Despite a plethora of apps, corporate initiatives, and advice, it’s never been harder to achieve a work-life balance. According to its latest survey of nearly 9,700 full-time workers, EY, the global assurance, tax, transaction, and advisory services firm, found that one-third of employees report that managing their personal and professional lives has become more difficult. (Fast Company)

In a perfect world, you would be really good at everything you need to have a successful business and a successful life. Then again, in an ideal world, you'd also have fantastic hair, abs of steel, and a winning lottery ticket in your pocket. Here in this imperfect world, we all have to face the fact that we're good at some things, just passable at others, and downright lousy at some that are really important. If you're an entrepreneur, this can be frustrating because you want to be good at everything. (Inc.)

Work is normally discussed in financial terms: Does a job provide enough money to make ends meet? To plan for a secure retirement? What happens to those who face prolonged periods without a paycheck? But work – and unemployment – is also an emotional experience, shaping how people think of themselves and how they relate to those closest to them. This terrain is the focus of sociologist Allison Pugh's new book, The Tumbleweed Society: Working and Caring in an Age of Insecurity. (The Atlantic)

The heart of Emotional Intelligence is self-awareness, the capacity to sense the first stirrings of anger or anxiety. That awareness, in turn, must be coupled with an understanding of what kindled that particular response. Depending on the situation, it might be something that another person has said or done. But if we dig deep enough, we sometimes see that our own attitudes are the real source of our visceral response. (Harvard Business Review)

An ineffective boss might get fired. So might a bullying boss. A disorganized boss, however, can linger in an organization causing trouble for years. He can be perfectly nice, so no obvious alarm bells go off. The work gets done, but only because everyone reporting to him works around the clock before deadlines. "Having to deal with conflicting priorities can be extremely stressful," says Richard Wellins, senior vice president of Development Dimensions International and coauthor of the new book Your First Leadership Job. (Fast Company)

For about eight years, Ivette Agosto arrived each morning before dawn at the Park Avenue headquarters of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and entered the skyscraper through the loading dock. She spent more than two hours preparing for the arrival of hundreds of bankers, knowing she played a crucial role in the firm’s operations: Ms. Agosto was J.P. Morgan’s star barista. (The Wall Street Journal)

Imagine an elite professional services firm with a high-performing, workaholic culture. Everyone is expected to turn on a dime to serve a client, travel at a moment’s notice, and be available pretty much every evening and weekend. It can make for a grueling work life, but at the highest levels of accounting, law, investment banking and consulting firms, it is just the way things are. (The New York Times)

The corner offices at business schools are whiter than the boards of the country’s most prominent companies, new research shows. Black Americans and Hispanics are less likely to work at business schools than as board members of the 200 biggest corporations in the Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks, according to a study of 1,600 U.S. graduate business programs released on Tuesday by the PhD Project, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the number of minorities at B-Schools. (Bloomberg)

European travelers have contended for weeks with the possibility that Greece’s dwindling finances might lead to empty ATMs. They should have concerned themselves instead with Germany. While cash machines in Athens are still operating without any trouble, striking couriers in Berlin this week stopped filling ATMs, leading to a crunch for those trying to make withdrawals. (Bloomberg)

The weed whackers were $12,300. Each. Then there was the $1.8 million machinery to kill and gut chickens. When the police checked it, they found a worthless jumble of rusted scrap metal. And there were the businessmen who collected $74 million to ship chemicals and other products from abroad – but sent almost nothing in return. For years, Venezuela has had a hole in its pocket, a very big hole. (The New York Times)

There's little doubt education is associated with higher income, better financial decision-making and more wealth. However, issues that are harder for an individual to control – what type of family you come from, whether you get an inheritance, or how healthy you are – also play a growing role in determining your net worth, according to a new report by researchers William Emmons and Bryan Noeth at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. (Bloomberg)

The decision by Silicon Valley start-up Coursera to host the world’s first "open" online MBA on its 12 million-plus user platform is poised to further shake up the flagging MBA market. But the program will face several challenges that will determine its future success. (BusinessBecause)

Honoring Amy Hilliard and Don Thompson: Tickets just $150 for the NBMBAA 45th Anniversary Celebration, June 12 in Chicago

As a valued supporter of the National Black MBA Association’s legacy, we invite you to join us on Friday, June 12, as we celebrate 45 years of creating economic, educational and employment opportunities for Blacks in the business world. Plan now to attend this extraordinary event. Buy early and take advantage of $150 tickets before the price goes up!

