Wherever you are on the leadership rung, you can influence the people around you by taking time to learn their interests and showing how your ideas can help them achieve their goals, writes Paul B. Thornton. "The more you know about the people you're trying to influence, the better able you are to connect with them and address their situation," Thornton writes.

Employees would rather their leaders communicate with them too much in an effort to meet their needs than to withhold information or not tell them enough, according to a Stanford University study. Researchers say it's best to ask employees what they prefer, but to err on the side of overcommunicating, even if it feels like your micromanaging.

Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Agnes Schaefer announced that the Army's new parental leave policy is designed to more closely resemble protocols seen in the private sector, allowing 12 weeks of leave when a child joins the family through birth, surrogacy, adoption or long-term foster care. Schaefer said more than 53,000 US military members become parents annually, and the change is intended to help them achieve better family health and greater work-life balance.

Flexibility and healthy work-life balance are figuring into people's job-seeking decisions more than ever, so employers should respond with updated, preference-driven benefits that meet their changing needs. They can offer staff members lifestyle benefit stipends for services like Instacart or Uber, consider tax-free reimbursements for employees who buy coverage through the Healthcare.gov marketplace, and add benefits that stress inclusion and help people handle rising inflation.

Some people are burning out from the pressure to hustle and are feeling as though they haven't accomplished enough, often ruminating and seeking perfection, writes licensed independent social worker Kristen Lee. Success will not come without making mental health a priority, Lee advises, adding, "Nothing is worth getting sick over."

What took so long? Victoria Bitter has partnered with alcohol delivery service Jimmy Brings to offer a button consumers can press to order beer. "The Big Green Button" has a magnet on the back so beer fans can attach it to their refrigerator. As a nod to what could obviously go drunkenly wrong, the button needs to be pushed twice before the order is placed. I'm sure such a foolproof system will prevent a tipsy drinker from over-ordering.

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