December 9, 2014 • Volume 5, Issue 25 • ISSN: 2154-3240

Holiday Hiatus - We’ll Be Back in 2015!

In This Issue

♦	Feature Article: Managing the Optics
♦	Ask Amanda: How can I deal with drama and invasive personal questions?
♦	Practical Tips: Manage Optics Part 2

Managing the Optics

When a leader has inside intel regarding corporate strategy, it is especially important to manage how others perceive what’s happening. Managing the optics is the craft of telegraphing a message that’s acceptable to the general public while masking that which might not be. You don’t want to lie, but you also don’t want people worrying about things that may never happen.

It’s tough to balance the need for transparency with the need to keep confidential strategic corporate information. It requires good judgment and extreme self-management to handle your own emotions while being mindful of how others interpret events. For instance, it’s very common for management teams to bat around ideas regarding cutting expenses.
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	Avoid others’ arbitrary scorecards

Practical Tips:
Manage Optics Part 2

At the end of the year there is often some downtime that you can use to organize yourself at work. Think about what message you’re telegraphing about yourself through your office.

One good organizing technique is to look at your desk, files, contacts, etc., and decide whether it reflects how you want to be perceived. For instance, if you want to be seen as a responsible, capable manager, maybe it means you need to rethink your tendency to pile lots of paper on your desk.
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I don't want to sound sexist, especially since I'm a woman myself but I'm now working in a team comprised of all women and it's much, much different than anywhere else I've worked. There's a lot of unnecessary drama (IMO) and rather invasive questions about my personal life. How can I be successful without getting sucked in? M.D., New York, NY

You’re correct, women manage differently than men. Conventional wisdom holds that women are more adept at teamwork, feedback, empowerment, and communication, primarily as a result of early socialization that prepares them to be more concerned about cooperation and community.
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About: 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 acting humanely 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 thriving in the workplace.