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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 week I blogged over at Momentor (where I blog about career issues) on "How many sizes will your company fit?" My point there was that since your company will probably only have one or two development "programs," you're pretty much on your own.

Then I looked into my closet and saw the other side of this issue. What caught my eye were two suits.

When I was growing up my parents bought my suits at Robert Hall. New Yorkers of a certain age will know that the company's prices went down, down, down because of low overhead. At least that's what their ubiquitous and inescapable advertising jingle said.

When I got out of the Marines and went into business, I bought a succession of suits from first department stores, then men's stores like Brooks Brothers. I even had a custom suits made.

Then I discovered Greg Chapman. Two of his suits, purchased fifteen years ago, caught my eye and reminded me that one size doesn't have to fit all.

Greg likes to point out that only about five percent of the population has the posture and shoulder slope to fit into clothes cut from standard patterns or made-to-measure clothes that modify the standard pattern.

He's developed a system involving 35 separate measurements. It uses techniques abandoned in the West fifty or more years ago when tailors stopped creating what the English call "bespoke" suits and began relying more and more on patterns.

The result is truly custom-made suits that you can order over the phone. In addition to people like me, Greg's client list includes Walt Frazier, Regis Philbin, and Wayne Newton.

When there's a system, you don't have to settle for mass-produced. That's what Greg Chapman has proved about clothes. Now we need someone to create leadership development systems that aren't mass-produced either.

There's no excuse not to do this. We've got the computing power to keep the records we'd need. We've got the research we need to customize training, support and developmental assignments. We understand how different careers will have different trajectories.

It sounds simple, like Greg Chapman's 35 measurements and the way he uses the "technology" of the old-time tailors. It is simple. It's just not easy. But if you can do it, you'll become the employer of choice for a lot of very bright, hard-working people.

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.