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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/394777
26 BCBusiness NOVEMBER 2014 ILLUStRatION: GRaHaM ROUMIEU 1. In the fi rst trimester, keep a few airline sick- ness bags in your desk. and your notebook. and one on you at all times. these can double as snack bags in the second and third trimesters. 2. Don't worry about announcing your pregnancy; someone will make an insensitive comment about your body and do it for you. 3. Women with offi ce doors, you just gained a nap room. Women without offi ce doors, consider an under-desk sleeping set-up à la Seinfeld's George Costanza. 4. Relocate your workstation closer to the washroom—this will save cumulative hours by the time you go on maternity leave. 5. When colleagues or clients touch your belly without asking, reach out and touch theirs. Weird, isn't it? 6. When you're nearing your due date and none of your clothing fi ts anymore, save your money and accessorize that one stretchy dress with something new each day. v i s u a l l e a r n i n g Working Through Your Pregnancy 1 2 3 4 5 6 naMe tHat crisis consistent message under pressure— cannot be understated. Letting the focus slip inward, growing agitated or veering off -message can result in "enormous reputational damage" according to Edwards, often giving the media and public very unfortunate and extremely quotable moments that get repeated often. "It's really natural for companies to say, 'How does it impact us? We need a message out there that addresses that,'" says Pinton. He singles out the Mount Polley disaster as an example of an executive stumbling: there, Imperial Metals Corp. president Brian Kynoch's statement that he would "drink the water" didn't solve the problem of the devastating visuals of the polluted pond. "He needed to follow that up with action that demonstrates the company's sincerity to make the situation right for the stakeholders," says Pinton. "That includes people who work in the mine—are they going to have a job to go to?—as well as people who are working in tourism there, who might have been wiped out by this." The speed with which you address the media and public—as well as the sincerity and sensitivity expressed to those aff ected—are what matter most in any crisis scenario. And all that takes preparation. "It's a great idea to practise communications," says Pinton, "whether that's media training or practising in an exercise." Failure to act quickly or misspeaking will only make a bad situation worse. "Quite frankly, some women's bodies just actually don't work for it." "Yes, I'd drink the water." "I'm worth a lot less now than I was last week." Chip Wilson, founder, Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc. Brian Kynoch, president, Imperial Metals Corp. Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO, Rail World Inc. Polley disaster as an example of an "Quite frankly, some women's bodies just actually don't work for it." Chip Wilson, founder, Polley disaster as an example of an executive stumbling: there, Imperial who are working in tourism there, who might have been wiped out by this." I'd drink the water." "I'm worth a lot less now than I was last week." Brian Kynoch, president, Imperial Metals Corp. Edward Burkhardt, president and Rail World Inc. who are working in tourism there, who might have been wiped out by this." The speed with which you address the media and public—as well as the "I'm worth a lot less now than I was last week." Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO, CEO, CEO Rail World Inc.