His books weaponize common psychological traits and teach how to use them to achieve one’s means. An extremely toxic approach in my opinion.
I really enjoyed Sandi Metz’ talk on this very topic, in which she addresses the books and offers alternative approaches to creating influence through leadership and solid relationships.
It’s a talk I’d recommend for the whole team to watch, together.
I meant it somewhat tounge-and-cheek, but if I recall correctly even Cialdini quotes Uncle Ben's line to Spiderman about "with great power comes great responsibility". I also should mention that I work for a large corporation, and while I strive to be collaborative, it is still a political environment I operate in.
R for Data Science - because it is such a solid foundation for a career in business analytics: http://r4ds.had.co.nz
And for extra credit two books I hope my collegues DON'T read since they are best kept secret are Cialdini's two books on influence: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini