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

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