Three Star Leadership Blog

2/11/12: Wally's Writing on Leadership and Talent Development

Wally Bock — 2012-02-11T18:01:00Z

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's a review of my writing on leadership and talent development this week. There were posts on how learning to cook and learning to lead are similar, a computer virus and lessons in human nature, and my reaction to yet another MBA curriculum make-over. There were also the usual pointers to resources and my Boss's Tips of the Day.

My posts at Three Star Leadership on Leadership and Becoming a Better Boss

2/5/12: Leadership Reading to Start Your Week
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 luck, business case studies, the second generation in a family company, measuring the efficiency of the world's managers, and what to do after you decide.

Learning to Cook, Learning to Lead
My middle grandson is learning to cook. It's a lot like learning to lead.

2/7/12: By and About Leaders
Studying individual leaders is a great way to learn about leadership. This week I'm pointing you to posts by and about Georgia Berner, Amy Astley, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sheryl Sandberg.

2/8/12: A Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs
Every week I select five excellent posts from this week's independent business blogs. This week, I'm pointing you to posts on your weekly business pulse, courageous questions, leadership and surrender, integrity and keeping it, and dealing with a problem boss.

The Computer Virus and Human Nature
I could almost hear gloating voice of its creator chortling "Gotcha!" as I realized I had just allowed a virus onto my computer.

2/10/12: Weekend Imagination Igniters
Here are three thought starters on communication and a reading recommendation to ignite your imagination this weekend

Boss's Tips of the Day from This Week
These short tips for bosses are based on Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit . Follow the link for more on each tip.

You're only champion for a day

My posts at Results vs. Activities on Talent Development

Another MBA Curriculum Revision (sigh)
Not only that [cue the trumpets, release the pigeons and the balloons] Kellogg has created four "impact areas" that will overlay the actual curriculum. Forgive me for remaining underwhelmed.

2/9/12: Top Talent Development Posts this Week
Every week, I review blogs that cover talent development to find the very best talent development posts. This week, you'll find pointers to pieces about retaining top performers, what it's like to work for a "best place to work," when learning is the job, and how GE goes about talent development.

When you follow me on Twitter you'll receive a stream of pointers to interesting blog posts, articles, and resources throughout each business day.

Client Projects

I'm writing blog posts for one client. I'm helping a strategy consultant write his book and coaching two other authors through the process of writing and publishing their first book.

If you're interested in writing a book, hiring someone to write for you, or just improving your own writing, you should check out my Zero Draft blog about creating or acquiring the writing that makes a business or career grow.

If you want to get a book done or improve your performance as a boss, let's talk about options. My coaching calendar currently has space open.

What can I do for you?

Information Products

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.

2/10/12: Weekend Imagination Igniters

Wally Bock — 2012-02-10T21:01:00Z

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.

For most of us, the weekend is less agenda-driven and more relaxed than our usual weekday. You're more likely to slip into that state of relaxed alertness that psychologists call "alpha." That's when you're most likely to have creative thoughts. Let's begin with three thought starters on communication.

"Communication without a purpose is artistic masturbation." ~ Rod Steiger

"The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate." ~ Joseph Priestley

"I feel that if a person can't communicate the very least he can do is to shut up." ~ Tom Lehrer

Now, here's a question to go with the above. How and how often do you contribute to communications failure?

You also have more time for serious reading on the weekend. Here's a recommendation for a book about movies.

I don't remember exactly when it was, or even exactly where it was, but I do remember who it was. My friend, Fred Gleeck, recommended Sidney Lumet's book, Making Movies, with the words "It's the best book there is about making movies and a lot of other things." He was right.

The book is simply riddled with lessons about teamwork and project management and the importance of keeping a good team together and staying focused on the goal and dealing with giant egos … oh my! It's one of the best books I've ever read, one of the first ones I put on my Kindle so I'd always have it handy.

Boss's Tip of the Day: Savor Solitude

Wally Bock — 2012-02-10T15:25:00Z

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.

If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit .

Savor Solitude

It's common to think of leaders at the head of a group, surrounded by other people. That's accurate, because leadership is a team sport and a people discipline. The paradox is that most of the great leaders of history made use of solitude, purposeful time alone to make themselves a better leader.

Take quiet, uninterrupted time alone to reflect on your life and work and purpose. Take time alone to ponder the future and your role in it. Take time alone to become more of yourself and build the strength to withstand the storms of the world.

Solitude is where you find strength. Savor it.

If you find these tips helpful, you should consider purchasing my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

If you're wondering how to master the world of social media, check out Becky Robinson's tips for ways to get better results from your social media investment in 12 minutes or less. Becky is my personal go-to source for ideas on how to use social media more effectively.

