to your management. We touch on how to actually fix a failure, how to manage your employees, how to get a raise, and a few dirty tricks. In the final three chapters, we get into the big leagues and discuss how to manage your supervisors, or avoid being managed if you are a supervisor.

Management in the real world is defined as eat, or be eaten. Grind, or be ground. You are either the cook, or the meat. Read and survive, or read and prosper.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prentice Hall Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0735201439
• ISBN 13: 9780735201439
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256