New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has a big decision ahead of him: whether its time to bow out, and retire from the NFL on his own terms. His contract expires in March, and hell have the option to re-sign with New Orleans, consider new offers, or simply enter retirement.

Brees, 41, leaving the game wouldnt really be a huge shock hes played professionally for 19 seasons, having devoted his life to football. Hes got a wife and four children who would love to spend more time with him. And he wont be lacking for new career paths once hes thrown his last pass. Hes recently managed his contract with the Saints on a year-to-year basis, taking time to decompress and deliberate after each season.

But Saints general manager Mickey Loomis wants it known that he and his team will welcome Brees back as long as he wants to play in New Orleans.

Yeah, Loomis replied when asked if the Saints wanted another year with the Hall of Fame-bound quarterback. I dont think its any different than its been for the last few years. I dont view it any different than I did a year ago or the year before that or the year before that, regardless of whether he has a contract or not. Hes a good player. Hes been a good player. He continues to be a good player.

Still, Loomis acknowledged that the Saints must consider more factors than Brees personal success and the records hes broken. He also pointed out that its important not to get bogged down in a string of recent, disappointing playoffs exits: I think that any team who makes the playoffs is a success. Thats a successful season. Yet, we all have goals and aspirations more than just making the playoffs. And you really do if youve made the playoffs a number of years.

The Saints have won 26 of their last 32 regular season games, posting back-to-back 13-win seasons for the first time in franchise history. And theyve largely done that with Brees commanding the offense. Unless Brees decides to retire this offseason or seriously regresses next year, its tough to imagine anyone else starting at quarterback in the foreseeable future.

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Saints GM Mickey Loomis shares his view on Drew Brees' future with the team - Saints Wire

For most people, the story of the Macintosh begins with the famousSuper Bowl ad directed by Ridley Scott. In reality, the story started long before that (5 years before, to be exact), but it wasn't until a few dayslater that the world would meet the first mass-market truly 'personal' computer. The Macintosh included a graphical user interface (GUI), a mouse for navigation, and a built-in display, all of which were revolutionary at the time.

Today marks 36 years from the day the original Mac was introduced by Steve Jobs. In the first of what would become Job's signature product launch keynotes, Apple showed off its new computer. Oh, and Jobs wore a bow-tie while pulling off a canvas bagto reveal the first Macintosh.

ThatMac featured an 8MHz Motorola 68000 processor, a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, a 9-inch black and white display, and 128K of RAM. It also carried a price tag of $2,495, which is roughly $6,000 in today's dollars. It kind of makes the newest Mac Pro seem affordable in comparison.

It's hard to imagine today how monumental the Macintosh was at the time, but in addition to the computer itself, Apple's launch was something completely new. The company turned the tech product launch into a media event, borrowinga page from its CEO at the time, John Sculley's, former company, Pepsi.

It worked. The Mac was the most popular personal computer in its first year, outselling Apple's own Lisa, as well as the IBM PCjr. It sold almost 250,000 units that first year, but its long term success was hampered by the lack of applications that took advantage of its GUI. In fact, despite promising more than 70 software titles, there were generally fewer than a dozen widely-available applications.

The Mac has come a long way since 1984, and has taken ona variety of shapes and forms. From the original Macintosh 128K, to the iMac, to the PowerBook and MacBook Pro, Apple has consistentlyset the direction for the industry and every other manufacturer.

While Apple's most recent financial success is largely attributed to the iPhone, it's worth remembering that the introduction of the Mac was the moment that Apple first broke into the mind of the public. It generated a loyal fanbase that has grown over the last 36 years, reaching cult-like status in many ways.

And today, it remains asymbol of the ethos and design innovation that has become Apple's signature.

That seems like a pretty big success after all.

Published on: Jan 24, 2020

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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Today the Mac Turns 36 Years Old. Here's Why It Still Matters Today - Inc.

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Kansas' David McCormack (33) is held back by teammate Isaiah Moss during a brawl following a game against rival Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, on Tuesday. Kansas won, 81-60.

Jamie Squire, Getty Images | TNS

Kansas' David McCormack (33) is held back by teammate Isaiah Moss during a brawl following a game against rival Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, on Tuesday. Kansas won, 81-60.

Jamie Squire, Getty Images | TNS

Jamie Squire, Getty Images | TNS

Kansas' David McCormack (33) is held back by teammate Isaiah Moss during a brawl following a game against rival Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, on Tuesday. Kansas won, 81-60.

By TPN Staff January 24, 2020

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Whos to blame for the brawl in Kansas? Why are both Super Bowl participants cursed? And just how many Celtics should make the NBA All-Star game? The Pitt News sports staff tackles these topics and more in this weeks Take 5.

Catastrophe in Kansas

The brawl that happened during Tuesdays game between Kansas and Kansas State was truly disgusting but it didnt have to be. While the actions of everyone involved were despicable, most of the blame falls on the shoulders of first-year Kansas State guard DaJuan Gordon and the rest of the Wildcats.

You dont steal the ball down 21 with less than 10 seconds left on the clock. Just ask Monmouth Universitys George Papas.

Some have called the move gritty or tried to argue that Gordon was trying to light a fire under his team for the next game, but the move can only be described as bush league. The Wildcats got whooped, and if they wanted to take that anger out in some fashion, they should have looked inward. The team shot less than 40% and decided that trying to show up the No. 3 team in the nation was the proper outlet for that frustration.

This brawl was completely preventable Kansas State had a poor performance and should have handled it by going to its locker room and figuring out how to improve on an otherwise forgettable night.

It should be noted that the worst part of the night was the actions of Kansas junior Silvio De Sousa, who picked up a chair and attempted to use it as a weapon. He has since been rightfully suspended indefinitely by both Bill Self and the Big 12 Conference. Im not condoning the violence that occurred after Gordons steal, which was inexcusable.

But instead of performing an action that everyone knows is offensive and will surely incite a reaction, just steal the ball when it matters next time.

Joe Melillo, For The Pitt News

Dont snub the Celtics

The Boston Celtics are the only team in the NBA with three players averaging 20 or more points, and all three of those players deserve a spot in the All-Star game. Kemba Walker earned a starting spot Thursday night, while Jayson Tatum is positioned comfortably for a reserve spot and Jaylen Brown is unfortunately staring down the barrel of the snub gun.

Walker is averaging 22.1 points, five assists and four rebounds. In addition to statistical success, he serves as the leader on a talented Celtics team, managing to balance personal success with team success something that former Celtic Kyrie Irving struggled with.

