Three Star Leadership Blog: Recent Comments

Comment on 2/7/12: By and About Leaders

Wally Bock — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:59:22 GMT

You're quite welcome. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Comment on 2/7/12: By and About Leaders

Laura — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:10:07 GMT

How striking it is for me that in each instance, how powerful leadership is when there is focus and accountability.
Thank you.

Comment on What if leadership wasn't a promotion?

Wally Bock — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:45:49 GMT

Thanks for the kind words, Laura. I think readers will also want to click through to your post for some more ideas on how things will change.

Comment on What if leadership wasn't a promotion?

Laura Schroeder — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:34:23 GMT

Wally, I think this is one of my favorite posts! I linked to it here: "Who Moved my Manager."

Comment on Boss's Tip of the Day: Read fiction

Wally Bock — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:54:53 GMT

Thanks for sharing that. I don't know if I'd call what I read "classics." That may be the case for things I go back to, but that's also a function of reading seriously for fifty-plus years. There's a lot of good stuff and lot of other stuff, but only a few things that I like reading again and again. It's a blessing that I wish for you and every reader.

Comment on Boss's Tip of the Day: Read fiction

Kathy — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:22:57 GMT

Although it's not in the category of classics like what you read, my favorite fictional leader is Miles Vorkosigan from the sci fi series by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Comment on Boss's Tip of the Day: Read fiction

Wally Bock — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:45:30 GMT

I re-read a lot of fiction. Hemingway short stories get dipped into at least once a week. I re-read novels I've loved. The biggest favorites are Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather), Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby. I devoured Stieg Larsson's Dragon Tattoo trilogy. A lot of my fiction reading runs to historical novels, the one I'm reading at the moment is Tides of War by Stella Tillyard. I've always got at least one fiction book working.

Comment on Boss's Tip of the Day: Read fiction

Christine Baese — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:43:24 GMT

Great advice, but it begs the question, what are you reading? Or what have you read lately?

I recently finished Room by Emma Donoghue. It is well written, but a challenging topic. One that helps keep things in perspective. As a lighter note, I started A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice.

Comment on What if leadership wasn't a promotion?

Wally Bock — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:44:51 GMT

I don't know that "arguing" is the right term for what we're doing, but we do have a disagreement. I prefer to describe leadership in terms of behaviors rather than traits. From my perspective that makes training possible and also avoids the trap of treating leadership work as somehow superior to management or supervision work. If you are a leader, you are so based on what you do, not on what you are. I'm also in the camp that thinks that bosses do leadership, management, and supervision work. They don't have a choice about whether they will do it, the only choice is about how. Thanks for adding to the conversation.

Comment on What if leadership wasn't a promotion?

PM Hut — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:00:21 GMT

Hi Wally,

I might be arguing about the semantics here, but I don't think leadership is a role, it is a characteristic. You don't go to a company and someone introduced himself to you as a "Leader", he might be manager, a project manager, but he can't be a dedicated leader.

At least that's my opinion...