Why guilt (not greed) is good, the benefits of being judgy, and more top insights

What’s happening in the world of work: The Saturday edition of the Daily Rundown highlights the business trends, perspectives, and hot topics you need to know to work smarter. Read on and join the conversation.

To find your passion, get judgy. Our unfiltered judgments contain important clues about our desires, argue Harvard’s Todd Rose and Ogi Ogas. Paying close attention to such gut reactions can help us discover our “micro-motives,” the key activities and conditions that help us feel fulfilled. Whether it’s the thrill we feel when organizing a mess or the anger we feel at a specific injustice, our reactions can help us discover what matters most to us. And those feelings can lead us to work we truly want to pursue. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Guilt can be a good thing after all: Those who are inclined to feel guilty when they have made a mistake are more likely to be trustworthy, according to research from Wharton’s Maurice Schweitzer. Such guilt-prone people are more likely to avoid situations that will result in guilty feelings in the first place. So, instead of letting yourself go into autopilot and judge a person’s trustworthiness based on unreliable cues like age or even face shape, watch how people act when they slip up. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Farewell, desk and chair. Hello, work sofa. As workplaces become less formal and a growing portion of employees choose to work remotely, space needs at many companies have begun to change. To respond to this shift, Swiss furniture firm Vitra recently revealed a forthcoming collection that aims to make office seating less rigid and more cushy. The collection includes lounge chairs and couches with built-in outlets and ports, tabletops and privacy partitions. ? Here’s what people are saying.

You Asked: “Is showing emotions at work harmful to your career, or does it show that you care? What is the key to controlling your emotions at work, but still show that you are invested and care about your job and company?” — Deborah Genevro, Senior Business Systems Analyst at Intuition ABLE Solutions

• “Knowing whether to show your emotions at work depends on your environment. In most corporate situations, the answer is an unequivocal no. You need to refrain from using the pronoun ‘I’ or the words ‘feel,’ ‘sense,’ ‘am upset,’ ‘am offended,’ etc. Those are trigger words. You need to use ‘it’ and the word ‘would be,’ ‘could be,’ ‘should be.’ Use ‘the business’ as your main noun in every sentence. After having worked for men who ran businesses that catered to women my entire life, it even came to my attention that when I would suggest some other facts about an issue or asked for more study before implementing a solution, I was told to ‘stop being so emotional.’ I never cried or raised my voice at work. But any kind of resistance was called ‘being emotional.’ So, I’m sorry to say, keep it all business. Always. We have a long way to go.” — Lesley Jane Seymour, CEO of CoveyClub and former editor in chief of More Magazine (Read Lesley Jane Seymour’s full response.)
• "'Showing emotion' can be broadly interpreted and is highly situational, so no one can say if it’s harmful or helpful as a rule. The real answer to this question, to help you no matter the circumstance, is to get good at two things: 1) reading your environment and audience and 2) knowing yourself and how you are perceived. The answers to this will change over time and by the situation, but they will guide you to the range of appropriateness of actions. In general, displaying passion and energy in a way that's authentic to your style is positive (authenticity is key — what comes across as positive for one person doesn’t always come across as positive for another). With rare exception, extreme emotion that would be considered losing control (whatever that means — yelling, sobbing uncontrollably) is not good. It can come across as immature and unprofessional. If you need to have an extreme reaction or you aren’t able to control yourself, you may want to excuse yourself from the room or the situation. Outside of extremes, all of us as humans relate to realness and authenticity. And, in that spirit, showing your heart and passion or disappointment or hope is a great thing." — Kat Cole, COO and President, North America at FOCUS Brands

Looking for career advice from the pros? Submit your questions in the comments with #YouAsked and we’ll take care of the rest.

The deceptively simple key to employee happiness: More than fancy perks, what employees really want is a simple, sincere check-in about how they are doing, according to recent research from EY. Close to 40% of workers surveyed said they felt happiest at work after such conversations. And happy workers are more engaged, and more productive. The flip side — social exclusion — can deal a heavy blow: Over 40% of respondents said they experienced stress and sadness when they felt their colleagues didn’t care about their wellbeing. ? Here’s what people are saying.

One last idea: Despite the cultural pressure to feel upbeat, happy and positive, Santa Clara University’s David Feldman reminds us that our negative emotions — anxiety, guilt, anger — can be highly effective teachers that shouldn’t be cast aside or ignored.

“Ultimately, in order to lead a good life, we must learn how to deal with all our emotions, not just the happy ones. And, it's good to know that even feeling bad can sometimes work in our favor.”

What's your take? Join the conversations on today's stories in the comments.

— Scott Olster