Second marriages are not “fresh beginnings” as many couples would like to believe. A failed first marriage, no matter what the reasons for its disintegration, will cast some shadows over the second marriage.

Wise couples acknowledge this, accommodate the learning and talk about it – and thus diminish its power.

Naïve couples blissfully ignore the past until it blindsides them a little while after the honeymoon – if they are lucky enough for it to wait that long.

This is a challenge to all of us

I am flummoxed by the number of high-powered men and women who can lead multi-national corporations (or schools, hospitals, government agencies, or churches) and yet who cannot seem to apply the wisdom and skill that has made them successful to their personal lives.

While loving a family and running a business are dissimilar in many ways, you’d think a man who has to regularly face conflict, negotiate with employees, and address unhappy customers may be able to address issues with his immediate family without becoming totally unglued!

I have regularly challenged men and women to consider using their business skills at home, to treat a wife or a daughter like a valued customer, to go above and beyond for a son in the manner that he or she might do for a valued employee.

And, of course, I have to rise to the challenge myself.