Corporate Confidential: 50 Secrets Your Company Doesn't Want You to Know--And What to Do about Them

by Cynthia Shapiro

Book Overview

Cynthia Shapiro is a former Human Resources executive who's pulling back the curtain on the way that companies really work. In Corporate Confidential, she unmasks startling truths and what you can do about them, including:

* There's no right to free speech in the workplace.
*Age discrimination exists.
* Why being too smart is not too smart.
* Human Resources is not there to help you, but to protect the company from...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312337361
• ISBN13: 9780312337360
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Everything you don't want to know (almost)

Corporate Confidential is the book every career consultant (like me) needs to share with her clients. It's not your standard happy-cheerleader self-help book. Nearly every page contains solid advice in an unabashed how-to style. Shapiro makes no effort to soften her message. Like it or not, she says, here's how the world of work operates in the 21st century. Shapiro seems uniquely qualified to write this book, due to her background in Human Resources. And she's not afraid to say out loud what we've always suspected: The HR people are not your friends. They're protecting the company -- not you! Shapiro's message can be summed up in one sentence. Whenever you're dealing with your company you're on the stage. Don't let your guard down, whether you're at a party or a one-on-one informal meeting. Watch your email. Don't make waves, gossip or sound negative. If all this advice sounds elementary, you have never been a career consultant! Many of my savvy, sophisticated, experienced clients have trouble recognizing these rules. Even more resist. Some, like me, know all the rules but can't bring ourselves too follow them. Eventually we end up working for ourselves, with all the pluses and minuses. This book explains why so many employees hire coaches and consultants to gain access to a confidential confidante -- a safety valve, sounding board and objective outsider. When you open up to someone off the job, you're more likely to keep quiet on the job. That's worth everything you pay an outsider and more. Shapiro does not paint a pretty or pleasant picture. Need vacation? Take one week at a time. Take your second week six months later. Having a baby? You may or may not be eligible for Family Leave...and you have to work twice as hard when you return. Getting older? Take half your allotted sick days...fewer if possible. In some ways, I'd actually move to higher levels of paranoia. "Watch your expense account!" Shapiro urges. But I would go further. On the road, you'll often enjoy a couple of drinks and a movie in your room. Arrange to be billed separately so your company never sees these expenses. Alcohol should appear only as authorized client entertainment and nobody will believe you watched a G-rated Disney feature. Why give the accountants a good laugh? Also, I would urge employees to study their own cultures. Shapiro gives hints, e.g., qualities of promoted managers will tell you about a company's values (p. 44). But I'd be wary of blanket principles, like, "It's okay to refuse a promotion." In some companies, you'd be signing your own pink slip. And if the boss works late on a big project, Shapiro says, hang around and offer to be helpful. Well, if you're a female, be extra careful about sending the wrong signals to a male boss as you hang around in the evening, offering to make copies and send out for pizza. Even if you're totally innocent, your loyalty could be misinterpreted. Finally, Shapiro continues to reflect the c

Buy this book!

There is a very good reason it has a 5 star rating, it will absolutely knock you for a loop. Forget everything you thought you knew about corporate life and read this book. I used to have the feeling that I was very close to "getting it" politically around the office - but not quite there; that there was something I was missing. No amount of research, open-mindedness, mentoring or between the lines listening will get you to the destination this book will take you, and quickly. I started reading on Friday and was afraid to return to my high-profile job at a Fortune 20 company until I was finished. Being enlightened to the thought processes and inner-workings of management has made an immediate impact on my career. Imagine there being a fine line between yourself and a co-worker both considered for promotion and advancement. Coming in second by a nose means you lose. Not by a nose, you just lose. If you win, and once in your new office, then what? Answers contained within this excellent book. As well as how easy it is to blow it once you "arrive". If, like me, you expend significant effort, dedication and committment in a sincere love for your company and career to get ahead, why not take the extra time to get it right? And for less then $15.00. Hate to sound like a commercial, but WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Expecting excellence, I'm rarely floored by products or services - and always too busy to write up those feelings. However, this is something I had to take the time to do - write a review and wholeheartedly recommend this book. Good luck in your career. -JB

