Hotlist: When — and How — to Keep a Poker Face at Work

Our most popular ideas and advice of the week. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  Read online   March 13, 2023   When — and How — to Keep a Poker Face at Work Maintaining a poker face doesn't necessarily mean suppressing your feelings or being dishonest. It simply means practicing emotion regulation by being aware of your facial expressions and body language—and using them strategically. How do you know when to put on a poker face? Try these practical strategies to interrupt your inner eruption. The better you can self-regulate, the easier it will be to express your emotions in a way you feel proud of. Read more   How to Become More Adaptable in Challenging Situations In unfamiliar, high-stakes situations, we're hard-wired to default to the mechanisms that we've relied on the past. However, new situations often can't be met with old solutions. This is the adaptability paradox: When we most need to learn, change, and adapt, we are most likely to react with old approaches that aren't suited to our new situation, leading to poorer decisions and ineffective solutions. Here's how to better overcome the obstacles posed by our old habits. Read more   How AI Is Helping Companies Redesign Processes The idea of business process reengineering is making a comeback, this time driven by artificial intelligence (AI). AI enables better, faster and more automated decisions, allowing companies to improve efficiency and produce better outcomes. Companies — from banks to industrial firms — are already using AI to transform their processes. Here's how. Read more   Become More Comfortable Making Bold Decisions Leaps of faith make great scenes in a movie, but in real life they fill us with stress and uncertainty—two emotions that are not comfortable for the human brain. To face down our discomfort, we can take advantage of a revealing data set that we often ignore: our past decisions. Looking back at our decision-making history allows us to see patterns that we might not otherwise notice, thus providing a crucial perspective for understanding (and solving!) complex and unique current and future problems. Read more   How to Equip Your Team to Problem Solve Without You In trying to "protect" their teams, many managers become what the authors refer to as "umbrella managers": well-intentioned leaders who want to protect their teams from all inclement organizational weather. But this type of leadership comes with a heavy price for the manager, the team, and the organization. Here are several key mental shifts umbrella managers should make to move from protecting their employees to supporting them. Read more       BEST SELLERS HBR’s 10 Must Reads: The Essentials | HBR’s 10 Must Reads Boxed Set | HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations | HBR Guide to Better Business Writing | HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done     FEATURED PRODUCT Good Power: Leading Positive Change in Our Lives, Work, and World by Ginni Rometty Ginni Rometty led one of the world's most iconic companies, and in Good Power she recounts her groundbreaking path from a challenging childhood to becoming the CEO of IBM and one of the world's most influential business leaders. With candor and depth, Rometty shares milestones from her life and career while redefining power as a way to drive meaningful change in positive ways for ourselves, our organizations, and for the many, not just the few—a concept she calls "good power." Rometty's "memoir with purpose" combines the experiences that defined her life—personal hurdles, high-stakes decisions, passionate advocacy—with the actionable advice of a coaching session to highlight lessons that shape authentic leadership. With heart, humility, and conviction, Good Power offers an inspiring, compelling guide to creating meaningful change in our lives. $30.00 Learn more     FEATURED PRODUCT HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose Video Toolkit By John Coleman You can choose to trudge through work and life. Or you can choose to bring greater meaning to everything you do. With the HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose Video Toolkit, you'll get advice, stories, tips and tools to design a more purposeful personal and professional life. $69.95 Learn more     ADVERTISEMENT   HBR.ORG | TOPICS | THE MAGAZINE | BOOKS | CASES | STORE | SUBSCRIBE TO HBR   UNSUBSCRIBE | MANAGE EMAIL PREFERENCES   PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT     To ensure email delivery, add noreply@a.email.hbr.org to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Copyright © 2023 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved.   Harvard Business Publishing 20 Guest St, Suite 700 Brighton, MA 02135