Family Ties How your relationships at home can help (or hurt) your business.

If you're having trouble relating to your colleagues, someobjective self-analysis may reveal that you have a similar problemin your relationships with your spouse or children. In particular,says Annmarie Neal, a senior consultant in the Denver office ofmanagement consulting firm RHR International, how you control yourchildren may mirror how you exert control over your employees.Because behavior tends to be consistent across settings, Neal sayspaying attention to how you function both at and away from work canhelp you uncover problems and even help you become a betterboss.

"The closer the family dynamics are to the business, themore important it is to pay attention to those issues," Nealsays. "In a large company, the boundaries are a lot clearerbecause the processes and structures of the business keep thoseboundaries intact. In smaller organizations, family dynamicsinevitably emerge because we're not clear on our businessboundaries."

Neal suggests using the following questions to identify yourstrengths and potential problem areas. In addition to answering thequestions yourself, solicit feedback from your family members andco-workers.