The Computer Virus and Human Nature

Wally Bock — 2012-02-09T21:01:00Z

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.

It was a Tuesday morning like most others. I had finished a writing session and was preparing for a session with a client about his book when it happened. First there was a message that screamed that something was wrong with my computer. Minutes later I realized I had allowed a virus to infect it.

Now, understand that I am not a novice computer user. I've had a personal computer in one form or another since the late 1970s. I know about taking precautions and I'm usually pretty aware of the threat of viruses and other malware. Even so, I let that nasty virus in. It's a human nature thing.

The virus' creator hooked me. My screen flashed with a message that there was problem on my computer. My heart rate sped up and I responded. Alas, that was what Mr. Virus Maker was counting on.

He hooked me with a credible-looking message that engaged my emotion, fear in this case, and closed off rational thought. If that hadn't happened, I would have recognized the fake message as fake and the format as a standard virus hook. But my emotions ramped up. I acted with only minimal thought. Mr. Virus Maker achieved his goal: my computer was infected.

In the end the computer was made well by the wonderful folks at Geek Squad. I lost about six productive hours that I could make that up. I spent my downtime thinking about how emotions are so much a part of our humanity and therefore, so much a part of leadership.

Leadership is a people pursuit, which means that emotions are important. Many of us learn that the hard way. Along the way we encounter people who are master chain-pullers, the most passive-aggressives of the breed, and dangerous situations. We make mistakes and, hopefully, learn from them. Until recently, most of that was trial and feedback.

In the last year, though, I've discovered some resources that will help you understand the emotional part of leadership. When you understand, your odds of improvement go up. Let me recommend two books that, taken together, cover a lot of ground on the emotional component of your work.

The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer covers the world of work with lots of actual workplace examples.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck will introduce you to what she calls a "growth mindset," explain why it's important for success and how you can both develop it yourself and help others develop it.

For continuing ideas and insight, I suggest you add Ed Batista's "Executive Coaching and Change Management" blog to your reader. To get you started, I'm pointing you to his post on "High-Performance Communication ."

Boss's Bottom Line

You deal with people every day. People have emotions that affect them at work, just like everywhere else. You will be a better boss if you make an effort to understand human emotions and do a better job of dealing with them.

Boss's Tip of the Day: Pay attention

Wally Bock — 2012-02-09T15:25:00Z

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.

If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit .

Pay attention

Pay attention when a team member wants to talk to you. Look at them, not a screen. Shut down any distracting sounds. Then have a conversation. The screens will wait.

If you find these tips helpful, you should consider purchasing my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

2/8/12: A Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs

Wally Bock — 2012-02-08T21:01:00Z

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.

Independent business blogs are blogs that aren't supported by an organization like a magazine, newspaper, company, or business school. Those people provide lots of great content, but they don't need any additional exposure. In this post, every week, I bring you posts of quality from excellent bloggers that don't get as much publicity.

This week, I'm pointing you to posts on your weekly business pulse, courageous questions, leadership and surrender, integrity and keeping it, and dealing with a problem boss.

From Terry "Starbucker" St. Marie: Leverage Your Business Pulse: The 5 Day Leadership Planner
"Every business has a natural “pulse” of activity that is designed to match the human rhythm of the calendar. Savvy leaders know how to leverage this pulse to their best advantage by properly sequencing their analysis, interaction, thinking, discussing, deciding, and doing. For them, each day of the business week has an overarching theme, designed to maximize team effectiveness:"

Wally's Comment: This is a post I saw myself in and it felt pretty good. I've got a week plan that looks a lot like the natural rhythm that Terry suggests. If you don't have something like this outline for your week, even if it's just in your head, you'll make a great big improvement in your effectiveness by starting with Terry's model and working out your own solution. If you do have such a model, as I do, see if you can spot something in Terry's model that you can try to tweak your own, as I did.

From Mary Jo Asmus: Fearless Questioning
"In the climate of fear that exists in many organizations, we often hold back on asking the questions that need to be asked. We would rather be seen as having all the answers while we are afraid of losing our jobs, being stalled in our career, or simply looking ignorant."

Wally's Comment: Whoever said that there are no dumb questions hasn't sat through some of the meetings that I've endured. But whether you think there are dumb questions or not, there are certainly questions that it takes courage to ask. Here are Mary Jo's ideas about some of those questions and the reasons why you should ask them.