HONOREES
Amy Hilliard, President, Fashion Fair Cosmetics
Don Thompson, retired President and Chief Executive Officer, McDonald's Corporation 

ENTERTAINMENT
Terisa Griffin, as seen on season 3 of "The Voice" 

Buy Tickets!

---

Register Now for the The National Black MBA Association® 37th Annual Conference and Exposition 

Celebrating 45 years of Black professional development and executive leadership, The National Black MBA Association® (NBMBAA®), the nation's premier organization for Black business professionals, today announced early bird registration is open for  the upcoming NBMBAA® 37th Annual Conference and Exposition at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL where more than 9,000 attendees are anticipated to convene for networking, leadership development, and career opportunities.

Visit Conference Website
Register Now!

---

NBMBAA Members Can Take Advantage of Discounts on CertifiNOW PMP®/CAPM® Prep Courses 

The NBMBAA National Rollout of the CertifiNOW program has begun!!

Did you know that during a recent study, 90 percent of executives surveyed claimed that project management is either critical or important to their operations. The same study stated, "Employers tend to feel that MBA graduates are strong in technical business areas like marketing, finance and accounting but need more project management skills." Furthermore, more than 1 million project management related positions will be created each year for the next decade.

General Public: $1850 (Public Classes)
NBMBAA Members: $950 (50% Discount – public and private courses)
--To receive the member discount, log in to the member portal and pick up your discount codes 

PUBLIC CLASSES 

NBMBAA Members can take CertifiNOW public classes.
--To receive your 50% discount, visit the member portal for the promo code.

PRIVATE CLASSES 

May 22-24 (Friday-Sunday)
Orlando
(Central FL, South FL, and Tampa Bay NBMBAA Chapters)

May 29-31 (Friday-Sunday)
Chicago
(Chicago NBMBAA and NBMBAA HQ)

August 26-28 (Wednesday-Friday)
Howard University
(Washington DC NBMBAA DC Chapter)

Coming Soon...

June (4 consecutive Saturdays: June 6, 13, 20, 27)
Clark Atlanta University
(Atlanta NBMBAA Chapter)

July 10-12 (Friday-Sunday)
San Francisco
(San Fran NBMBAA Chapter)

Contact membership@nbmbaa.org for more information.

"Throughout my four years at university, my friend and I used to go dropping off application letters to firms in Nairobi, but it was all in vain since we never received any responses," Zach Ngugi recalls. Then he met Deborah Beaton, chief executive of Kenyan online recruitment service Kama Kazi, at his university's annual career week, who introduced him to the world of online job hunting. (BBC News)

For an $18 billion manufacturer that has been around for more than 45 years, Jabil Circuit has a remarkably low profile. But the St. Petersburg, Fla. company has played a major role in producing high-profile products from both startups and long-established companies. Unlike most contract manufacturers, it ups the ante with end-to-end services: swanky product design, materials creation, optics, miniaturization, and much more. (Fast Company)

Sam’s Club and the Sam’s Club Giving Program recently announced the Small Business Economic Mobility Initiative, a five-year, multimillion-dollar philanthropic investment in small business growth through increased access to affordable capital and better borrower education. The first round of grants totaling $13.6 million went to eight national nonprofit organizations that provide access to capital and education to underserved U.S. small businesses including women, minorities and veterans. (Black Enterprise)

You have to be a little nuts to start your own business. Seriously–ask any entrepreneur. But that’s what makes it fun. When I meet with people who want to start their own business, I always share the following advice: It’s you vs. the world. Get comfortable with this idea. If the word "no" doesn’t fire you up, you might want to think twice about starting your own business. A lot of people are going to tell you that things cant be done–and not just people outside of your company. (Fortune)

