Comebacks at Work

According to Kathleen Kelley Reardon, we are responsible for 75 per cent of how we're treated at work. And that success - or failure - depends on how we handle ourselves in conversation with our colleagues, whether in one-on-one interactions or large meetings. Workplace conversations are like a chess game, Reardon argues. The outcome is all in the strategy. In "Comebacks at Work", Reardon brings a unique sensitivity to the often unspoken world of office politics and the spoken conversations that shape it. Politically astute people recognise that most of us are predictable in conversation and, therefore, easily manipulated. To break free of stale scripts and expected actions and effectively manage difficult situations, we must increase our conversational awareness and astutely employ comebacks. But while many situations are common, one set of comebacks isn't enough, Reardon explains. Converging factors, including relative power, age, sex, personality type, location of conversation-one-on-one or in a group-and means of response-e-mail, phone, face to face-make any given conversation extraordinary. "Comebacks at Work" helps readers understand why some responses don't work, shows them how to develop a personalized repertoire of responses that do, provides a plan for strategically using them, and outlines the skills needed to package them for maximum efficiency.