July 9, 2013 • Volume 4, Issue 14 • ISSN: 2154-3240

In This Issue

♦	Feature Article: Think Entrepreneur
♦	Ask Amanda: How do I avoid political minefields?
♦	Practical Tips: Apathetic Coworkers

Think Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship is romanticized in our culture but very few of us are willing to assume the financial and personal risks associated with establishing and running our own businesses. However, thinking like an entrepreneur in the workplace will almost certainly ensure job security.

One of the traits common among entrepreneurs is that they have an internal locus of control. Locus of control is a psychological theory regarding how a person relates to control. If a person has an internal locus of control, they believe that they are in control of their life, compared to an external locus of control, which means the person believes their life is controlled by external factors they cannot influence.
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	Success is a series of failures plus time.

Practical Tips:
Apathetic Coworkers

One byproduct of intense, ongoing stress is apathy–at a certain point it’s hard to muster up enthusiasm to do anything, much less engage productively at work. And when your coworkers are apathetic it can not only affect your mood, it can affect how others perceive you and your team. While you can’t “cure” your coworkers, there are things you can do to help.

Ask for help. It sounds counter-intuitive but asking your coworker to help on a small, discrete task may temporarily get them out of their funk.
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Our company works with political candidates from different parties. Inevitably our work conversations turn to politics and things get heated pretty quickly. How do I stay true to myself while avoiding minefields? M.B., Washington, D.C.

You are wise to be concerned. According to recent research by Andrew Miner, Theresa Glomb, and Charles Hulin at Stanford University, nasty interactions have a far bigger impact on our moods than positive interactions—in fact, they have five times more of an effect than positive interactions do.
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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.