A large new study is about to overturn the findings of Moving to Opportunity. Based on the earnings records of millions of families that moved with children, it finds that poor children who grow up in some cities and towns have sharply better odds of escaping poverty than similar poor children elsewhere. The feelings heard across Baltimore’s recent protests – of being trapped in poverty – seem to be backed up by the new data. (The New York Times)

The gap between the richest and poorest in the U.S. is so wide that more Americans have started to assign themselves to lower socioeconomic groups. (The Atlantic)

Everyone has a story about an outrageous fee triggered by an otherwise ordinary transaction. Perhaps you arrived at the airport only to learn that your carry-on bag was too big—and were forced to pay $100 to check it. Or you inadvertently overdrew your checking account by a few dollars and got dinged $35 by your bank. Or maybe you were on a beach vacation and your hotel tacked on a "resort fee" of up to $50 per night to cover "amenities." (Kiplinger's)

It would be great if some of the everyday annoyances consumers encounter while shopping, traveling, and going to the movies would simply disappear. Unfortunately, in all likelihood that just ain’t gonna happen. But it may help a little to at least understand exactly why the powers that be seem to intentionally be inconveniencing, confusing, and ripping us off at every turn. (Money)

Business-minded adults looking to squeeze in MBA classes will soon be able to skip the testing, paperwork, and interviews that entrance to business school usually requires and take all the classes that a full two-year MBA program typically offers. Perhaps the most important part: They can do it without paying a dime. (Bloomberg)

Bringing diversity into your company’s workforce isn’t just a "fair" or "nice" thing to do – it can actually make your business more innovative and successful. But to reap the benefits of hiring a diverse employee base, you’ve got to do more than just bring in good people. You also need to make sure your "dream team" is encouraged to share ideas, challenge the status quo, and work their way up into your management team, says Melinda Marshall, senior vice president and director of publications at the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI). (Inc.)

This approach to business is sometimes called the "Hollywood model." A project is identified; a team is assembled; it works together for precisely as long as is needed to complete the task; then the team disbands. This short-­term, project-­based business structure is an alternative to the corporate model, in which capital is spent up front to build a business, which then hires workers for long-­term, open-­ended jobs that can last for years, even a lifetime. It’s also distinct from the Uber-­style "gig economy," which is designed to take care of extremely short-­term tasks, manageable by one person, typically in less than a day. (The New York Times)

Many managers like to complain that twentysomething workers won’t stay put in a job for long. But for employers, is that a problem or an opportunity? Millennials – those roughly 18-to-34 years old – now make up the largest share of the U.S. workforce, about 34%, outnumbering Generation Xers and baby boomers, who account for about 32% and 31%, respectively, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (The Wall Street Journal)

Kodak. Sears. Borders. The mere mention of any of these companies brings to mind the struggle to stay relevant amid today’s technology and boundless alternatives. But behind each of them lies a deeper story of at least one leader who is or was "sheltered" from the reality of their business. This dangerous "white space" where leaders don’t know what they don’t know is a critical one. But often, leaders – especially senior ones – fail to seek information that makes them uncomfortable or fail to engage with individuals who challenge them. (Harvard Business Review)

Consider this before buying a gift on Mother’s Day. Mothers rarely, if ever, get a day off. In fact, 25% of women and 18% of men estimate that their mothers spent more than 60 hours a week devoted to household and family-related tasks, according to a recent survey by coupon site RetailMeNot. More than one-in-three moms estimate that they spend more than 60 hours a week devoted to the tasks associated with being a mother, the survey also found. (MarketWatch)

A new study looks specifically at how formal attire changes people's thought processes. "Putting on formal clothes makes us feel powerful, and that changes the basic way we see the world," says Abraham Rutchick, an author of the study and a professor of psychology at California State University, Northridge. Rutchick and his co-authors found that wearing clothing that’s more formal than usual makes people think more broadly and holistically, rather than narrowly and about fine-grained details. In psychological parlance, wearing a suit encourages people to use abstract processing more readily than concrete processing. (The Atlantic)