Tatum is averaging 21.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals. Offensively, he has taken the leap from prospect to star. He has also been more than effective on defense, as evidenced by his real plus-minus of 4.82 fifth-best in the NBA.

Brown averages 20 points and 6.8 rebounds, but most impressive is his efficiency he shoots 49.1% from the field and 39.1% from 3-point range. The only player in the East averaging more than 20 points with a higher field-goal percentage is reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and no player in the East has a higher 3-point percentage while averaging 20 points.

Despite proving he is an All-Star-caliber player, Brown is in danger of getting robbed simply because people will refuse to put three Celtics players in the game. This outcome would be incredibly disrespectful to Browns talent. Just because his team is ripe with talent does not mean he should be robbed of All-Star honors, especially given the lack of depth at the shooting guard position in the Eastern Conference.

Sean Tierney, Staff Writer

Nakken is right where she belongs

The San Francisco Giants made history last Thursday by announcing the hire of Alyssa Nakken as an assistant manager. In doing so, they made Nakken the first full-time female coach in Major League Baseballs 117-year history. Let that sink in.

Former Giants player Aubrey Huff was quick to criticize the hiring, pointing out that Nakken never played in the MLB. He tweeted that the move has #metoo written all over it and he couldnt imagine taking baseball instruction from a female coach.

Nakken didnt play in the MLB but neither did Buck Showalter, who managed the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Orioles for 20 years and won the Manager of the Year award three times.

What if we looked at this the other way around? This is where a double standard becomes clear. As it happens, only 40.8% of womens collegiate sports teams are led by female coaches. Additionally, more than half of the head coaches in National Pro Fastpitch, the worlds most prominent professional softball league, are men. That doesnt even account for assistants. No one seems to have an issue with men coaching women so why is there a problem when theres a woman coaching men?

As a player at Sacramento State, Nakken earned All-Conference honors three times, playing to the tune of a career .304 batting average and .992 fielding percentage. The bottom line is that Nakken reached the top of her field as a softball player, making her as credible as any other coach.

Marshall Worth, For The Pitt News

Battle of the curses

For the first time ever, this years Super Bowl may prove to be an unwinnable game for both teams, thanks to supernatural powers working behind the scenes. The matchup will see the Kansas City Chiefs, dogged by the infamous Madden Curse, facing the equally doomed San Francisco 49ers, who will be haunted by the horrifying Drake Curse.

The Madden Curse has been a fixture in the NFL since 1998, when San Francisco 49ers running back Garrison Hearst broke his ankle shortly after appearing on the cover of Madden NFL 99. Those featured on Maddens cover have been cursed ever since.

This years game, Madden 20, saw Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes featured on its cover, and the consequences will undoubtedly be severe for his team. Since the Chiefs rely so heavily on Mahomes to run the offense, the team cannot afford to have a cursed performance from their quarterback, and the very existence of the Chiefs logo on the cover of the game cannot possibly bode well for their upcoming matchup.

But the 49ers face a situation that became dire when old photos surfaced of Canadian rapper Drake sporting a 49ers windbreaker. The Drake curse holds that any time the rapper is seen wearing a teams apparel, that team will lose its next game. It prevented Alabama from winning the 2019 College Football Title, cost Conor McGregor a UFC fight and, in an interesting case last year, delivered the 76ers a loss when Drake supported the team in order to secure a win for his Toronto Raptors.

Though no major experts have weighed in on the issue yet, the dueling curses are certain to make Super Bowl LIV strange. It will be interesting to see how the Chiefs offense operates without Mahomes, and as for the 49ers knock on wood.

Henry Jackson, Staff Writer

Gritty needs to punch more children (kidding, of course)

Beloved Philadelphia icon and Flyers mascot Gritty came under fire this week for allegedly punching a 13-year-old fan in the back during a meet and greet. The mascot is accused of smacking the boy in the back, causing bruising and mild pain, after the boy patted the mascot on the head, according to a chiropractor who treated the fan.

After an email from the boys father, which originally only complained about the poor quality of the photo taken at the meet and greet, Philadelphia police are investigating the incident. There is no video of the punch and no eyewitnesses recall watching Gritty hit the boy.

What I want to know is where does PC culture end? Gritty should be permitted, and encouraged, to punch more children. No one wants to be condescendingly patted on the head, least of all a beloved mascot-turned-nightmare. Gritty ought to be allowed to punch as many children as he deems is acceptable. Children are frequently terrible, and why should we allow them to continue their reign of terror? Because theyre young and short? A poor excuse for bad behavior.

Delilah Bourque, Contributing Editor

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Take 5: Super Bowl, Boston, Brawling - University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News

Illustration by Eric Chow.

Whoever is happy will make others happy too... How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

There is a wind of change in our society. People are talking about feelings. Even men are doing it. Relatively recently Prince William and Prince Harry talked for the first time about their mothers death and how it affected their own mental health. All around there is a new undercurrent a greater concern with our own inner life and with how other people feel. A new, gentler culture is emerging.

By contrast, the older culture, which still dominates, is altogether harsher. It is more focused on externals. It encourages people to aim above all at personal success: good grades, a good job, a good income and a desirable partner. This culture of striving has brought many blessings, and life today is probably as good as it has ever been in human history. But that culture also involves a lot of stress, and people wonder why if we are now so much richer than previous generations we are not a lot happier.

The answer is surely the ultra-competitive nature of the dominant culture. The objective it offers is success compared with other people. But, if I succeed, someone else has to fail. So we have set ourselves up for a zero-sum game: however hard we all try to succeed, there can be no increase in overall happiness. An alternative, gentler culture offers a different aim, which can lead to a winwin outcome. It says that we should of course take care of ourselves, but we should get as much happiness as possible from contributing to the happiness of others. Competition, it argues, is valuable in the right context and that context is competition between organisations. This has been a major engine of progress. But what we need between individuals is mostly cooperation, not competition. We want people who will act for the greater good at work, at home and in the community. This produces better results for everyone. But above all, it makes life more enjoyable. For people long to relate well to each other as an end in itself and not just as a means to something else.

My main proposal is that we should each of us, in all our choices, follow the Happiness Principle: we should aim to produce the greatest happiness that we can and especially the least misery. This noble vision does not go against basic human nature. For all of us have two inherited traits one selfish and one altruistic. The selfish side believes that I am the centre of the universe and my needs come first. This trait was important for our survival as a race, and we should indeed take good care of ourselves and of our own inner equilibrium. But the altruistic side enables us to feel what others feel and to strive for their good. This is vital for a happy society.

