Peanut Butter and Jelly Management

Tales from Parenthood, Lessons for Managers

AMACOM, 2000

15 min read

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What's inside?

Want a really tough management experience? Try raising nine children. Here are some hard-won leadership lessons from the front lines of parenthood.

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Chris and Reina Komisarjevsky illustrate effective management techniques using examples based on their toughest leadership experience: raising nine children. They delineate the skills that help children learn how to set goals, share objectives, communicate more effectively, and get along. Each chapter begins with a story about an experience with one of their children, such as buying ice cream or playing sandlot baseball. The stories illustrate management principles and guidelines. These precepts are very familiar, though linking them to child rearing is novel. Thus, the book serves as a nice, short recap of commonly known management and leadership principles, though getAbstract suspects that its treatment of the subject matter will probably be of more interest to managers who are parents as well.

Summary

Raising Kids: Extreme Management

Children have a lot to teach about how to lead and manage. You can greatly increase your chances of being a good leader by noticing how children behave and what techniques work best in raising them. [Note: The authors often cite experiences with their six children, Michael, Angelica, James, Nicholas, Matthew and Stephen, who were born one year apart, and their three children from the husband’s previous marriage - Vera, Katrina and Ted.]

As children grow, certain behaviors repeat themselves and patterns develop. Each child is different and has special virtues and talents. Rather than trying to make children conform to certain ideals of behavior, "celebrate the variety of their gifts" and learn from them.

Home behaviors parallel those at work. As you nurture your children’s differences to create a supportive home environment, you will see how these ideals can create a positive climate at work. There is a strong connection between how you raise kids and how you nurture effective, productive and satisfied employees.

The Importance of Practice

At age 10, Angelica learned about the importance of practice. She wanted to...

About the Authors

Chris Komisarjevsky is a father and president and CEO of Burson-Marsteller Worldwide, a leading global public relations firm. He has written articles on communications and business and has lectured at graduate schools. Reina Komisarjevsky is a full-time mother who always hoped she would have at least six children.

Chris Komisarjevsky and Reina Komisarjevsky

Peanut Butter and Jelly Management

Tales from Parenthood, Lessons for Managers

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Raising Kids: Extreme Management

The Importance of Practice

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