My mother raised us to believe that all people were equal. It did not matter where you came from, what language you spoke, or what the color of your skin was. This was not surprising for a woman who was the daughter of immigrants and whose parents still talked with an accent.   It was not until I was a freshman in college that I found out that my mother had been taught some serious racial bias. I was horrified. But the good thing was that she knew that the way she felt was wrong, and she did … [Read more...]

No one needs to tell us that we are stressed about the COVID-19 pandemic. We are all suffering from chronic stress – fatigue, irritability, changes in our eating habits, problems sleeping, difficulty concentrating – because of the uncertainty that this illness brings. And because it has gone on so long, the constant stress disrupts our ability to remember things and pay attention. Just yesterday, a friend put her milk in the freezer instead of in the refrigerator. Another friend called me, sure … [Read more...]

   Recently I attended a New Jersey Business and Industry Association Women Leaders Forum. One of the breakout sessions was called “Is Emotional Intelligence a Leader’s Secret Weapon?” While nothing that was said there is new, it is a wonderful reminder that high emotional intelligence (EI) leads to more success in all things: parenting, friendship, volunteer relationships, work success, and personal fulfillment. Why is that? There are four main reasons. • People with higher EI have better … [Read more...]