From Mike Myatt: Leadership and Surrender
"You’ll rarely encounter the words leadership and surrender used together in complementary fashion. Society has labeled surrender as a sign of leadership weakness, when in fact, it can be among the greatest of leadership strengths. Let me be clear, I’m not encouraging giving in or giving up – I am suggesting you learn the ever so subtle art of letting go. A leader simply operates at their best when they understand their ability to influence is much more fruitful than their ability to control. Here’s the thing – the purpose of leadership is not to shine the spotlight on yourself, but to unlock the potential of others so they can in turn shine the spotlight on countless more. Control is about power – not leadership. Surrender allows a leader to get out of their own way and focus on adding value to those whom they serve."

Wally's Comment: Speaking of courage, one of the most creative acts of a leader is letting go, surrendering control, as Mike Myatt suggests. The fact is that the only way you will coax the maximum from your team is if you surrender control.

From Chris Edmonds: Integrity Takes Intention & Dedication
"I’ve been engaged with an aspiring leader for a couple of months, providing coaching about effective leadership in three contexts: self, leading others, and leading teams. I love these coaching engagements with leaders because I learn as much as I guide!"
"As is often the case in my coaching conversations, our discussion centered upon integrity. I define integrity as “doing what you say you will do.” A person maintains their integrity when they make commitments intentionally, fully aware of what they are promising to deliver (quality level, within budget, by “X” date, etc.)."

Wally's Comment: This is another post where I saw myself, but this image of me wasn't very flattering. It took me far longer than it should to have to realize that reflexively taking on assignments without considering the impact on my workload and my team was destructive to my productivity and reputation. Scott Eblin's post, "Is being the “go-to person” holding you back? " is great companion reading.

From Gwyn Teatro: 5 Ways to Tackle The Problem of the Problem Boss
"To me, (especially if you are a boss yourself), using other people as a cushion or perhaps even a shield to avoid direct contact with your own boss is not the way to model good leadership behaviour."

Wally's Comment: Gwyn Teatro suggests five productive ways to deal with a problem boss. One of them is "Know your limits." I'm going to write that one hundred times.

Carnivals and Such

Leadership Development Carnival hosted by Mark Bennett at TalentedApps

That's it for this week's selections from independent business blogs. If you liked this piece you may enjoy my regular post on "Leadership Reading to Start Your Week" which features five choice articles from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms. The last issue had pointers to articles about luck, business case studies, the second generation in a family company, measuring the efficiency of the world's managers, and what to do after you decide.

How I Select Posts for this Midweek Review

The five posts I select to share in my Midweek Review of the Independent Business Blogs are picked from a regular review of about sixty blogs I check daily and an additional twenty-five or so that I check occasionally. Here's how I select the posts you see in this review.

They must be published within the previous week.

They must support the purpose of the blog: to help leaders at all levels do a better job and lead a better life.

They must be from an independent business blog.

As a general rule, I only select posts that stand on their own, no selections from a series.

Also as a general rule, I do not select posts that are either a book review or a book report.

I reserve the right to make exceptions to the above.

Here, on Three Star Leadership, I post things that will help a boss at any level do better and live a better life. At Results vs Activities, I join other bloggers with posts on talent development. .

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

Boss's Tip of the Day: Results count

Wally Bock — 2012-02-08T15:25:00Z

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.

If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit .

Results count

In the hectic world where you work it's easy to get sidetracked and concentrate on things that don't make much of a difference. Look at the end of your pipe. What's coming out?

At the end of every day ask yourself the following.

Did we accomplish the mission today?

Are my people in better shape now than at the start of the day?

Did we all move forward today?

How can we do better tomorrow?

If you find these tips helpful, you should consider purchasing my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

2/7/12: By and About Leaders

Wally Bock — 2012-02-07T23:38:33Z

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.

I think that one of the best ways to learn leadership isn't studying "leadership" at all. Instead, study individual leaders in their natural habitat and decide what they do that you want to try. That's why, every week, I bring you a selection of posts by and about individual leaders. This week I'm pointing you to posts by and about Georgia Berner, Amy Astley, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sheryl Sandberg.

From the NY Times: Consolation, Through Work
"In the late 1960s, I was engaged to marry Erling’s son Christian. As a wedding gift, Erling offered to help us set up an energy recovery business in Japan, which we thought would be great fun. Recovering energy involves providing fresh air without increasing energy use in a building. Christian ran the business, and I taught English grammar and literature to Japanese students. We had two children while living there."

From the NY Times: Always Be Proud to List ‘Waitress’ on Your Résumé
"My first real job managing people was at Vogue. I was probably about 25 years old, and I worked for Anna Wintour. I was just a young writer on the staff, but she asked me to be the beauty director, which would mean supervising a small staff of three people."

