My guest on this episode is Kathleen Reardon, an authority on workplace politics, negotiation and influence. Kathleen helps professionals with navigating workplace politics, communication and influence.  During our conversation, Kathleen and I discuss: Why politics gets a bad rep How can we perceive politics in a positive light and use it to our advantage Characteristics of politically savvy people What are the different kinds of political styles? How can you develop your political muscle?  Tactics and comebacks to manoeuvre politically intense situations  - Overcoming labels and Gossip, Public put downs etc Cues that give away political intensity in an organisation Equation between power and politics  About Kathleen Reardon: Kathleen is Professor Emerita at USC Marshall School of Business, a Distinguished Research Scholar at The Irish Management Institute and visiting professor at Stanford University, Trinity College-Dublin, and University College Dublin. Kathleen has published 10 fiction books including bestsellers THE SECRET HANDSHAKE and IT'S ALL POLITICS. She has turned her hand into fiction as well with her debut novel “Shadow Campus” and its sequel “Damned if she does”. Kathleen has also published numerous Harvard Business Review articles including the evergreen articles – The Memo Every Woman Keeps at her desk” and “Courage as a skill” Kathleen has been a keynote speaker, consultant and coach for organisations such as NASA Jet Propulsion Labs, Sony, IBM Watson and the likes.  Related Resources: Reach out to Kathleen on Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-reardon-b40ba413/ Books by Kathleen : Secret Handshake and It’s All Politics Articles by Kathleen: Courage is a skill Did you really say that? About Bridge to Leadership:  Bridge to Leadership brings together resources and networks that leaders need to navigate. Explore articles, coaches, books and podcasts on  - www.bridgetoleadership.in Get access to exclusive content and offers like live discussions with world renowned coaches, discounts on world class training programs etc by signing up free :   https://bridgetoleadership.in/become-a-member/ Follow Bridge to Leadership on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/bridgetoleadership/ About the host: Neha is a Customer Success and Sales leader in SaaS (MarTech) space with 16 years of work experience.  She spent the last decade of her career setting up and expanding Comscore Technologies India in Bangalore. She currently consults SaaS companies on their post sales operations, mentors customer success professionals and shares her leadership learnings through Bridge to Leadership.