New Revelation Book Lifts the Lid on Corporate Politics, Hidden Agendas and Workplace Manipulation

April 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Authors Peter Freeth and Stepheni Smith have worked in this sensitive and almost secretive field for ten years, uncovering situations such as the defence engineering company losing £16Million per year due to almost non-existent management control, where the management team were systematically manipulating project and financial data to cover up their failings.

Smith explains how manipulation leads to a measurable impact on a business, “Weak management control means that people are not held accountable for their actions, which means that they can under perform or manipulate situations and resources to their benefit with no consequences. The company and everyone in it suffers the consequences on their behalf.”

The new book explains corporate politics and manipulation, why people behave the way that they do and provides a number of solutions for dealing with the business problems that arise from manipulative behaviour in the workplace.

Freeth says, “Whilst the explanations and solutions are simple, they're not easy to implement in large organisations because there can be so many variables and, often, so many people trying to sabotage you. However, what you can realistically do is protect yourself and make sure that at least your own team or your own business is free from the plague of corporate politics. The earlier you take steps to control the problem, the easier it is to control and to keep under control.”

The book deals with behaviour and personalities ranging from what seem like minor offences to extreme cases, labelled in the past as 'corporate sociopaths' in films such as 'The Corporation', released in 2003. The authors include real life examples from a wide range of businesses in both the private and public sectors, and offer a number of simple, practical ways to deal with the business impact of these issues.

“Consistency is key in dealing with manipulation. People can change and adapt very easily”, explains Smith, “and getting used to a new culture where they can't get away with doing what they want, when they want, is no problem at all. The staff who are just out for what they can get will find themselves under a spotlight where they face a choice of either delivering value for money or moving on. Either way, you will be measurably better off.”

The authors add a request for contributions from anyone who has suffered at the hands of office politicians and manipulators, “Do you have your own stories of office politics, hidden agendas and manipulation in the workplace that you would like to see in print? Just email your contributions to info@askrevelation.com and if we use them, you'll receive full credit in the book unless you want to contribute anonymously, in which case let us know a pseudonym such as 'Disgruntled from Staffordshire'.”

Smith and Freeth summarise the key message of the book, saying, “At the end of the day, it's your choice to either put these principles into practice or accept the consequences of letting things continue in your business as they are. Remember, the less control you have, the more accountability you're left with, and when things are going badly wrong, accountability is not something that you'll want a lot of. Either carry on as you are, accepting that people are people, and it's just the way that things are, or face up to the issues, tackle them head on and be in control of your life and your business.”

Revelation is published by CGW Publishing and will be available for retail purchase in August 2011.

Reviews are invited, contact the publisher directly at mail@cgwpublishing.com or visit www.cgwpublishing.com

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CGW Publishing is an independent publisher specialising in business and non-fiction books for authors who want to build a service business around their intellectual property.