Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog

Working Supervisor's Support Kit A collection of tools and information that will help you do a better job as a boss.

Contact Wally  about coaching, consulting, or speaking to your group.

Here are five choice articles from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms to start off your work week. I'm pointing you to articles about why candor is good for business, the role of industry analysis in strategy development, creating the conditions for innovation, the fundamentals of change, and the latest list of the 100 best companies to work for.

From Industry Week: Why Candor is Good Business
"the share prices of survey companies in the top quartile of CEO candor outperformed companies in the bottom quartile by 31%. For nine of the past 10 years, top-ranked companies have outperformed bottom-ranked companies on average by 18%."

Wally's Comment: There are many articles about candor within a company and about creating a "culture of candor." This one is about candor when communicating with investors and the public.

From Rita McGrath: Industry Analysis Is Dead. What's Next?
"One of the most widely held beliefs in strategy is that variations in performance can often be explained by what industry a company competes in. A lot of our most cherished tools — five-forces analysis, the BCG portfolio matrix, and even SWOT analysis — rest on this assumption."

Wally's Comment: This provocative piece by Professor McGrath will stimulate your thinking, but don’t plan on eliminated industry analysis from your strategic development process any time soon. The title is actually somewhat misleading. The post is really about how industry analysis may be different as the competitive landscape changes. There's a lot of insight in the comments, too.

From Creating the Conditions for Sustainable Innovation
"In the past year, innovation has risen to the top of the business agenda. With the recession out of the way, corporations are refocusing on looking for new ways to grow. It seems not a day goes by that the major media writes (or broadcasts) stories in innovation."

Wally's Comment: This is a guest post on Dan McCarthy's Great Leadership by Rich Wellins who is Senior Vice President at Development Dimensions International (DDI). It's about a new report titled "Creating the Conditions for Sustainable Innovation." The firm studied "how organizations institutionalize innovation via their leaders so that it occurs in a repeatable and sustainable way that brings measurable business value." Note that "sustainable innovation" means different things to different people. In other contexts, "sustainable innovation" means "innovation that helps keep the planet healthy." See more on that definition in "How Innovation Managers Can Kick-Start Sustainable Innovation ."

From Ed Batista: Blocking And Tackling (Fundamentals of Change)
"I don't use that many sports metaphors, but there's something about "blocking and tackling" that perfectly describes my approach to change, whether it's with a coaching client or student, or in my own life. The phrase reflects the fact that flashy, dramatic plays in American football--like Steve Young's game-winning 49-yard scramble for the 49ers against the Vikings in 1988--are the result of a series of profoundly un-flashy, un-dramatic efforts that make big gains possible. And this is exactly how I think about any desired change--no matter how lofty or ambitious the goal, the path to its achievement will be paved with countless small, humble steps."

Wally's Comment: This is a simply elegant post that clearly describes five fundamental tools you can use for any change you choose.

100 Best Companies to Work For
"Fat paychecks, sweet perks, fun colleagues, and over 70,000 jobs ready to be filled -- these employers offer dream workplaces. Like Google, which reclaims the top spot this year to become a three-time champion. Meet this year's top 100, network with the winners on LinkedIn, and more."

Wally's Comment: Every company on this list is more than five years old, has more than a thousand employees in the United States, and applied to be considered for this list. For an interesting comparison, check out the "Best Places to Work – Employees' Choice Awards" from Glassdoor. For commentary, read "Best Places to Work? It’s Not a Big Surprise That Google is No. 1" on TLNT and "The 100 Best Companies To Work For In America " from Monster.

If you enjoyed this post, you may want to check back on Wednesday when I select five excellent posts from the week's independent business blogs. Last week I highlighted posts on that self-serving, but high-performing team member, are you after success or significance, what team members should do to help the team succeed, being nice at work, and managing versus nagging.

On my Zero Draft blog I profiled a blog I like: Bob Sutton's Work Matters .

"What the hero asks" and "You can eliminate the bosses, but " were popular posts on my blog last week.

If you want to get a book done, improve your blog posts, or make your web copy more productive, please check out my blog about business writing. My coaching calendar for authors and blog writers currently has time open. Please contact me if you're interested.

If you're a boss, you should check out my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

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.