Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog

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.

There are so many great posts out there on business blogs that it's getting tougher and tougher to choose just five that stand out. But I'm going to do it anyway. Here are pointers to posts on helping veterans get back on the job, one person's view of great blogs, a creative and insightful look at the interplay of talent, passion and purpose, the costs of bias in the workplace and questions you should be asking to improve performance. Let's start with Carnival news and then get right to the blogs.

I'm hosting the most recent Carnival of Human Resources.

Wally's Comment: This is a stellar collection of posts. You'll find something helpful and interesting, plus a blog or two you didn't know about.

From HR Web Cafe: Employers' best practice guide for helping veterans re-acclimate to the workplace
"We've previously discussed the importance of helping the military to return to work. Of the 1.5 million troops that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, approximately one in every four is a "citizen soldier" serving in the ranks of the National Guard or the Reserves. In many cases, they will be returning to resume jobs at former employers. "

Wally's Comment: Veterans from my era have mostly horror stories to tell about what it was like to come home. I still get angry when I remember.

One night my friend, Matt and I got very, very drunk. We took our medals and carefully put them in a giant jar of vinegar that we carefully put on his mantle, "to preserve them until it was safe to take them out."

I'm thankful for the fact that today's veterans are welcomed home. But good words are not enough. This post tells you some practical and helpful things you can do to say "Thank you" and "Welcome home" to the veterans returning to your workplace.

It's a long way from World War I when the Guinness company not only made sure that every employee who went off to war had his job when he returned, but also paid that employee a half salary during the full time of their service.

From Fortify Your Oasis: Not-to-be-missed Blogs
"I was having a look at my trend stats on Google Reader over the weekend and I noticed that out of the 220 or so feeds to which I am subscribed [while resolutely maintaining that I am not a geek], I tend to star and share the same ones over and over again. I would categorise them under two broad headings"

Wally's Comment: The two broad headings are "Business/Career/Working Life" and "Making Life Easier/Workaround Blogs." I'm honored to be on Rowan's list and I should note that if I had the discipline to do a list like this, Rowan's blog would be on it. One reason is that he finds things for me that I might otherwise miss. I found two blogs to spend time with in this post.

From All Things Workplace: Talent, Passion, and Purpose: A Visual
"Maybe you haven't consciously thought of the three together. But when both Peter Vajda and Bill Peel quickly added to the discussion, it was obvious that other experienced folks also believe that the three really can't be separated."

Wally's Comment: Every now and again, Steve Roesler does something that just knocks my socks off. This visual blog post is one of them.

From Race in the Workplace: Workplace bias costs companies $64 billion annually
"This story is but one example of mistaken identity experienced by 12.7% of respondents who participated in the 2007 Corporate Leavers Survey (pdf), which found that over 2 million managers and professionals leave their jobs every year solely due to unfairness in the workplace at an annual cost of $64 billion to companies. Other examples of unfairness and bias experienced by corporate leavers include:

• Being asked to attend more recruiting or community related events than one’s colleagues
• Being passed over for promotion due to personal characteristics
• Being publicly humiliated
• Being bullied
• Receiving unwelcome questions about skin, hair or ethnic attire
• Being compared to a terrorist in a joking or serious manner"

Wally's Comment: A good, solid, data-based post on reasons people leave.

From Signals vs. Noise: Question your work
"These are questions we ask each other before, during, and sometimes after we work on something. That something can be as small as a couple-hour project or as big as something that takes a few weeks or more. Either way, it’s important to ask questions like this in order to make sure you’re doing work that matters."

Wally's Comment: Questions are tools to improve performance. Here are some good ones.

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.