![(Shutterstock)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1119_blog_leadership_shutterstock.jpg?1577874530)
What Being a Leader Means to Me
We learn through life and career experiences — whether through our own experiences in a leadership role, or by watching others lead or watching them fail.
![Katie Woody and her son, Oliver (Courtesy of Katie Woody)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/resized_20190316_105710-for-web.jpg?1577874531)
California’s Working Moms Get Stronger Support for Workplace Lactation
Experts recommend children be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives. But many mothers return to work well before that and often have trouble finding a suitable place to pump and store their breast milk.
![Catherine la O’, owner of Liminal Space, teaches what she calls “inner shadow integration” to clients in the Sacramento area.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1119_blog_intransition_01_nicolettelovell.jpg?1577874530)
In Transition: Leaving a Career to Follow a Passion
Catherine la O’s Sacramento-based business blends yoga and body integration classes
Armed with airline miles and money, Catherine la O’ took a girlfriend to Costa Rica to relax — and soon realized she could not.
![(Shutterstock)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1119_dept_evilhr_shutterstock.png?1577874530)
Dilemma of the Month: Using a Coworker’s Salary as Leverage
The National Labor Relations Act protects your right to discuss working conditions with your coworkers, and that includes salaries.
![(Shutterstock)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1119_feat_sb_finance_shutterstock.jpg?1577874530)
What If You Don’t Have a Pension?
Only about 13 percent of private-sector workers are covered by a pension, a dramatic fall from the peak of 46 percent in 1980.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1119_dept_discourse_ryanangelmeza.jpg?1577874530)
The Defenders of Small Business
John Kabateck on the myriad challenges facing Main Street, USA
John Kabateck of the National Federation of Independent Business speaks to Comstock’s about tax issues affecting business in California and his organization’s position on Assembly Bill 5.
![(Shutterstock)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1119_dept_leadership_shutterstock.png?1577874530)
No Easy Fix
Changing an organization’s culture takes time and effort — and always starts at the top
Organizational culture is the values, beliefs and behaviors practiced in an organization formed over time because they are rewarded or punished by formal and informal rules, rituals and behaviors. Or, to oversimplify it, culture is “the way we do things around here.”
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1119_dept_buzzword_marissalewis.png?1577874530)
Buzzwords: Disruptor
A company, technology, good or service that is so innovative and widely adopted it disrupts an existing market
In ordinary English, “disruptor” might conjure up images of a kid acting out in class, or someone holding up traffic. Among the startup set, though, disruptor has become one of the highest compliments one can receive — or give to oneself.
![(Shutterstock)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/1019_dept_evilhr_shutterstock_0.png?1577874530)
Dilemma of the Month: Employees Taking on New Work for Extra Pay
“Can full-time, permanent employees do freelance work for our California-based company if that work falls outside their job description?”
![(Photo by Bruce Mars, Pexels)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/businessman-coffee-computer-925786.jpg?1577874530)
Does Remote Working Cause More Stress?
We should implement ways of managing the stress associated with remote working, while at the same time enjoying its benefits.