January 24, 2012 • Volume 3, Issue 2 • ISSN: 2154-3240

In This Issue

♦	Feature Article: Maintain Your Marketability
♦	Ask Amanda: Why do companies put up with dysfunctional people?
♦	Practical Tips: Email Etiquette

Maintain Your Marketability

Most executives recognize that it’s their responsibility to make sure they have a career strategy and that they are executing it. Reacting appropriately to corporate changes and maintaining your marketability positions you well should circumstances change. While it would be ideal if others would appropriately recognize your contributions, the pace and volume of work alone makes it unlikely that others will do so without some prompting. How you call attention to your efforts is the difference between being seen as a valued staffer versus a self-promoter.

Knowing and being able to articulate your unique point-of-difference is essential for senior executives looking to expand their opportunities. After all, how will others know what opportunities are appropriate for you if they don’t know how to best use you?
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	Better information leads to better choices.

Practical Tips: Email Etiquette

While most people know the basics of email etiquette—judicious use of “reply all” and joke sharing, avoiding the use of all caps, and proofing your note—improper use of email can lead to misunderstandings, inefficiencies and, in the worst-case scenario, can get you fired. Keep these tips in mind:

Strong Emotions
If there are strong emotions involved, communicate in person or via phone. It is often difficult to discern emotions in an email, and your words may be perceived as harsh, flippant, or hurtful.
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Every company seems to have at least one dysfunctional member of senior management who everyone has to work around. Why do companies allow these people to remain? They create so much work!!! B.M., Ventura, CA

As you noted, this is a common scenario and it does cause people to question the leadership of the organization. Step back and look at the bigger picture. Often what happens is that people are hired for a particular skill—like a super sales person or brilliant engineer—but these individuals have limited self-management or social/interpersonal skills.
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About Us: Our Corporate Life LLC (OCL) is a company that offers a new system for reducing unnecessary workplace suffering caused by the organizational, interpersonal, and ethical issues of our time. It is founded on the belief that adhering to core human values and achieving business success are always compatible. Working with both companies and individuals, OCL helps create solutions that enable corporate employees at every level to optimize profits while enabling them to thrive in the corporate environment. OCL was founded by Amanda Mitchell to help meet the needs of people working in corporate America during this transformative moment in our nation's history. The OCL system reflects her experience and insight gained from a 20–year corporate career working with Fortune 500 companies, and as an executive coach to senior–level corporate executives.