I have been reading some great books recently, mostly about how to build a happy and sustainable culture and build a business globally.

At the moment we are employing new people in key positions within our company. Each position is new as Marketing Eye is growing exponentially and we need to hire people to accomodate that.

When I was a child, my father left for work at 5.30am and didn't return until the early evening. He was a builder and, for that profession, long hours were quite normal.

When he arrived home, my father completed his chores. He took out the rubbish, mowed the lawn and fixed anything that needed to be fixed. He then sat down to dinner, where each of us Smith children told him our daily, animated stories followed by an update about what we did at school.

We then watched an hour of television as a family and it was off to bed.

When my father talked about his work, which was physical as much as mental, his only complaint was that an employee turned up five minutes late – it was never that they didn't work hard enough.

It's an employees world - and don't I know it! I am not about to complain, but gosh, it's hard trying to be a leader and getting 100 percent of your employees engaged - all of the time!

#24yrold asked me the other day, "what can we do better?" 

I couldn't believe my ears!

With the constant issues many of my entrepreneur friends face with Gen-Y, and my own struggle with finding the right people for the right job, that are self-motivated and wanting to be exceptional at what they do - I find that my team rarely asks me for feedback other than in a performance review.

Working for a company is a two-way Street. It is not "what you can do for me" or "just about the money" - it's about together working as a team to achieve a common goal. When that goal is achieved, everyone celebrates and is rewarded through recognition and financial upside.

5 Ways Employees Can Step Up Their Game

Humbled by an employee discussion in our US office, I was pleasantly surprised that given the hypothetical situation of winning the lotto, all employees said that after a brief holiday, they would want to come back to work at Marketing Eye.

As an international business owner, I have come to the realisation that my company culture is different in each country in which we have offices. The engagement level on a day-to-day basis in our Atlanta office is very high – not to say, other offices are not the same. Company culture is everything and there are many reasons why it has a direct impact on bottom line.

There are a number of lessons learnt from having a start-up in Atlanta that is inherently different from other offices we have. 

The first being that all employees have chosen each other

Usually, a senior manager or myself makes the ultimate choice on who is going to join the team and in what capacity. Instead, in Atlanta, I have been over-ruled twice, and both times, I had to put my hand up and say that my choice would have been wrong for the team.

Not sure about you, but there are certain things you take for granted as a boss.

The first is that your employees will respect you. The second is, that although everyone has a good laugh, they think you are reasonably smart.

Well, that was all thrown out the window today.

The once applauded "Tiger Mom" has taken a fall from grace in the past few years, receiving criticism from psychologists around the world.

It's a parenting style that is all too familiar for anyone over the age of 40 years, and still exists in some countries that continue to support this method of parenting.

For those who are not familiar, the Tiger Mom has come under scrutiny and criticism, due to her stricter parenting styles and the authoritative voice of the parent. It promotes conformity over creativity and the child does as they are told.

Like many small business owners, I have been totally caught up in finalising work for the year. For the first time ever, I have not bought a single gift. I am totally behind schedule.

But like millions of others, there are many options: shopping online, late night shopping or battling through the crowds in the lead-up to Christmas.

At Marketing Eye, as we are a marketing consultancy firm, there is never a day whereby everyone is in the office. The other day it was quiet - a bit too quiet. Everyone was working away diligently. So, I did what any leader would do. I said to everyone "we need to have some fun". And fun, we had.

We set up a photoshoot, which the young guys in the office instantly became photographers. Everyone was asked 'to act silly' and we all laughed, played around and were back at our desk in half an hour with big smiles on our faces.

It's amazing what small things can do for team spirit.

John Gray has written quite a few books on relationships and millions of women around the world have read them avidly. No wonder women tend to be better leaders statistically when they actually reach the top jobs, then their male counterparts.

Gray has a book, Mars and Venus on a Date which basically is a guide to navigating the 5 stages of dating to create lasting relationships.

If you bare with me, you will see how this can relate to relationships with employees that are looking for the perfect job. Particularly essential reading for small business owners.

Having been in business now for 10 years, I certainly have had my fair share of employee attitudes.

 It goes with the territory and it goes with my training as a Manager and ultimately leader of the organisation.