I have heard many times how the youth of today are rude, arrogant and in too much of a hurry to take the places of those older. The last week I have spent with 60 young people between the ages of 16 and 27 on a Bootcamp. At first they were quiet but by the end of the week they were really participating and intent on learning as much as possible.

The secret I think is to have faith and communicate in a way they understand. I have been very impressed with their follow up as well with over half the participants emailing me with suggestions, requests and asking for help. If this is our future then I am damn glad to hand over when the time comes (of course that will be quite a while). I have faith in the upcoming generation and I think that all they need is our support to become the best they can be.

I am a woman, a mother, a wife, a friend, a colleague, a daughter, an employer and an employee. Each day I coach, teach, cook, clean, and counsel amongst a myriad of other work and home tasks. So where does that leave time for me? I want a life that is balanced, postive, focussed and fulfilling. I want to feel empowered and in control of my destiny. I don't want to live day to day, task to task.

Balance is a concept – a way of thinking that helps to prioritise your time and helps give you a way to control what is happening around you.

It is also a choice to live the life you want to live. It means you are choosing to put emphasis on the things that matter to you the most and to make the very most of the time you have.

In reality, the near-frenetic demands of business and personal life bring many professional women to their knees and my scenario for this week is some one elses every week. We find ourselves exhausted by the end of the day and unable to gain the perspective necessary to plan, manage, or delegate.

Work/life Balance is a concept that is experienced differently by everyone and can be identified by a feeling:

· A feeling you have enough time for family and work

· A feeling that Life "flows" and feels relatively effortless

· A feeling that when something in your life breaks down (baby sitter gets sick, the car breaks down) you have the resources to cope

· And it’s a feeling you are on the path you want to be personally and professionally for the future

Let's define what work-life balance is not.

· Work-Life Balance does not mean an equal balance. Trying to schedule an equal number of hours for each of your various work and personal activities is usually unrealistic. Life is and should be more fluid than that.

· Your best individual work-life balance will vary over time, often on a daily basis. The right balance for you today will probably be different for you tomorrow.

· The right balance for you when you are single will be different when you marry, or if you have children; when you start a new career versus when you are nearing retirement.

There is no perfect, one-size fits all, balance you should be striving for. The best work-life balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities and different lives. You will know the what Balance is right for you when you feel happy, fulfilled and excited to be alive.

Many of us have been micromanaged at some time in our work lives and realise the detrimental effects associated with having a ‘control freak’ boss monitor your actions! Well join the queue! This is one of the top 3 reasons people have changed jobs. Workers feel disempowered and productivity is severely disrupted. With constant report requests and almost non existent praise why would you feel happy?

So, what defines a micro-manager or ‘MM’ and do you have one lurking ready to pounce on your every move?

1. MM’s manipulate your time and don’t trust you to stick to the deadlines. They often distort priorities and are constantly working in crisis mode.

2. MM’s control how you work and want everything done their way according to exact instructions. They are always right!

3. MM’s require unrealistic checks and balances and often bottleneck all authority for projects to control activity.

4. MM’s love power and often manipulate decisions just for self-interest.

5. MM’s require excessive and unnecessary reporting

So how do you overcome this?

First you must realise that you do have choices and not take on a victim mentality. You do have options even if you haven’t yet thought them through. If you leave the position you may end up in another one that is just as bad so why not try to manage a pathway through the mire.

Strategies

1. Work out what is important to your MM and then work with him and not against him.

2. Offer information before it is asked for and work out what he may want to know in the future. MM’s need to know what you are doing but this way it means the information comes on your terms.

3. Always clarify meetings and conversations with an email or memo afterwards. This means there will never be any unrealistic expectations or surprises. Your boss can’t demand something you haven’t agreed to and you have covered your bases.

4. Don’t allow distorted deadlines to be forced upon you. Be the first to offer a timeline when you can do the task and then follow it up in writing.

5. Avoid being a target and always follow the rules and policies of the organisation

6. Build a business case – tell your MM what you want to do, why you want to do it and how it can be achieved. Show what is in it for him!

7. Pick your battles and only war on the most important issues! Don’t ever make your manager look bad in front of others.

Recognise any of these traits in yourself? Well before your career is compromised seek feedback from your staff and be willing to confront and change your behaviour. In this way you will empower those around you and all will benefit!

I started this year with the best of intentions. No work after hours; time with the hubby; time for me!!!!!! I was finally going to gain control until...................... this week! Why is it that when one thing comes up everything else starts to happen at the same time. It's like Murphy's law: What can go wrong will go wrong and always when it is most inconvenient!

I started this week with a very tight schedule - mistake number one. I gave myself unrealistic deadlines - mistake number two and then said yes to a potential client when I should have said no mistake number three. Then on top of all that a crisis arose a work and I developed a migraine. All of which left me feeling, bruised battered and out of control.

I usually manage my time really carefully and mostly it goes ok but sometimes it's like a little devil hops on my shoulder and eggs me on to do things I know are just plain dumb. This is a pretty common story for many women and in fact when my children lived at home I sometimes managed from crisis to crisis. I hate it so why do I let it happen at all?