Leadership isn’t even close to being a science, although it draws heavily on ideas from the social sciences. Today, there are continual attempts to derive ‘laws’ for leaders to follow, whether these come from statistical analysis, anecdotal evidence, or the erroneous belief that following what the ‘great men’ of the past did can produce success today. This is nonsense. Leadership is an art and depends mostly on sensitivity to circumstances, courage to face reality and a continual willingness to do whatever it takes to bring others along.

Kath Lockett shares some of the inspiring stories from real blokes she interviewed for her book ‘Work/Life Balance for Dummies’. Forget the stereotype of the Australian male with a beer in one hand and his eyes glued to cricket on the TV. These men are as concerned about finding proper family time as any working woman. Their espereinces may help you see how to follow their examples.

You can tell folks to change, but making it happen is something else. When employees are treated as functions and roles, attitudes turn negative and the ‘us vs. them’ mindset takes over. There’s often a mental gap between those in charge and those they lead. Managers and supervisors see change as a proactive, ‘creative’ process that they have initiated. Those who are told to change see it mostly from a ‘reactive’ mindset. If you want folks to use their innate talents, wisdom and knowledge to make changes work, ask, don’t tell.

Many people with good ideas fail to get their boss to listen to them because they don’t listen themselves. They jump in with the details of what they want to say, only it’s the wrong time, the wrong context, the wrong approach and they use the wrong words. You need to listen to the boss, so you can adjust your approach to make it register as important and useful. Here are some principles that can make a big difference to getting all the elements of communication with your boss right more often than not.

Betrayal and mistrust are rampant in the corporate world of today. To be conscious, you need to view life, right here and right now, from the 25,000-foot level and ask yourself: “What am I doing right here, right now?” Consciousness is about being decent right where you are. That’s who successful and truly respected leaders and managers are. Let your consciousness tug on your sleeve as you reflect on these questions.

The conventional wisdom is that we all need clear goals for our lives. I wonder if this is correct? After all, many people give up on the goals they have set themselves, and goal setting seems to lead to failure more often than to success. Here are some thoughts about potential pitfalls in establishing life and career objectives. They don’t happen to everyone, but they are definitely common enough to be worth avoiding.

Economic Darwinism is a virus infecting how we think and how we speak. It’s probably the dominant way of writing about economic issues today. And it’s total garbage, producing only a mindless culture of internal and external, psychotic competition in the media and among the ‘punditocracy’. As a way of organising an economy and a society, it’s as near useless as makes no difference. Psychopathic competition now seems so natural and so ordinary, after a generation or more of propaganda for it, that we accept it as a description of reality, even if it conflicts with our sense of morality, never mind our common sense. But life is not war, business is not slaughter, and organisations are not arenas for gladiatorial combat.

In Part 3 of her series of tips on how to de-stress yourself and manage demands in all areas of your life, Kath Lockett looks at steps 6, 7 and 8: eating only quality food, learning to meditate, and blowing your cares away through cardio-vascular exercise. These are all good ways to find better physical, as well as mental, balance and clear out the stress hormones your body will have created when stress comes along.

In the second part of this series, read why the boss needs your help and you need help in return if you are both to make successful careers. Why you’re a team, like it or not, because you know things the boss doesn’t and vice versa. Only by pooling that knowledge can you find the right way forward. To be a successful ‘boss-whisperer’, you need to know how to share your knowledge, how to nudge the boss in the direction you want, and how to build trust and credibility to see you through bad times. The principles of each of these essential skills are set out for you here.

Does your leading, managing and supervising performance and behavior provide cause for celebration on this Fourth of July? Here’s a not-quite-lighthearted quiz from Peter Vajda to help you find out.