It is a fallacy to think that reputation is a sufficient motivation for good behaviour. We need people with an inner desire to live good lives, even without reward. A happy society requires a lot of altruism, and so it needs a culture which supports our altruistic side. This gentler culture has always been around, in some form or other. It is there in all the great religions. Yet for many people these religions have lost their ability to convince. As religious belief has declined, a void has been created and into that void has rushed egotism, by default. We have told our young people that their chief duty is to themselves to get on. What a terrible responsibility. No wonder that anxiety and depression are rising among the young. Instead, people need to get out of themselves to escape the misery of self-absorption. So there has to be a new, secular ethic, based on human need and not divine command.

This basic secular ethics goes back to the 18th-century Anglo-Scottish enlightenment, which proposed a radically new goal for society. The goal, it said, should be the happiness of the people. That Happiness Principle was, I believe, the most important idea of the modern age, with powerful implications for how we should live and how our policymakers should act on our behalf.

This principle inspired many of the great social reforms of the 19th century, but it was soon challenged by philosophies that glorified struggle. Such dreadful philosophies contributed to two world wars and to the ultra-competitive features of todays dominant culture.

But now the Happiness Principle is making a comeback. There are many reasons for this. One is disillusion with the dominant culture and the stress which people experience at every level of society. But the other reasons are hugely positive. Now, for the first time, we have a science of happiness, which gives us real evidence on how to create a happier society.

At the same time there are new techniques of mind-training that enable each of us to improve our own inner mental state, with evidence-based ways in which all of us can become happier. And more and more people now use ageold eastern meditation to achieve greater contentment and calm of mind.

These techniques offer the prospect of a society where we take care, more than ever, of our own inner contentment and, especially, the happiness of others.

There are two opposing strands in human nature. One stresses the differences between my own needs and wants and those of others. The other stresses the similarities and what we all have in common. The relative strength of these two influences is determined to a large extent by the prevailing culture in which we live.

In modern culture the selfish strand is now legitimised as never before. The chief goal on offer to young people is success relative to others better grades, higher pay, more friends and greater fame. Increasingly, young people compete in every possible avenue of life. These trends in youth culture have been studied intensively by Jean Twenge at San Diego State University. She finds that 31% of high school students expect to be famous one day, and an increasing percentage of college entrants think they are above average. Similar narcissistic tendencies are exemplified in the candidate whom American electors knowingly chose as their president in 2016. As Donald Trump elegantly put it: Show me someone without an ego and Ill show you a loser.

It is easy to see how the Me-First philosophy can take root, unless constantly challenged by a more unselfish view of the purpose of life. After all, we mostly live in large cities in which no one has any automatic position. To do anything worthwhile you have to establish your position, and this requires an element of self-promotion.

In recent years, the rise in competitiveness has been made much worse by the advent of social media, which have encouraged self-advertisement and made more young people feel inadequate, anxious, depressed and left out. In addition it has encouraged populism, which is an increasing challenge to a cohesive and loving society.

None of these trends will be easy to alter. But there are many hopeful trends too, both among citizens and among policymakers. The first is the spectacular fall in crime of all kinds in recent decades in most advanced countries. This new degree of gentleness is one of the least noticed and least well understood changes of our time, but it is deeply significant. My own guess is that it reflects the increased influence of women in our society: women commit fewer crimes than men do, and they tend to avoid men who are criminals. Moreover, most women care more about inner feelings than men do on average, while typically men have been more focused on externals.

This shift of perspective is central to the happiness movement, which is about the overarching importance of our feelings our quality of life as we actually experience it.

A third trend is the growing toleration of diversity. That has already transformed the happiness of minority groups, including people who are LGBT, disabled or (until recently) immigrants.

So the ground is fertile. But are our leaders up for implementing the Happiness Principle?

One hero in the political sphere is Enrico Giovannini, an enterprising Italian who was once the chief statistician of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The OECD is the club of rich nations, and it started the standard measurement of GDP in the 1950s. In 2004, Giovannini persuaded the OECD to open a public debate on the nature of progress the issue often referred to as Beyond GDP. Since then the OECD has held another five major conferences to push forward the boundaries of wellbeing measurement and policy. In 2012, it recommended that its member countries should measure the subjective wellbeing of their adult population each year, and all of them now do so.

The UN too has been active. In 2012 it established an annual International Day of Happiness (20 March), and the UN general assembly called upon its members to give more attention to the happiness of their people. At the same time a leading development economist, Jeffrey Sachs, who was an adviser to the UN secretary general, proposed the idea of an annual World Happiness report. This is now presented each year at the UN.

But what are individual governments doing? In January 2019, Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, was addressing world leaders at Davos. She announced that her government had adopted wellbeing as its goal and would use it as the basis of her budget for wellbeing the following May.

Many other countries, local governments and cities have been taking steps in the same direction, including the governments of France and Britain. In 2008, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, set up a distinguished commission to report on the measurement of progress, and following on from that, French law, like that of Sweden, now requires that all major policy changes must be analysed for their impact on (among other things) wellbeing.

Britain has in many ways gone further than this. It was the first country to measure national subjective wellbeing as an official statistic, and its top civil servant for many years, Gus ODonnell, pushed for subjective wellbeing as a goal of government policy. After leaving government he chaired a committee that produced the best available account of how that might be done.

The movement for change is strong. Governments make the decisions, responding to a growing alteration in the public mood. But can each one of us become more effective as creators of happiness, both as citizens and within our own occupations? Who can do what? Here are a few examples, all of them based on the new science of happiness.

In 2015, the Dalai Lama was in London launching a new course, Exploring What Matters. At one point a woman came on to the stage. She was in pain and on crutches. For years she had been mostly bedridden and often depressed. But then she enrolled on the course. It changed her life. She realised that, by helping others like herself, she could give meaning to her life. The Dalai Lama embraced her. Later on, he was asked: What is the most important thing for a happy life? Without hesitation, he replied: Warm heart.

In the end it is each of us as individuals who will determine the levels of happiness in our society by everything we do. It is not easy to live well, but it is very much easier if you are in regular contact with people who are trying to do the same. In the west this used to happen when people went to church. They were reminded that there was something bigger than them. And they were inspired, uplifted and comforted. But today people are much less likely to define ethical behaviour as conforming to the will of God.