From the NY Times: Zuckerberg Remains the Undisputed Boss at Facebook
"Since the moment he dropped out of Harvard University, Mark Zuckerberg has stayed remarkably focused on two things: Facebook, and being the boss of Facebook."

From the NY Times: The $1.6 Billion Woman, Staying on Message
"SEVENTY-TWO hours before Facebook’s big moment, Sheryl K. Sandberg was half a world away, hobnobbing with the likes of Bill Gates and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Yes, Ms. Sandberg is Mark Zuckerberg’s No. 2. And, yes, if all goes well, she will soon become the $1.6 billion woman. On Wednesday, Facebook filed to go public in a deal that, in all likelihood, will instantly make it one of the most valuable corporations on the planet. But Ms. Sandberg, who has helped steer this social network to this once-unimaginable height, had more on her mind than securities filings and ad metrics. She was attending the annual World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, where her subject wasn’t Facebook — but women. Specifically, how women, in her view, must take responsibility for their careers and not blame men for holding them back."

Boss's Tip of the Day: Beat Yesterday

Wally Bock — 2012-02-07T15:25:00Z

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.

If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit .

Beat yesterday

Salespeople know about "Beat Yesterday" books. That's where you track sales every day and try to, yep, "beat yesterday." It's a great way to keep yourself motivated and honest.

There's no reason that the salespeople should have all the fun. Create your own "beat yesterday" book or maybe a "beat yesterday" spreadsheet. Then track your key performance indicators.

Here are the rules.

Track your three most important indicators, no more.

Keep your gathering information time to under 10 minutes a day.

Review daily and weekly.

Got it? OK, now go beat yesterday.

If you find these tips helpful, you should consider purchasing my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

Learning to Cook, Learning to Lead

Wally Bock — 2012-02-06T21:01:00Z

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.

Last weekend, my middle grandson described for me how he was learning to cook. He's twelve and this is a new adventure. He described the dishes that he'd mastered including his own "Diego's Pasta." Very impressive.

He's got some of the basics down, but that didn't just happen. Someone showed him. Someone helped him learn about safety in the kitchen. Now he's trying recipes, experimenting, and learning what works for him and what yields good results.

He's not completely on his own. There are people he can call to ask questions or request suggestions. There are people who will demonstrate how to do new things and help him improve his technique and his results.

It's funny, you know, we wouldn't send a twelve year old into the kitchen and ask him or her to whip up dinner without some preparation, but we do that all the time when we turn people into bosses. We wouldn't send Diego to a three day "Cooking Skills Course" and then expect him to produce great dishes with the help of a book or two, but we do that with new leaders all the time. And we sure wouldn't let him cook for a few months on his own until a "Cooking Skills Course" was available before we sent him, but we do that all the time with newly promoted leaders, too.

Both cooking and leading are complex "doing" tasks. You can learn about them by reading and attending a course or two, but you won't learn them without trial and feedback. In both cases, you'll learn them faster if you have someone to help you, demonstrate good technique, and give you feedback. In both cases, you'll never, ever learn everything there is to know.

Boss's Bottom Line

Help you team members learn by doing if leadership is something they want to do. If it is, give them opportunities to try things and help them learn the basics.

Boss's Tip of the Day: You're only champion for a day

Wally Bock — 2012-02-06T15:25:00Z

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.

If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit .

You're only champion for a day

When you win big or hit a big goal, revel in it. Have the party, bask in the glory, feel good.

But you're only champion for a day. Clean up after your celebration, take a few moments to analyze your success and then get moving on the next challenge.

If you find these tips helpful, you should consider purchasing my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

2/5/12: Leadership Reading to Start Your Week

Wally Bock — 2012-02-05T17:47:55Z

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 luck, business case studies, the second generation in a family company, measuring the efficiency of the world's managers, and what to do after you decide.

From Entrepreneur: Do Entrepreneurs Make Their Own Luck -- Or Not?
"The world of venture capital is obsessed with winners. Former CEOs are recycled into new positions at new companies. Profitable VC groups raise new and bigger funds. The successful CEOs hobnob with the successful VCs, and the cycle continues. But should it? I didn't acquire many new skills in the two months between being completely broke and decently flush; someone just bought my company. In truth, luck and timing had a lot to do with it."

Wally's Comment: Everyone has luck. Everyone has good luck and bad luck. So the difference between winning and losing is less likely to hinge on the luck you draw and more likely to hinge on what you do with that luck. In addition to this article, you may want to read Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen. There's a good summary of their views on luck in Hansen's post, "You Can Manage Luck. Here's How ."

