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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.

Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your workweek. I'm pointing you to articles about Mom's advice, problem solving by design, Microsoft versus Google, long term success in family owned businesses, and stupid laws and governments.

Last week's newsletter was "The Nolan Bushnell Rule." As usual there were pointers to Web and Reading Resources, too.

Let's begin with the inevitable Mother's Day story.

From Entrepreneur: Thanks, Mom
"5 simple lessons from the women who raised them helped these entrepreneurs succeed." www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/selfassessment/article193728.html

Wally's Comment: There were several "business" Mother's Day stories to choose from. I think is the best.

From Time: Different by Design
"That kind of response is generating more and more heat in the emerging field of transformation design--a hybrid of business consulting and industrial design. Firms like Humantific, whose founders are designers, apply the same process used in designing sleek MP3 players and ergonomic teakettles to unwieldy intangibles like cell-phone promotions and hospital organization, transforming their effectiveness. Along the way, the field is creating some unusual teamwork between designers and business people."

Wally's Comment: This is another manifestation of the "MFA is the new MBA" fad, but there's good material here about what you can learn about problem solving from designers. There's no advice on how you can get them to learn about business.

From Business Week: Inside Microsoft's War Against Google
"With Yahoo off the table, Microsoft plans to challenge Google's online-ad juggernaut alone. A behind-the-scenes look at its provocative strategy."

Wally's Comment: This is like King Kong meets Godzilla. Don't hide under your seat. Instead read up on the bout of the new century.

From Inc.: The Success Gene
"Even successful family businesses tend to resemble fireflies. They flicker brightly for a brief moment, then die away. Consultants call this the rule of thirds: Only about a third of businesses make it to a second generation, a third of those live to see a third generation, and on and on. A precious few family businesses, though, do manage to beat the odds. They are passed down, revived, and reinvented from generation to generation, while all the others have long since gone bust, been bought, or just slowly faded away, done in by family feuds, hard times, or changing tastes."

Wally's Comment: This is a great article about what it takes for any business to succeed over the long term.

From CNNMoney: Slaying the Boogie Monster
"It sounds like the plot for a Footloose sequel: Small-town officials try to shut down a local saloon by wielding an antiquated ban on outdoor dance halls."

Wally's Comment: To quote the great American philosopher, Homer Simpson, "It's funny 'cause it's not me!" Here's an article about how capricious, nasty, venal and downright stupid governments can be, especially when they think you can't fight back. And here's what happened when one business (with a bunch of help) did just that.

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.

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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.

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.