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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.

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Every week I scan the business blogs to find what I think are five posts worth reading for their content, the comments, or both. This week I'm pointing you to posts on race in the workplace, spotting incompetent managers, learning about management from Gordon Ramsey, yet another way connection is changing our lives, and finding the "connectors" in your organization. There's also a pointer to the latest carnival postings and a plea for you to vote for the Evil HR Lady as best business blog.

Small Business Essentials hosts the latest edition of Carnival of the Capitalists.

One of my daily reads and favorite blogs is the Evil HR Lady. It seems that other people think her blog is good, too, since it's nominated for Best Business Blog. Here's more good news. You can vote for Evil's blog. You can do it once a day, every day, until either the earth cools or the contest ends. Do something good for the blogosphere today, head over to Weblog Awards and vote for the Evil HR Lady. Then repeat the process tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and...

From Race in the Workplace: Why you shouldn’t be colorblind
"Chances are, you’ve heard a co-worker say something along the lines of: 'I didn’t even notice he was black. Everyone is the same to me. I don’t see color! He could be black, brown, purple, or polka-dotted, it wouldn’t make a difference to me!' What’s wrong with the statement above?"

Wally's Comment: This gets my "insightful post of the week" award.

From Fast Company: Ten Habits of Incompetent Managers
"How do you identify the members of your team that could sink it? Get an expert's tips on the signs you should look for. "

Wally's Comment: This kind of post is good for discussion, but in reality no one in the workplace needs a blogger to help him or her determine if the boss is incompetent. A tip 'o the hat to Rob May at Business Pundit for the pointer to this piece.

From Signal vs Noise: What Gordon Ramsay can teach software developers
"What makes Ramsay’s approach to restaurant revamping so interesting, though, is how applicable it feels to software design. The characteristics of a failing eatery ring remarkably similar to those of a poorly-run software product."

Wally's Comment: I'll be watching this show tonight. It's not a cooking show at all, despite the presence of a celebrity chef. It's a wonderful business show. Ramsey shows up at failing restaurants, identifies the problems which usually revolve around market focus, leadership, and operations in some combination. Then he tries to fix them. It's great fun and educational.

From Business Pundit: Is the Constant Connected Society a Liability to Career Advancement?
"The book I chose for this week's plane ride is a biography of Joseph Schumpeter. A little over 100 pages in, it's a fascinating life story so far. Schumpeter's father died at age 31, and his mother left the small town their family had inhabited for generations and moved to a much larger city with nothing but her young son - in search of a better opportunity for him. The author commented that, had he not moved away, he would never have become the intellectual celebrity he was. When everyone around you thinks a certain way, you tend to adopt that way of thinking. Staying in a small farming town would not have inspired a lifetime of examining capitalism. The comment got me thinking about what would happen if Schumpeter set off from his small town today, and ended up studying in Vienna again. Now, he would find it easy to keep up with his old friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, and his blog. But I wonder if what would be a good thing, or if it would stunt some of Schumpeter's growth."

From the Business Toolkit: Who are the connectors in your organization?
"Influencing skills play a key role in leadership, virtual team building and also small business growth. I've been reflecting a lot lately on the exponential power of working to effect change by harnessing the power and influence of connectors in organizations. Connectors are people who are well connected within an organization, whose influence in the informal organization and network is powerful and diverse."

Wally's Comment: If you're concerned about knowledge retention in your organization, read this post. As important as it is to document the factual knowledge that the incumbent of a position has, it's equally important to identify the network in which he or she works and who the key connectors are.

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.