Essential read for all corporate worker ants

DO NOT ASSUME YOU UNDERSTAND CORPORATE POLITICS AND HR POLICIES UNTIL YOU READ THIS BOOK. This book is by far the best book I have read on the subject and I have read many. The book specifies that the company draws a clear distinction, without telling you, whether you are someone the company wants to keep or get rid of. To make matters worse, in this highly litigious society, companies cannot and does not tell you which side you belong. If a company thinks you are an unwanted employee, the last thing they tell you is say exactly that in fear of getting sued. Rather, they use various tactics such as giving you too much work, giving you the most stressful projects, and just making life difficult for you as possible so you will leave voluntarily. If you are one of the unwanted employees, it is best to leave. What is the litmus test? If the employer doesn't give you a counteroffer or show strong regret that you are leaving, then they wanted to get rid of you anyway and you made the right choice. If you are one of the high performers who the company wants to keep, they make it as clear as possible. After all, no one gets sued for promoting an employee. The fact is companies identify employees who will never be downsized because they are indispensable. In effect, they are "Made" and they cannot be touched unless they really screw up their good standing with the corporation. If you want to move up the corporate ladder, not only must you show competence, but you must show loyalty. You must prove yourself as someone the company can trust with their business, money, and personnel. How can you prove yourself as someone trustworthy? Here are few pointers outlined in the book: 1)Don't threaten the company or your boss. Don't go to HR with complaints (deal with issues privately). Don't make trouble, otherwise you are seen as a potential risk for lawsuits. 2)Watch what you say. Do not be negative, and support the corporate policies and procedures. Do not gossip and speak out against the authorities. 3)Cultivate good relationship with your boss. Do not fight your boss, you will never win. 4)Keep personal life personal and do not bring it to work. 5)Mingle with the right crowd. Do not mingle with the "downsizers" who will be axed the next time the company wants to cut people. 6)Being promoted often means you have shown you are fully capable of being successful in the next job. Just being successful in your present one does not suffice.

A must have if you work in Microsoft and other large corporations

I recently lost my job at a large software company and did not understand why. My sales numbers were exceptional, my relationships with my partners were fantastic, my internal customers were happy, but my new management was being vague and distant. I did not realize that there was a serious problem with my management's perception of me and that there was a plan to move me out of the company. Three weeks after I was terminated, I found Corporate Confidential. I would have seen and understood what was coming if I had read this book even three months before I was terminated. And the worst part is that I could have turned the situation around and kept my job quite easily by following a few simple steps outlined in this book. You must read Corporate Confidential to know how to survive and thrive in the new corporate world that exists today. Rule number 1 is that HR is not on your side and number 2 corporations are more paranoid than ever about the legal ramifications (i.e. lawsuits and legal settlements) of terminating employees. So many of us are overly busy and working too hard to notice the rules have changed the employment relationship. It may take a year or so for this book to be noticed, but I believe Corporate Confidential is a classic. It gets to the point, gives very clear examples and addresses 50 "corporate sins" that you must avoid. Read it or pay the consequences.

I'm glad I grabbed it. I think you will be too. I couldn't put it down all weekend

This book doesn't pretend that everything is perfect in our companies and if we just work harder in the workplace, spend more hours, and learn more skills, that everything will be okay and work out better for us in the end. I knew there was more to company motivations than just producing well, and the author had the guts to tell me both the things I knew were happening but couldn't prove, and things I was doing which were stopping me from the promotion I have been trying to get for the last year or two. This book isn't all fluff with the reader spending his/her time looking for the one piece of good information. The entire book is filled with substance, and is immediately useful at work. Everything in this book rings true, and makes a lot of sense. This is the book I have been waiting for. It is definately a keeper.