Lots of interesting items come across my screen every week.  Here are some that didn't make it into the blog this week, but which may make interesting reading for you this weekend. 

This week I'm pointing you to articles about not following that advice to communicate openly, flextime at the top, task force training, internal pay equity, and the new, improved Home Depot attitude.

From the Wall Street Journal: Not Communicating With Your Boss? Count Your Blessings
"You can't go wrong advising better communication. But sometimes efforts to clear the air don't go according to the five-, seven-, or 10-step plan. Some problems between people simply are intractable. No amount of genius communication may help you in the face of an easily threatened manager, a fast-draw blackballer or, clinically speaking, a nut case. And if someone hates your guts, spilling them tactfully isn't always productive."

From the Guardian: Bosses make room at the top for flexible working
"A report sponsored by Lehman Brothers suggests that even the highly conservative employment practices of the City are being challenged by men and women who want to combine high-level work with caring for children or older relatives."

From Workforce Management: Task Force Training Develops New Leaders, Solves Real Business Issues and Helps Cut Costs
"Experts say assigning up-and-coming talent to task forces is less expensive than sending them to outside leadership courses, and that leadership candidates can learn more by working on a company’s real-life business problems than they would from case studies or role-playing. To make task force assignments most effective as a development tool, companies should offer coaching and debriefing to ensure that the right lessons are reinforced. "

From the Newswires: Internal Pay Equity Key to Fixing a Broken CEO Pay System: New Research Shows Excessive CEO Pay May Link to Performance Failure and Business Risk
"The research conducted by MVC Associates tested CEO to Named Executive Officer (NEO) pay equity ratios against 2,000 companies within the Russell 3000, based on 2003 to 2005 compensation data. In sharp contrast to historic norms, the study identified CEO to median NEO pay multiples by company from the 3 to 27 times range -- with some CEO pay differentials to individual NEOs as high as 50 times or greater. By examining corporate performance data (Standard & Poors), debt ratings and corporate governance ratings (The Corporate Library), the research was also able to identify a cluster of over 800 companies (40%) considered high-pay-multiple outliers, which raise serious concerns about Board decision-making on CEO pay, governance practices, Director independence, and business risk."

From the New York Times: Home Depot to Investors: Mea Culpa
"There is a lot riding on the performance. Mr. Blake has won over critics of Mr. Nardelli with his low-key, humble approach, but this meeting is his biggest chance to show investors publicly how much the company — and the board — have changed since last year’s debacle."

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Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

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