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Here's my pick of the five best posts from this week's business blogs. I'm pointing you to posts on hope and lots of ways to learn: learning from American Idol, learning from Nintendo, learning from working in HR, learning from gardening.

From All Things Workplace: Do You Offer Hope?
"Hope. Companies look for job candidates with great track records. Why? These candidates give employers hope that they'll do the same for them. Job candidates look for good employers; the kind that offer hope for a better work-life. Managers are "mediators of hopefulness" for their direct reports. CEO's give hope to their shareholders, employees, and customers--or they become ineffective."

Wally's Comment: Steve Roesler offers some cogent thoughts on the role of hope in just about everything we do.

From the HR Capitalist: 9 Things Every Manager Should Learn From "American Idol"...
"Without question, managers and HR pros alike have much to learn from Idol. Here's my rundown of 10 things every manager should remember in the workplace as a result of watching Idol.

Wally's Comment: Kris Dunn shows us how much humanity is on display on Idol and how much is applicable to the workplace.

From Fistful of Talent: Nintendo and the Wii - Tricking You Into Higher Performance Through "Play"...
"Sometimes, it amazes me the places you can find answers to life's big problems. Little did I know that the company, that brought you Prisoner of Zelda and those cute Italian plumbers Luigi and Mario, would have the answer to motivation and performance management. While I'm sure Nintendo's approach won't make your employees go "Wheeeeeee" ... and jump up and down on turtles and flowers - it will ensure your employees improve and grow toward whatever goal you set. "

Wally's Comment: This is a first rate article on the intersection of feedback and incentives.

From Great Leadership: 10 Things I Learned From Working in HR
"A while back, when I was a training director at a large multinational, that’s exactly what I did. I was advised that if I wanted to be considered for a VP position, I’d have a better chance if I ventured outside the corporate ivory tower and took a development assignment as an HR generalist out on the front lines. After all, there was only one training and development VP job, but over a dozen HR VP jobs. The same seemed to be true on the Monster and Yahoo job boards – about a 5 to 1 ratio. The thinking was that even if I came back to OD/training & development, I’d be a stronger specialist, having gained valuable cross-functional experience. At first I was skeptical. For one thing, although I never worked in a pure HR role, I had a good amount of exposure, and didn’t like what I saw. It just didn’t seem like a good fit for me. And what about my lack of HR experience? “Don’t worry about that”, I was told by my advisers. “You’ve got all of the important, transferable competencies; you can learn the technical parts” (that bit of advice from a VP that had a staff of minions to do the technical parts for her). So I said “what the hell”, and gave it a shot. For eighteen very long, painful months. I survived – barely. It turned out to be one of the most developmental experiences of my career. Here are the lessons I learned:"

Wally's Comment: Dan McCarthy didn't want to work in HR, but he thought doing so might give him an edge in his personal career race. He outlines all the important things he learned.

From Know HR: HR Gardening Tip of the Day: Dig a $100 Hole
"There’s a saying in gardening that’s the best advice I’ve ever received: If you buy a $20 plant, dig a $100 hole. What that means is preparing the hole is the more important than the plant itself. If you dig a hole that’s not big enough, the plant ends up root bound. If you dig it too deep, the plant fades. If you dig it too shallow, the plant dries out and withers. But, oh, when you dig a $100 hole: magnificence."

Wally's Comment: This one of the posts from Frank Roche on applying the lessons of gardening to life on the job. His posts reminded me of a great book that does the same thing. It's Erika Andersen's Growing Great Employees. Both the blog posts by Frank and the book by Erika are full of useful wisdom.

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.