Watch this episode as an animated video: youtube.com/watch?v=AFjegrrIFtY
Key ideas and notes: bsgknowledge.com/books/power-why-some-people-have-it

Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer, a book summary for working professionals. How do you survive office politics without becoming the bad guy? The book's answer: good work alone does not get you promoted. The people who decide must see your work and want you. Ask them what matters, take the useful jobs that put you in the room, build a wide network, and move toward where the power is going, by fair means.

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All that hard work, and your rating says meets expectations. Someone else gets the promotion. So what decides it? In India, a marketing executive turned around a failing brand, won a top advertising award, and was still refused a place on her company's list of future leaders.

In this book summary of Power you'll hear:
• Phil, who was too good at his job to be moved
• What your boss really judges you on, and why performance is only your ticket into the race
• Melinda, a talented manager who criticised her boss the wrong way
• The small, useful job nobody wants, and how it puts you in the room
• Michael, a summer student who volunteered for the hiring day nobody wanted
• How to build a network across many circles before you need it
• The team where power is going, and why moving toward it matters
• A layoff of exactly one person, and the one thing that man missed

⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Hard Work vs Office Politics
00:48 You Think the Best Worker Gets Promoted
02:06 You Think the Evidence Is on Your Side
03:54 You Think Staying Quiet Is Safe
05:02 You Think Being Right Is Enough
05:46 You Think Your Work Is Judged by Your Scorecard
06:35 You Think the World Is Fair
09:13 You Think Asking Looks Weak
10:30 You Think Small Jobs Are Beneath You
11:40 You Think Networking Is Fake
12:15 You Think the Strongest Team Is the Safest
13:04 You Think It Will Be Fair
13:45 You Can Play It Fair
14:20 A Layoff of One Person
15:34 Lunch, Not Another Email

📚 Watch next: to recognise the harder moves others play, so they never work on you, The 48 Laws of Power → youtu.be/RCX4UHhIsuY
More animated book summaries for working professionals → youtube.com/@BSG-Knowledge

Your work was never the problem. It is your ticket into the race. The race is run by people who can only pick what they can see. Ask what matters to them, take the useful job nobody wants, know people in many circles, and move toward where the power is going, in the open and about the data. That is Power's answer.

This is Blood Sweat Gold. Where luxury is earned, not inherited.

Jeffrey Pfeffer is illustrated from his own photo; the people in his stories are shown as anonymous figures with the book's own first names, and Zia Yusuf and Gary Loveman are never shown face-on. Arjun's story is our example, not the book's.

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Watch this episode as an animated video: youtube.com/watch?v=xTaPIJhhbQ0
Key ideas and notes: bsgknowledge.com/books/the-prince

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, a book summary for working professionals. How do you survive office politics without becoming the bad guy? The book's answer: people judge what they see, so make your fairness visible, and real. Don't build your career on one boss's favour. Be liked and respected if you can, but never give anyone a reason to hate you, and never be the hand that does someone else's dirty work.

Get this book on Amazon: amazon.in/dp/811975672X
More books we recommend: link.amazon/B0hvq5WFK
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

In office politics, should your team fear you, or love you? Then your boss asks you to tell two people their jobs are going, because you know them best. Machiavelli describes a duke whose ruthless deputy did his dirty work, and what the duke did to him next.

In this book summary of The Prince you'll hear:
• How a fired official's job application became the most famous book on power
• Cesare Borgia, who rose on his father's fortune and fell with him
• The full answer to feared or loved, and the one line almost everyone quotes wrong
• Remirro de Orco, the deputy who did the duke's dirty work
• Why a promotion that rests on one boss is fragile
• The fox and the lion: seeing the traps and standing firm
• How to judge loyalty in a storm
• What happened to the manuscript Machiavelli sent to the Medici

⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Office Politics: Feared or Loved?
00:48 You Think the Author Was a Villain
02:41 You Think People See Your Intentions
03:09 You Think the Rules Are the Rules
03:43 You Think Being Soft Is Kind
05:02 You Think Your Promotion Is Yours
06:40 You Think Borrowed Armour Fits
07:30 You Think Your Boss Will Protect You
09:33 You Think It Is Feared or Loved
10:42 You Think Good People Cannot See Traps
11:44 You Think Loyalty Is What People Say
12:27 You Think Tricks Work
12:55 You Think a Boss Can Decide Alone
13:32 You Think You Can Explain It Later
14:06 You Make Fairness Visible
16:38 When the Next Cuts Come

📚 Watch next: to recognise the moves people make for power, The 48 Laws of Power → youtu.be/RCX4UHhIsuY
More animated book summaries for working professionals → youtube.com/@BSG-Knowledge

People judge what they see, so make your fairness visible, and real. Be both liked and respected if you can, never give anyone a reason to hate you, never take what is theirs, build your strength while the weather is calm, and never be the hand that does someone else's dirty work. That is The Prince's answer.

This is Blood Sweat Gold. Where luxury is earned, not inherited.

Machiavelli is illustrated from the Santi di Tito portrait and Max Weber from his 1918 photograph; Cesare Borgia, Remirro de Orco and the other rulers of the book are never shown face-on. Lines from the book follow W. K. Marriott's translation. Arjun's story is our example, not the book's.

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Read less. Know more. Win faster.