Chart a path to less office drama with team rules

Research shows people trust a company whose CEO has a presence on social media, and experts recommend executives be personable and authentic while maintaining boundaries of privacy, especially around their family. "People don't just buy a brand," says Michelle Kennedy, CEO of Peanut. "They want to know more about who's behind it and how they live. Do they represent the values that they say they do? I think that is very important."

Put it into practice: Experts say that having an online presence makes CEOs better positioned to get ahead of a crisis and they can personally answer complaints and build trust with customers and other stakeholders. "Audiences want to hear from an individual. It's hard to be social with a company," says Andrew Williams, senior managing director and corporate reputation specialist at FTI Consulting.

A new manager successfully transformed a dysfunctional department by bringing the team together to define their Rules for Success -- a set of guidelines that helped solve problems and disputes with clarity, writes leadership consultant Art Petty. By answering seven key questions, the team created actionable operating principles that focused on communication, collaboration and accountability.

Put it into practice: To create your team's own Rules of the Road, determine the appropriate questions, gather as a team to develop action-focused answers and ensure they're in line with your organization's values, Petty recommends. Then use them if your department is in a quandary over hybrid work.

Women may think they're not a good fit for job environments when advertisements seek "strong," "aggressive" and "confident" applicants, among other terms, which dissuade many from applying, research from UCLA assistant professor Joyce He and University of Toronto's Sonia Kang indicates. Swapping out such language "not only increases interest among potential female job candidates but also appeals to a significant portion of men, as well," Carla Fried writes, noting that this can help companies narrow gender gaps.

Put it into practice: De-bias job ads -- removing "ambitious" and "assertive" as well a typically female-assumed traits such as "compassionate" and "understanding" -- to attract more women and men who don't identify as strongly masculine, the researchers say. "Entrepreneurial" and "outspoken" are other words often associated with men.

A playful, fun, less-regimented attitude toward exercise may help adults experience better mind-body benefits, researchers say. Author and exercise physiologist Tom Holland says making exercise fun can help people stick with it because it reduces their perception of exertion and allows them to get a more effective workout, while biomechanist Katy Bowman says a more playful exercise attitude can bring joy and help meet mental health needs.

A colorful microscopic image of the optic nerve of a rodent taken by Hassanain Qambari, with help from Jayden Dickson, has taken the top honor in the 49th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. Other extreme closeup images include the fangs of a tarantula, the head of a matchstick catching fire and crystallized sugar syrup resembling stacks of torn paper.

Environmental liability (E-liability) introduces a simple, accurate, and verifiable calculation for the total cradle-to-gate emissions of any product or service. Karthik Ramanna from the University of Oxford explains the basics of E-liability and makes the case for why companies, standards setters and regulators all around the world should be familiarizing themselves with the concept of E-liability. Meanwhile, Vance Merolla from Colgate-Palmolive shares lessons learned from the process of sourcing energy for some of the company's operations via a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA).

While listening to a podcast the other day on aging (yes, I'm that many years old), the guest suggested reframing exercise as your "movement practice." That took much of the baggage of the word "exercise" away. I've considered what kind of "movement practice" would keep me motivated, like yoga or weight lifting.

When it's fun, we get a better workout, says exercise physiologist Tom Holland.

What fun workouts do you do? Tell me. I might try them!

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