The Style Guide: A Sheer Blouse

The Style Guide curates the best of high fashion to inspire your work wardrobe. Think beyond the ordinary with: a sheer blouse. Yes. With the right cami, a bit of see-through can be both tasteful and professional.

1. When wearing a sheer blouse, like Self-Portrait’s Sheer Lace Top, underthings are key. Ensure your camisole or tank offers adequate coverage.

 

2. A blazer over-top may be necessary for certain office environments, whether due to unspoken dress codes or a chilly climate. Shown here: Pallas’ Black Open-Back Blazer.

 

3. Victoria Beckham’s Black Python Tote is perfect for stashing your work goodies (perhaps, a spare pair of shoes, too).

 

 

Remember: Fashion is just another accessory for someone with great style.

Give Your Productivity a Natural Boost

Nature can not only help us de-stress, but it can reinvigorate our mental muscles, too. Harvard Business Review explains how looking at nature, whether real or simulated, can help your productivity.

We all want to be productive, but figuring out how to do it can be challenging. One simple way is to spend time looking at nature on your next break at work. Research has found that gazing at something green – through a window, on a walk outside, or even on a screen saver – can help improve attention and performance in the workplace.

Attention restoration theory suggests that natural environments have restorative benefits for us. Because nature captures our attention without requiring us to focus on it, looking at natural environments lets us replenish our stores of attention control. And because our attention is a limited resource that we’re constantly tapping, letting it recharge is essential. So the next time you take a break at work (you are taking breaks, right?), spend it looking at nature. Doing so for even one minute can show benefits.

Adapted from “Gazing at Nature Makes You More Productive: An Interview with Kate Lee,” by Nicole Torres.

[Source: HBR.org]

The Rise Of The Intrapreneur

There have always been go-getters in companies who try to move the needle forward and push the status quo. But never before has there been such a push for employees to take ownership of their own corner of a company. This can mean creating a new division or launching a new initiative like an environmental or women’s leadership campaign.

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Princess Diana on Leadership

The Style Guide: Sweater & Stripes

The Style Guide curates the best of high fashion to inspire your work wardrobe. Think beyond the ordinary with: a dressed-up sweater and stripes. It’s a youthful approach to familiar separates.

1. Not every woman, or office setting, can embrace ruffles. But if this look is for you, keep things solid, as with Each X Other’s Ivory Ruffle Sweater, so your playfulness isn’t overpowering.

 

2. Valentino’s Striped A-Line Skirt is a perfect midi length. When shopping stripes, look for optically optimized patterns that slim and flatter.

 

3. Offset this youthful look with a bag that means business. With its structured shape and brass hardware, Sophie Hulme’s Black Zip Top Bowling Bag is perfect for the office.

 

Remember: Fashion is just another accessory for someone with great style.

How to Address Your Team’s Poor Performance

When most, or all, of your team isn’t meeting expectations, it’s time to place the blame where it belongs – squarely on your shoulders.

Managing a team of multiple personalities, work styles, and levels of experience may be one of the most challenging aspects of your career. It’s one thing to perfect your own work. But stitching together disparate souls into one well-oiled machine? Well, that’s quite another.

More bodies inherently means more room for error. Some are isolated, while others are pervasive. And when the latter arises, be sure to view them through the right lens. Not the rose-colored option or the blinders, but the clear ones, or, better yet, the magnifying glass. You’ll often find that the origin of the problem lies with you.

5 Tips On How To Navigate Complex Corporate Politics

Office politics can be hard to deal with for anyone, but if you’re trying to get your company to change from within, you really need to know how to play the game. So, intrapreneurs have to become expert politicians, reaching out across the aisle to enroll, cajole, inspire and initiate new, and often unlikely, supporters for their ideas. Practicing these 5 tips may make it a little bit easier.

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3 Surprising Fixes For A Broken Work Culture

There are many reasons why company cultures sour, but when they do, turning things around can be a huge challenge. Here are three alternative approaches to shake things up, do away with negative office politics, and give your company culture the meaningful morale boost it needs.

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The Best Office Supplies to Dress Up Your Desk

Sugar Paper Desk Blotter

If you’re going to spend the majority of your waking hours at your desk, you should make every effort to make it as happy as possible. That’s where fun desk accessories come in. Using them over standard supply closet finds is like the difference between natural sunshine and fluorescent lighting. So turn your desk into your happy place with some of these chic supplies.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald on Defeat