That is one of the reasons why, in 2011, we founded Action for Happiness, a secular movement for a happier society. The patron is the Dalai Lama, and members make the following pledge: I will try to create more happiness and less unhappiness in the world around me. So far, more than 150,000 people from 175 countries have made that pledge promising to live according to our ethical principle.

Action for Happiness offers them 10 Keys to Happier Living, and it is forming thousands of groups worldwide who meet regularly to inspire each other, using standard materials which the movement provides. The 10 Keys are presented as an acronym (Great Dream) and divided into five day-to-day actions and five habits of mind. The daily habits are Giving (doing things for others); Relating (connecting with people); Exercising; Awareness (living mindfully); and Trying Out (learning new things). The philosophical habits are: Direction (having goals to look forward to); Resilience (finding ways to bounce back); Emotions (looking for whats good); Acceptance (being comfortable with who you are); and Meaning (being part of something bigger).

A new culture has to be based on individuals what we each value and how we behave. We need to address the moral vacuum which has been left by the retreat of religion. Where egotism has replaced it, we need instead the generous philosophy embodied in the Happiness Principle. And to live well, we need to cultivate the positive side of our nature which can nourish us and help us reach out to others. For many people it will help to belong to a community of people who share our outlook. Together we can build a happier society and each of us will contribute in our own unique way.

Sceptics question whether teachers can make children happy. But the evidence shows that they can. Since 1991, children born in Bristol have been followed up each year to see how they are faring. For example, the researchers measured their happiness at age 16 and, to explain it, they collected information about the childrens parents, as well as about the primary and secondary schools they attended.

What they discovered was remarkable. How happy children are at 16 depends as much on which secondary school they are at as on everything we know about their parents. It is also profoundly affected by which primary school they attended, all those years earlier.

So schools make a huge difference to childrens happiness at 16. They also have a significant impact on their behaviour. In fact they make about as much difference to their happiness and their behaviour as to their academic performance. And so do individual teachers. In primary schools children are mainly taught by one teacher over the whole school year, so that in the Bristol survey we can trace how each teacher affected the happiness of the children in their care over the year. We found that the teacher made a greater difference to the childrens happiness than to their performance in maths.

Remarkably, we can also see the long-lasting effect of individual primary school teachers on the children they taught right up to the age of 20. But how well, one might ask, does a childs happiness predict her subsequent happiness as an adult? Or shouldnt schools concentrate mainly on what they do best academic learning? The answer is a clear no. For the best predictor of a happy adult life is a happy childhood. Evidence also shows that happier people learn better. And they contribute more to the happiness of the world.

Schools and universities can become societys secret weapon for improving our culture. For the best outcomes, five things are needed:

Teachers can do a lot. But when their students eventually go out to work, will their managers offer them an environment which fulfils or disheartens them?

The Nobel prize laureate Daniel Kahneman has pioneered the study of time-use to find out which times of day are happiest for people, and the answer is quite shocking. The worst time of day is when you are with your boss. The person who should be inspiring you and appreciating your work makes you feel lousy. There must be something deeply wrong with our philosophy of management. Another depressing finding is that most people dont much like their work compared to almost anything else they might be doing. This is not of course true for everybody. But for the average American citizen it is just that, and the same has been found in Britain.

How can we produce better ways of working? In a capitalist society, most businesses make a big positive difference. And some things are improving. Customer care is hugely better than it was 30 years ago. There is growing concern with worker morale and mental health, and many new consultancies form each week to offer advice on this. Google, for example, offers meditation to all of its workers and prides itself on its happiness Googlegeist [the companys wide-ranging annual employee opinion survey].

On the other hand, the old macho culture is still strong setting worker against worker. The former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, practised rank and yank find out who the worst 10% are each year and sack them. This may be less orthodox today, but it is still common. It will require a new generation of managers, believers in the Happiness Principle, to bring a quite different philosophy to the workplace.

There are clear, evidence-based methods that improve happiness among employees. These include giving workers more influence over how their work is organised, paying team workers on the basis of team, not individual, performance, measuring worker wellbeing, appointing managers who can inspire and lead, running courses on wellbeing at work for all workers and taking mental illness seriously, with managers who can spot it and get the necessary help. Firms that do these things will gain both higher productivity and greater profits. And they will make the world happier.

There is currently massive discontent with the worlds elite, and with the atomistic neoliberalism that it often espouses. According to that philosophy, all will go well if individuals are free to negotiate their own way through life; selfishness is not a problem provided people can choose their own friends and trading partners. But this ignores one key fact that we would all be better off if the pool of possible friends and traders were nicer and more honest. The attitude of other people is crucial.

For this reason, there is now a strong push back against extreme liberalism. People are calling for a society based on reciprocal obligation. In this view, we do not enter this world as independent, fully fledged adults, but as people highly dependent on support from our family, our government and the whole of our society. In return for this, we should ourselves feel bound to help others when we can. We want a free society, but one where people feel a duty to help.

It is the vision of society that politicians should champion, and it is the principle that should guide their priorities in government. It is also the principle that will get them re-elected. So the aim of politicians, as of private individuals, should be to create as much happiness in the world as possible and as little misery.

The quality of the government has a huge impact on the happiness of the nation. Ministers should plan long-term, use evidence from past experience, avoid unnecessary reorganisations, and resist witch-hunts. Power easily corrupts, so we are right to scrutinise our politicians. But this scrutiny, like everything in life, should be sensible. If honest mistakes are allowed to wreck careers, we shall not get good people to go into politics. Politicians should be judged more by the amount of good they do, than by the number of mistakes.

As we become richer, the size of government is bound to grow. This applies to the traditional roles of the state, such as education and physical health care. But it is also because the public now demand help with mental health, addiction, domestic violence, child abuse and loneliness not as a nanny state but as a state that helps people to help themselves. Finally, the big threat for the future is populism and the politics of division. So we have to regulate social media, limit the power of private money in politics and expand state funding of parties.

Will the happiness revolution succeed? I believe it will. There is no reason why, in less than 40 years from now, the culture of gentleness could not displace the dominant culture of excessive individualism. The world happiness movement can indeed bring in a better, gentler culture and do it fast. But what happens will ultimately depend on each one of us. We can all be heroes in the happiness revolution.

This is an edited extract from Can We Be Happier? Evidence and Ethics by Richard Layard with George Ward (Pelican, 22). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com. Free UK p&p over 15

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How to make the world happier and why it should be our first priority - The Guardian

Former Toys R Us CEO and Storch Advisors CEO Gerald Storch joins FOX Business to discuss the big brands we lost in the past decade and what went wrong.

