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Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your workweek. I'm pointing you to articles about leadership, farming, helping your people like you, education for innovation, and managing outside innovation.

From the Economist: A crisis of confidence?
"Chris Bones, dean of Henley Business School, addresses the "crisis of confidence" in business leadership."

Wally's Comment: This is a great opinion piece about values in leadership. It also tackles the issue of what leadership is. Bones faults us for, among other things, exalting the idea of leadership. He describes "a perception that leadership is somehow a 'bigger and better' version of management; something strategic and somehow more critical than just managing people."

One of my most popular posts ever was titled "More leaders v managers nonsense."

From Fortune: Look who's farming now"
Agriculture is having a youth movement, thanks to their passion for organic farming and local produce. Meet a half dozen under 40, chosen by the Mother Nature Network for their fertile ambition."

Wally's Comment: Could it be that the family farm will make a comeback?

From Entrepreneur: Why Should Your Employees like You?
"Use these 5 tips to gain respect from your team and boost your bottom line."

Wally's Comment: On the one hand, there's no persuasive proof that if your employees like you they will be more productive. On the other, there's no persuasive proof that having them like you weakens your influence. Why not go for liking and productivity?

From Industry Week: Educating Next-Generation Innovators
"'Radical reform' needed in schools to keep the United States competitive in the product-development race."

Wally's Comment: I think that schools often work against innovation. They look for the "right" answer and often reward individual performance over the kind of group performance that innovation requires. Here are some ideas about what we can do to do better.

From HBS Working Knowledge: Markets or Communities? The Best Ways to Manage Outside Innovation
"No one organization can monopolize knowledge in any given field. That's why modern companies must develop a new expertise: the ability to attract novel solutions to difficult or unanticipated problems from outside sources around the world. A conversation with Harvard Business School professor Karim R. Lakhani on the keys to managing distributed innovation."

Wally's Comment: "Outside innovation" got a big push when AG Lafley made it a priority at Proctor and Gamble. Here are some insightful comments about it.

If you haven't read it, pick up a copy of Lafley's book with Ram Charan titled Game Changer.

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.