Can family members who work together benefit from emotional separateness? Blanket reverence for family togetherness often shields family members from an unpleasant reality: too much closeness can destroy relationships. Nowhere is this more visible than in family businesses, where the cauldron of emotions among siblings and parents (and sometimes, uncles, aunts and grandparents) easily bubbles to an intensity level that exceeds the family’s capacity to manage it. Having

Every week, I hear some form of this question from business owners, young adults, and mid-lifers. It comes from those just getting started and from those who have “been there, done that.” (In one recent day, I heard this question from a 17-year-old student and a 92-year-old grandmother!) An important dimension of “Where Do I Go From Here With My Life?” is discovering the work that best “fits” me. How do I figure this out? There’s no sure-fire formula. The increasing co

“People would rather believe than know.” E.O. Wilson Professor Emeritus, Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Two-time Pulitzer Prize recipient The quote above popped into my head when reflecting on my exchanges with Kate Hurley, director of the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at the University of California at Davis. We met last month at the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators Annual Management Conference in San Diego, where both us were invited to speak. Kate mi