Today, about two-thirds of women with children work outside the home, at least part time. Shifting from the responsibilities of the workplace to the equally responsible job of parenting is a tall order. Every parent knows how chaotic the hours after work and before bedtime can be. To manage the home, young couples are challenged to share the load...

I am 31 and the oldest of three girls. My sisters and I are all married with young children. My mother shows obvious favoritism to my middle sister and her 7 year old daughter. She spends tons of money on their family, travels to visit them frequently, talks with them on the phone daily, and babysits their children regularly. She has no time for...

Once you learn how to listen to employees, your managerial skills will improve dramatically. You'll get better feedback, communicate better, and solve more problems. Here are some exercises that will improve your listening skills, and help you get the most out of each meeting with an employee: Clean off your desk when meeting with employees....

Unless you are communicating clearly, directly, and assertively, you are not the one in charge. How can we expect others to know what we want unless we are able to communicate the desired action? Too often we feel that our feelings, thoughts and words are unimportant because what we want appears to be overlooked. Use the following checklist to...

Clay ignored concerns voiced by his staff that customers were complaining about increasingly delayed shipments. He continued to brush off their comments until he lost his biggest customer. When he called the customer in an attempt to recover the lost business, the customer said, “I repeatedly told your staff that delivery times were becoming unacceptable—yet...

The climate of a relationship can be described in weather terms: stormy, cold, cloudy, warm or sunny. The same is true of groups of relationships, such as family, church or workplace. Have you ever been in an environment where criticism, sarcasm, backbiting and suspicion were predominant? A climate where you could "feel the tension in the air?" Or...

Broaden your management style to motivate people of all ages, and pay particular attention to Generation Xers; they are leaders and trend setters in business. Who is Generation X? Generation Xers are people born between the mid1960's and late1970's, and, while diverse, exhibit characteristics that are unique to their generation and not just...