Despite reports of the death of the mall, some shopping centers are doing much better than others.

Earlier this month, the New York Times published a report on the success of Aventura Mall in Florida -- owned by Turnberry Associates and Simon Property Group.

Some of the amenities featured at Aventura include a nine-story slide, sculptures throughout the shopping center and carnival-style games, according to the Times.

But Aventura isnt the only successful shopping center in the U.S. -- nor is the industry dying out, one organization told FOX Business.

TARGET, OTHER RETAILERS TO BENEFIT FROM PIER 1 CLOSURES: REPORT

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the number of malls in the U.S. has continued to increase every year since 1970. In 2019, there were 1,170.

ICSC spokesperson Stephanie Cegielski told FOX Business that occupancy rates across the country are at 92 percent,which indicates the health of the industry.

The mall landscape may look different 10 years ago -- but thats a good thing, Cegielski said. Successful malls constantly adapt to changes in consumer preference and demand.

Those changes are particularly obvious in the types of tenants malls are housing,which are now more geared towardentertainment, fitness, personal services and food and beverage, rather than traditional retail, according to ICSC.

EXPRESS TO CLOSE 100 STORES

Aside from adapting to changes, malls tend to be successful when theyre located in dense, high-quality areas. So, developers are investing in mixed-use properties around malls in order to drive up foot traffic to their shopping centers, according to commercial property company CoStar Group.

Another sign of success among malls is the vacancy rate, CoStar consultant Kevin Cody told the Times. The newspaper reported that nationally, the vacancy rate for malls is 4.7 percent.

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Meanwhile, Aventuras vacancy rate is 3.6 percent, according to the Times.

The newspaper then reported four other malls that have maintained a vacancy rate of less than 3 percent, citing a senior consultant at CoStar.

To see which malls those are -- as well as Aventura -- here are five successful malls in the U.S., according to the Times.

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5 of the most successful US malls - Fox Business

Team of employees after an accomplishment.

When he was asked what the secret to his success was, my father didnt hesitate: It was my mother. Without her, he explained, he wouldnt have been able to complete college or start his own business. Besides holding down the fort, my mother was my fathers biggest advocate. She offered words of encouragement when he wanted to give up. She provided feedback on his decisions. She was also more than willing to entertain guests when my father wanted to thank his colleagues or wow his clients.

As a business owner and a family man myself, I try to follow in my parents footsteps. I acknowledge that without my wife, I wouldnt be here. I make it a point to tell her that and show her how much I value her, such as leaving work at work when I get home. I also share this philosophy with my employees. Personally, I believe its the right thing to do. But beyond that, if things are going well at home, people are happier. And when theyre happier, theyre more productive and more likely to stick around.

How can you show your workers families how much you value them? Here are eight places to start.

1. Allow for more flexible work arrangements.

Instead of forcing your team to stick to an outdated 9-to-5 schedule, grant flexible work schedules that sync with peoples personal lives. For example, they could work only when their kids are in school. Even better, you could allow them to work from home more often. In fact, flexible work is critical to retention and loyalty. A survey from FlexJob found that 80% of employees would be more loyal if they had more flexible schedules.

2. Offer paid family leave.

Life events have a tendency to pop up, regardless of your work schedule. One benefit you should offer your team is a generous leave policy even for events that dont fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Examples include maternity/paternity leave, sick leave, and family leave.

Just make sure that you clearly communicate time-off policies to your teammates so they understand.

3. Provide on-site childcare.

Want to help your staff reduce anxiety and save money? Provide on-site childcare. At a minimum, you should at least ease up on infants-at-work policies that have been championed by Parenting in the Workplace Institute.

If this isnt possible because you dont have the extra space or cant meet childcare regulations, at least offer to pay for a portion of their daycare fees.

4. Arrange for concierge services.

If you dont have a child, you probably dont realize how important this perk can be. Its a chore to get your kid in the car and unload him or her just to pick up your dry cleaning or grab a couple of grocery items for dinner.

You may think this is outside your budget. But according to SHRM, full-service concierge benefits can range in cost from $3 to $8 per employee per month. As a result, this will improve retention and job satisfaction.

5. Make yourself available.

Prioritizing time with each employee may not be on the top of your to-do list; it may even seem impossible. However, its a proven way to build rapport with your team. Even more beneficial, youll get to know your team members personally, enabling you to spot any warning signs and determine how best to thank them for their efforts. For example, if I know that a team member and her family enjoy going to the movies or eating at a specific restaurant, I will give her gift cards to those places so the whole family can enjoy the reward.

Additionally, this is part of creating and maintaining an atmosphere of compassion. That means employees wont hesitate to come to you if theres a problem at home. Just remember not to pry listen and understand what you can do to help, like reducing their workload or connecting them with your employee assistance program.

6. Encourage employees to prioritize their health and wellness.

Helping your employees focus on their mental and physical well-being isnt just good for your bottom line; it will also improve employees home lives. If theyre not as stressed or exhausted, theyll be healthier, happier, and more productive at home as well.

Offering excellent health insurance is a start. But also consider implementing an employee wellness program, providing healthy snacks, holding more standing meetings, or helping teammates curb vices like smoking.

7. Be respectful of their time.

Its been found that 41% of people work at least one hour outside work hours 89 days each year, as well as on 50% of weekend days. On the surface, that may not sound like much, but it adds up over time. More importantly, thats at least one less hour employees get to spend with their families each week.

Encourage your workers to leave work at work and actually enjoy their downtime with their families. You can set an example by not bombarding them with messages outside work hours.

Id also recommend that you dont keep people past their typical schedule unless its been previously agreed upon, like staying late to ensure that a product or project meets a one-time deadline. One way I do this is by avoiding scheduling meetings too close to closing time.

8. Build a family-friendly business.

Instead of taking your employees out to happy hour, have more family-friendly events like picnics or outings to sporting events or amusement parks. Id also suggest volunteer opportunities that will strengthen camaraderie among your teammates, their families, and the community. Adults and kids alike, for example, can volunteer at a soup kitchen or help maintain a community garden.

We all want to attract and retain top talent. One of the most effective ways to do so is by showing your employees and their families that you value them. This helps employees achieve work-life balance, making everyone happier, healthier, and more productive. In turn, youre more likely to create true advocates for your company among both your employees and their families.

