September 6, 2011 • Volume 2, Issue 18 • ISSN: 2154-3240

In This Issue

♦	Feature Article: Finding the Perfect Fit
♦	Ask Amanda: What do I do when my subordinates don’t cooperate?
♦	Practical Tips: Handling Tough Questions

Finding the Perfect Fit

While it may not seem that way at the time, being immersed in a life and role that does not fit you provides a tremendous benefit. Let’s face it, most of us aren’t self-motivated. It’s only when we’re in some sort of pain that we start taking action to change our situation into one that better meets our needs.

Perhaps you feel stifled in your present situation—maybe you feel restricted creatively or strategically. Maybe you aren’t being challenged in a way that motivates you. Or maybe you’re perfectly competent at your position but it just no longer meets your wish to contribute to something larger than yourself.

Great!
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	Asking for appropriate help does not reflect badly on you.

Practical Tips: Handling Tough Questions

Tough questions are questions you haven’t anticipated or would prefer not to answer. Either way, being prepared will position you to respond more powerfully while reducing your stress level. Following are four good rules of thumb:

Answer only what was asked.
Sometimes people are fishing for information. Keep your answers limited to exactly what someone has asked—if you choose to answer.
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I’m newly promoted and my subordinates don’t cooperate. Any advice? B.T., Columbus, OH

As a manager your job is to lead others through influence. Not knowing the particulars of your situation, this is my guess about what is happening. The language used in your question implies that your approach has been very directive and that you are interpreting your subordinates’ behavior as “uncooperative” because they are not performing as you wish. You’re taking this personally. Imagine instead how you’d feel if someone was newly promoted and suddenly began issuing very specific direction to you.
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Recommended Resources

There are only a few spots left in the upcoming Making a Living at What You Love^®Program. Uncover your unique Point-of-Difference! Next session starts September 13th.

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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.