When a client says, “Jump!” the only right answer is: “How high?”

Peter van Aartrijk, 48 years old, felt differently. When he realized, as the founder of his own business, that some clients’ unreasonable demands were causing him stress and cutting into time with his wife and two daughters, now 11 and 16, he decided six years ago to make up a new rule: Fire clients whose expectations are out-of-line. The result at van Aartrijk Group, a Springfield, Va., company with 14 employees that deals in corporate-brand identity, Web strategy, advertising and market research, suggests executives can exert more control over their work environments than many believe. His story.

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