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How To Support The People Who Support Your Employees - Forbes

That means every eligible employee will receive a check next month for 16.6% of their annual salary, which is the equivalent of an additional two months' pay. "Delta would be nothing without our 90,000 people. They deserve all the credit," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on LinkedIn.

The profit payout to employees for 2019 is a record amount. It is also the sixth year in a row that the company has paid out more than $1 billion to workers, a Delta spokesperson said. The profit-sharing plan started in 2012 following Delta's merger with Northwest.

The company's profit-sharing bonus is on top of all the other financial benefits it normally provides employees, such as a 401(k) match and other bonus programs for rank-and-file workers, according to the spokesperson.

Full-time and part-time workers, whether or not they're unionized, will be getting checks. The only people excluded from the profit-sharing plan are the company's officers, directors and general managers, although they will be paid their own performance-based bonuses.

Delta's employee payout is good business, said Joseph Blasi, director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University.

"Research shows that cash profit-sharing plans, combined with a supportive corporate culture that encourages employees to offer suggestions and participate in solving company problems, can reduce turnover and improve corporate performance and personal motivation."

Direct cash payments are not the only way companies can share profits with workers. Some make profit-sharing contributions to workers' retirement accounts or pay them in stock.

Delta is hardly the only company to offer a cash-based profit-sharing plan. But such plans are most common in the airline and auto industries, Blasi said.

Such high payouts are not the norm, however.

According to a 2018 survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, 38% of adult US workers said they receive cash profit-sharing, but the median amount reported was just $2,000, or 5% of pay.

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Delta gave its employees 2 months of extra pay. Here's why that's good business - CNN

A West Lothian baker is celebrating a coveted silver award for her first attempt at the prestigious Cake International Show held recently at the NEC in Birmingham.

Steph McNab (31) owns and runs the Cherry Blossom Designer Cakes shop in George Street, Bathgate, a business she set up in the town less than a year ago with help from Enterprising Bathgate.

Running the business herself, Steph specialises in creating uniquely styled, bespoke wedding and celebration cakes.

She also offers a selection of other delicious delights including cupcakes, macarons, cake pops, cakesicles and cookies.

Each cake is handmade on the premises from high quality ingredients with many of the recipes originated and evolved by Steph herself.

Personal customer service is a top priority, with Steph working closely with clients on a one to one basis to achieve genuinely stunning results.

Speaking of her award, Steph said: Having spent considerable time initially converting the premises then establishing the shop and trying to grow the business, Im delighted with progress to date.

Orders are flowing fast and Im getting a lot of really positive feedback from customers, which inspired me to enter the Wedding Cake of Three or More Tiers category at Cake International.

Obviously I was nervous at the prospect of designing a potentially award winning wedding cake for what is recognized as the worlds largest cake competition attracting competitors from all parts of the globe, but I really enjoyed the experience.

Competition was fierce, but I managed to land a silver award. To be fair, I was absolutely chuffed to win any award at my first attempt, not least at the most prestigious cake show in the world, but to then later find out I was only three points off a gold award has made me even more determined to aim for the top prize next year.

Steph has always been interested in cake design ever since she was a teenager, however the thought of making a career out of her passion was initially just a dream. After leaving school in 2006, Steph attended Edinburghs Napier University where she studied Forensic Biology.

However, Steph eventually realised a career in forensic science wasnt where her future lay, so she left University in 2011 to take up a period of paid employment.

Eventually though, the long established lure of wishing to start her own designer cake business was too strong to resist.

Steph decided to leave her job and in 2015, enrolled in a bakery and cake design course at the City of Glasgow College.

On graduating in 2018, she took the plunge and started her own cake business the same year, initially working from home but as orders started to grow, she soon outgrew her kitchen.

Retail premises were obviously now required but they needed to both accommodate a fully equipped baking area as well as space for showing off Stephs amazing cake creations.

The decision was made to look for a high street location in Bathgate.

The vibrant West Lothian town was chosen largely due to Bathgates excellent location within central Scotland but also, Steph is very familiar and comfortable with the area through her family having a long established connection with the town as she also lives in West Lothian.

After a detailed and lengthy search, a former shoe shop in George Street, Bathgate was chosen and following a total renovation from top to bottom, Cherry Blossom Designer Cakes commenced trading in April 2019 and hasnt looked back since.

Steph says business is flourishing with a flow of commissions coming in from across central Scotland from Peebles to Glasgow. Recent clients wedding venues include Airth Castle and the House for an Art Lover in Glasgow.

Steph would also wish to acknowledge the help received from Enterprising Bathgate in establishing her business in the town, along with fellow Bathgate traders and shop owners who continue to provide either valuable advice or custom, or both.

Visit http://www.cherryblossomdesignercakes.com, telephone 01506 798987 or email info@cherryblossomdesignercakes.com for more information

Enterprising Bathgate is Scotlands first Business Improvement District (BID) and supports local businesses, community groups and environmental projects with the aim of making Bathgate town centre and attractive and safe place to shop, work and play http://www.enterprisingbathgate.com.

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Baker is celebrating sweet smell of success with prestigious award - Daily Record

Though women own 40 percent of U.S. businesses, making 'real money' is oftentimes more the exception than the rule. Here are some things getting in our way.

January 23, 2020 8 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Where are the million-dollar women? In 2018, just 1.7 percent of women-owned businesses generated more than$1 millionin revenue,and the challenges are even greater for women of color entrepreneurs. Why is it that even though women own 40 percentof all businessesin the U.S., making "real money" is morethe exception than it is the rule? What's getting in our way when it comes to business ideasthat make bank?

As a scaling coach and founder of Million Dollar Women, I work with hundreds of women across the country who are scaling up, and I interviewed dozens of successful female CEOs who built multimillion-dollar businesses from scratch in my book. In my experience, here are 10 of the mistakes that tend to get in our way.

Any entrepreneur who reaches $1 million in revenue likely knows how to delegate, and they usually haveone or more full-time staff members, off-site contractors, virtual assistants and/or interns. In my experience, many women tend to be hesitant about delegating, in part due to perfectionism. Even when they know theyre stretched too thin, many women avoid delegating they'reafraid the job wont be completed correctly, they dont want to spend the money or maybe they don't have as much relevant experience in management. As a recovering perfectionist myself, I believe that until women learn to become delegation ninjas," it's difficult to focus on work and effectively scale ups. In the Million Dollar Women community, we call this a shift from beingthe do-er to being the leader.

