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The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check Wally's Three Star Leadership Letter

Find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.

Find out more about Wally's coaching services.

Last Thursday, IBM released the "IBM Global Human Capital Study." The headline on the IBM new release cried, "Looming Leadership Crisis, Organizations Placing Their Companies' Growth Strategies at Risk." Coverage of the study in Workforce Management carried the headline, "The Coming Leadership Crisis."

I looked up quickly, but the sky, though turbulent, did not look likely to fall any time soon. That's because there's so much sheer nonsense in this study and the coverage of it. Here are a few of my favorites.

"… only 14 percent of the companies surveyed believe their workforces are capable of adapting to change."

I got news, folks, it's not the workforce. The workforce is as capable as can be of adapting to change. But someone, like company leadership, needs to describe what needs to be done and why it's important and take the time and make the effort to make sure that it's all communicated. Leadership needs to provide resources for change. Do that and you won't have to worry about your workforce.

Memo to corporate leaders: it's not the job of the rank and file to guess what's important for the future of the company. You get paid 400 times what they do. Come up with something.

Then, there's the statement that it will be difficult to attract and retain high performers, "who will be in increasingly short supply in the future."

Really? Is there any reason to assume that there are less high performers in the generation currently entering the workforce than in the Baby Boom generation? I don't see any evidence of that and, in any case, the study provides no argument to support it. In fact, I think the generation entering the workforce now values the very skills that make for high performing teams.

Memo to corporate leaders: your generation is not the only one with talent.

Then there's the part of the study that describes executives with their head in the sand and their butts elevated for kicking. Forty-seven percent of the organizations surveyed say that turnover is increasing. That's interesting since only 27 percent think recruiting is a problem and an even smaller number, 18 percent, think retention is a problem.

Memo to corporate leaders: without a firm grip on reality the future you're preparing for is likely to be pretty dark.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

Request your free copy of "Meeting the Challenges of the Boomer Brain Drain: An integrated approach."

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.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.