The secret to scaling up isn't usually about doing more of what you'redoing and working longer hours. (You probably already work too much.)It's about working smarter, not harder. Finding the right internal systems and processes for your finances, marketing, sales and operationsis crucial. While it can seem challenging to carve out the time to get these right, having good systems helps allow for rapid growth. To reach$1 millionin revenue and beyond, we need to fine-tune the moneymaking machines at the center of our businesses. This means having a proven strategy, a sales playbook and functioning sales funnel, the right team and software the automates much of the work.

A quote often attributed to Henry Ford says it best: Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. We may think we're making rational decisions all day based on facts and figures, but in reality, oursubconscious tends to drivethe show. Many entrepreneurs think ramping up sales is the ticket to rapid growth, but without the right mindset, many entrepreneurs lack the belief in themselves required go big. In my view, its rarely competence holding women back instead, it's confidence and a mix of beliefs about money, whether they deserve success and the fear of the potential sacrifices involved ingoing big. A powerful mindset is important because it's the foundation on which you build your mansion, and it's the number-one thing the women I interviewed for Million Dollar Women underscored as critical to their success. Replacinglimiting beliefs with empowering ones can make it possible to truly embrace success.

Being able to identify the scalable part of your business can mean the difference between hitting a plateau and the hockey stick growth that we all aim for. It can also help make your company attractive to investors because your company could feasibly grow X times bigger without having to hire X times as many staff members (or spending X times as much on marketing or infrastructure).It takes approaching your company with that lens of What is scalable, and how do I productize my services so I can charge more and reach more customers?"

In some ways, women aren't taught to invest in ourselves we're taught to put other peoples needs in front of our own. But in my view, the fastest way to scale your business is to learn from people who have been there, done that and can show you the way. Of course you can find your way to success on your own, but it could take significantly longer. And more than 50 percentof small businesses go out of business within the first five years. Having the right coach or entrepreneur program is the way to make sure you avoid the crash and burn scenario and are on track for high growth.

Finances tend to be the Achilles heel of business for many women entrepreneurs I know, and this can result in not poor financial planning or management and running out of cash. Wedont need to have finance degrees or MBAs torun our businesses, but we do need to educate ourselves in order to create a cash runway, steward our money better and effectively raise capital when necessary.

I recallone of my advisors telling me, You can be low on cash for a long time, but you can only run out of cash once. Many businesses fail or start sinking simply because they run out of cash. In my research for Million Dollar Women, I learned that women are twice as likely as men to shut down their businesses because they run out of cash. I made some errors in the early days of one of my businesses that almost cost me the company, so this one really hits home. You can better avoid this issue by working with an advisor on your cash flow projections or finding a great accountant who can walk you through your numbers. Dont be afraid to ask for help or say you dont understand, and be sure to look at what you owe and what is owed to you on a weekly basis so you can have a healthy cash balance.

Every entrepreneur has a different skill set. Some are excellent when it comes to having a vision for their companybut not so good at execution. Some are excellent at getting things done but lackthe mindset for big-picture planning. Both are essential to your business success, so figuring out your strengths and hiring for your weaknesses (or creating an advisory council to help you) is imperative. Without good vision, how can we create one-, three- and five-year plans for our businesses? And without good execution, how can we build the systems and hire theteams that allows us to keep scaling up? Successful entrepreneurs learn to work on the business not just in the business (or during the work day)and to make strategy a priority. They learn to both plan the dive and dive the plan in other words, take time for planning and make sure everyone knows their role in executing on that plan.

One of the dangers of running out of cash (see #7) is runaway marketing spend. Between bidding on Google search terms, trying Facebook ads and other online and offline marketing, marketing is one biggest expenditures for fast-growing companies. There was a time at Little Pim where we didnt track where our customers were coming from and didnt know which marketing channels were performing and why. Eventually, we started keeping a closer eye on our marketing spend that way, we were able to avoid falling into the money pit that marketing can be and begin getting excellent ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). We implemented what I call the "75/25 marketing budget rule" (part of the "moneymaking machine" we built that I referenced in #2).Figuring out which marketing channels work for you and rigorously tracking your spend is a key part of scaling up.

I snuck two mistakes into this last one. We dont know what we dont know, right? So the only way to learn what we dont know is to surround ourselves with people who can help us stretch to the next level. Make time for personal and business growth, whether its reading business blogs and books, attending conferences, joining organizations for entrepreneurs, watching videosor finding the right coaches and mentors. I did all of these, and most of the women I've spoken to who make it to $1 millionin revenueand beyond did some combination of the above. Make time for your business and personal growth, and it should pay off in spades.

If any of these resonated with you, now you know what to work on in 2020. Remember that "youcan only grow your business as big as you grow yourself" so here's to a year of exponential growth.

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The Top 10 Mistakes That Keep Women Entrepreneurs From Scaling to $1 Million - Entrepreneur

Executive Summary

For most people, deciding to make a mid-career job switch is not a big deal. But for family members in a family business, the decision becomes far more complex. A critical misstep in communicating your choice can lead to a permanent break in family relations, but paralysis can result in personal bitterness and regret over the career you could have had if youd chosen a different path. Before making any big moves, evaluate where you are in your own career development, why its not what you might have hoped for, and what you can (and cant) do about it. Examine whats triggering your instincts to leave and then separate the reasons into what you can influence/change vs. what you have to live with (or not). For example, if you have a different opinion on how the business should be run, consider whether its truly a deal-breaker. More often than not, individual operational decisions come into focus over time and lose their immediate fight-or-flight response, but a major strategic shift or a constant pattern of having your opinion overruled is worth fighting for diplomatically.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made headlines when they announced their decision to step back from their royal duties in favor of greater independence. While their desire to step away from the pressure of the royal spotlight is understandable, even commendable, the announcement reveals how fraught separation can be. The suddenness of the declaration left the public wondering what happened and what this means for the future of the monarchy. The Queen swiftly responded that the conversation is in early stages. And the media was filled with stories of the royal family being blindsided by the news and people picking sides. Though the British monarchy may be more famous than most family businesses, the issues that arise when a family member decides to leave the business are not unique.

For most people, deciding to make a mid-career job switch is not a big deal. But for family members in a family business, the decision becomes far more complex. A critical misstep in communicating your choice can lead to a permanent break in family relations, but paralysis can result in personal bitterness and regret over the career you could have had if youd chosen a different path.

You may face this question because your initial entry into the business was not well thought through perhaps you entered on vague promises (One day this will all be yours!) without clear responsibilities or even a real job title. We know of one family business member who never even got a business card during the four years he worked in his familys industrial supplies company because no one could agree on his title. Once youre in the job day-to-day, you may realize that the benefits of being part of a family business arent worth it if youre not contributing in a meaningful way.

Others come to the crossroad later in their career when they reach the sinking realization that theyre not destined to be the next leader of the family business, or worse, that their passion has worn off. We worked with one deeply unhappy daughter of a family business leader who aspired to become an entrepreneur, but felt obliged to join her dads company instead. Lacking passion for the family business, her career there never took off and she now bitterly regrets the road not taken. For many, the process of generational transition is painfully slow and emotionally consuming. We know family business leaders who insist theyre still in their prime well into their 80s and refuse to discuss handing over the reins to the younger generation working in the company, who grow frustrated waiting in the wings for their turn to lead. Sound familiar?

If youre on the brink of a monumental decision, take a breath and consider your position carefully before making any sudden moves. The worst thing you can do is to storm off on a Friday, have regrets over the weekend, and then slink back the next week as if nothing ever happened (weve seen that, too). Such impetuousness will destroy your credibility within the firm and within the family.

Before making any big moves, evaluate where you are in your own career development, why its not what you might have hoped for, and what you can (and cant) do about it. It may not be too late to get your career back on course. We suggest working through a six-step approach to evaluate your options:

Compare your vision to your familys vision: A critical factor in deciding whether a company (your family business or any other business) is right for you is whether you believe in its long-term vision. In a family business, the shareholders formulate this vision jointly. It can be tough to get a myriad of perspectives in perfect alignment, but its essential to get the broad strokes right because the board and management will develop the companys strategy based on it.

Evaluate whether you share the same vision for the business as the other shareholders. If youre aligned, you can hold up tough decisions against your shared vision to see if theyre directionally sound. If youre not, staying at the family business will always be an uphill battle and you may be better off elsewhere.

Clarify your aspirations: Its not essential that you want to end up running the company someday. Weve seen many satisfied family members employed in positions in the family business that align with their skills and interests so dont set a false binary choice (I am the future leader of this business or nothing) for yourself as the only path to happiness. One of the most fulfilled family employees we know chose to leave her high-powered job in international sales to become the archivist at her familys consumer goods business. She discovered her real passion was capturing the familys history, including their successes and failures, and passing the lessons learned on to the next generation.

Be as clear about your aspirations as possible: What do you seek to accomplish in the family business? How and when will you develop the skills necessary for the role you aspire to? How does that fit with the senior generations aspirations for their own career paths? Where can you put your skills to their highest and best use?

Identify your deal-breakers: Its natural to have differences of opinion in business. In family businesses, these opinions are heightened by emotions and family dynamics. To have a successful, long-term career ina family business,youwill need to learn how to share control with the rest ofyour family members engaged in the business. Get the decisions most important to you right, and let the others ride.

Examine whats triggering your instincts to leave and then separate the reasons into what you can influence/change vs. what you have to live with (or not). For example, if you have a different opinion on how the business should be run, consider whether its truly a deal-breaker. More often than not, individual operational decisions come into focus over time and lose their immediate fight-or-flight response, but a major strategic shift or a constant pattern of having your opinion overruled is worth fighting for diplomatically.

Find and leverage mentors to guide you: An essential resource when youre in a family business is an experienced mentor who can provide a neutral perspective and help guideyour career without the biases of a family member or the challenges that an in-house HR department would face in evaluating the next family leader. A good mentor can be an independent board director, a senior executive who is capable of being neutral, or even someone that is not directly connected to the family business but knows enough to be of help.

Ask your mentor for an honest assessment of where you are developmentally and what youll need to do to achieve your goals. Talk to your mentor regularly (at least twice a year plus a more substantial check-in every three years) and ask for their help to keep you on track with your goals. A good mentor may also help you redefine what success looks like so that youre not solely focused on becoming the next company CEO.

Ask for merit-based evaluations and a development plan: Dont be afraid to ask for constructive feedback if you truly want to perform to the best of your abilities. Many family businesses fall into the trap of thinking that family members dont need to have the same HR processes as non-family members. The truth is, its even more important for family employees to receive honest feedback if the company is to be successful, because someone whos been coddled to the top could make a decision that jeopardizes the future of the company. Avoid being that person by asking for honest, 360 feedback from those around you. Work with your mentor to assess how to learn from the feedback you receive and incorporate it into your leadership style.

Finally, make the decision thats right for you but be careful how you communicate it: If, after careful consideration, you choose to leave your day-to-day role in the business to pursue another venture, contemplate how to leave with dignity and retain familial relationships. Make sure you have a clear exit story to communicate internally and externally (such as pursuing an MBA to gain skills to become a more effective contributor to the organization later) so youre not perceived as leaving in a huff. Have a plan for what you want to do next and socialize it with your family members before it ends up in the company newsletter. After all, you may no longer be an employee, but you are likely to still be a shareholder (or future shareholder) in the business. Reflect on how your departure may affect your role holistically. Can you still be an effective owner and work with the other family owners to govern the company, when youve moved outside of daily operations?

If you do choose to stay, be clear on why you are staying and what you hope to accomplish by staying in the family business. If you dont address the problems that led you to this point of frustration, they arent likely to go away. Think about an approach to resolving your major concerns. Are you in the right role? Do you have sufficient support and direction? What changes are needed to make staying a sustainable and enjoyable prospect? Review your progress regularly. Keep track of how you are doing relative to achieving major milestones and your ultimate career goals.

As Harry and Meghan will discover as they carve out their progressive new roles in the British monarchy, there is more than one right way to have an impact on the family business, stay close to your family, and still have a fulfilling career. Consider Lord Jacob Rothschild, one of the heirs to Europes long-lasting banking dynasty. After a disagreement over the direction the family firm was taking, he left the flagship N. M. Rothschild bank and set up RIT Capital Partners. At the time, his decision seemed risky, but years later, RIT is one of the biggest investment trusts in the UK, and Jacob has had an esteemed career. A billionaire in his own right, hes even found a way back into the family fold, recently forming a joint venture with Edmond de Rothschild Group and RIT Capital. His journey shows that there are many possible paths to navigate your role in the family business.

Weve seen many leaders for whom being an engaged shareholder is a better fit than a day-to-day manager, and vice versa. Whatever your decision may be, show your family that you respect and honor the family legacy and that you seek personal fulfillment. Ask for their support along your lifes journey, whether thats inside or outside the family business.

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Is It Time to Leave the Family Business? - Harvard Business Review