From Fortune: Business case studies: Overused, and often abused
"Popular business books often exaggerate what case studies can actually teach us, and when the evidence is shaky, the advice is suspect."

Wally's Comment: This is hardly the first article or blog post to point out the problems with the way many writers and speakers use examples as "evidence." For a quick review of the issues, read Bob Sutton's "A Well-Crafted Critique of Business "Success" Books and My Ambivalence About Good to Great ."

From the Globe and Mail: A second generation makes radical change
"In many family companies, offspring come on board simply by birthright, and continue business as usual. In rarer instances, the next generation exhibits true entrepreneurial spirit to dramatically transform the company. "

Wally's Comment: The odds are stacked against the family business. According to family business expert Paul Karofsky, "Fewer than one in three companies survive through a second generation of leadership; the odds dive to one in 10 among those that reach a third generation." For some background read "The Success Gene " from Inc.

From HBS Working Knowledge: Measuring the Efficacy of the World's Managers
"Over the past seven years, Harvard Business School's Raffaella Sadun and a team of researchers have interviewed managers at some 10,000 organizations in 20 countries. The goal: to determine how and why management practices differ vastly in style and quality not only across nations, but also across various organizations and industries."

Wally's Comment: One conclusion of this study that sheds some light on the post above is that "Family-owned businesses are often managed badly—particularly those run by a firstborn son who inherited the role of CEO. Founder-run firms also received low management scores." This study looks at how and how well managers set goals, monitor and modify performance, and reward top performers (or not).

From Ed Batista: Make The Right Decision...Or Make The Decision Right?
"Much of my work as a coach involves helping people wrestle with an important decision. Some of these decisions feel particularly big because they involve selecting one option to the exclusion of all others when the cost of being "wrong" can be substantial: If I'm at a crossroads in my career, which path should I follow? If I'm considering job offers, which one should I accept? If I'm being asked to relocate, should I move to a new city or stay put? And while I've written before on the conditions that support good decision-making and firmly believe that we can improve the quality of our decisions by following those guidelines, I'm also reminded of a comment made by Scott McNealy--a co-founder of Sun Microsystems and its CEO for 22 years--during a lecture I attended while I was in business school at Stanford. He was asked how he made decisions and responded by saying (I'm paraphrasing, but his point was crystal clear): It's important to make good decisions. But I spend much less time and energy worrying about "making the right decision" and much more time and energy insuring that any decision I make turns out right."

Wally's Comment: I love this post because it agrees with a long-held belief of mine. I think we spend far too much time on the headwork of making decisions and not nearly enough on the "doing" of making the decision work. Ed's analysis and writing on this are far more substantive than mine, which is a good reason to read this post.

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 performance management, ethical behavior, setting goals, work-life synergy, and one way you may be sabotaging yourself.

Studying individual leaders is a great way to learn about leadership. That's why my weekly post points you to posts by or about individual leaders. Last week I pointed you to posts by and about Pekka A. Viljakainen, Adriana Cisneros de Griffin, John Paul DeJoria, and Katherine Hays.

"What if leadership wasn't a promotion?" and "Lonely at Work " 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.

2/4/12: Wally's Writing on Leadership and Talent Development

Wally Bock — 2012-02-04T18:01:00Z

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's a review of my writing on leadership and talent development this week. There were posts on helping someone lonely at work, two looks at the way the workplace is changing, and wondering about how things would be different if leadership were a role instead of a job.

My posts at Three Star Leadership on Leadership and Becoming a Better Boss

1/29/12: Leadership Reading to Start Your Week
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 Sam Palmisano, JC Penney, Carrefour, internal competition, and social media.

Lonely at Work
The NY Times article on "Building a Bridge to a Lonely Colleague" has a lot of good information, but it doesn't address the specific situation of bosses.

1/31/12: By and About Leaders
Studying individual leaders is a great way to learn about leadership. This week I'm pointing you to posts by and about Harry West and Lapo Elkann.

2/1/12: A Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs
Every week I select five excellent posts from this week's independent business blogs. This week, I'm pointing you to posts on performance management, ethical behavior, setting goals, work-life synergy, and one way you may be sabotaging yourself.

What if leadership wasn't a promotion?
Josh Bersin recently wrote a stellar post on the end of the job as we know it. One of the jobs that might end is the one called "boss."

2/3/12: Weekend Imagination Igniters
Here's a thought starter and reading recommendation to ignite your imagination this weekend. I'm thinking about the legacy of a leader.

Boss's Tips of the Day from This Week
These short tips for bosses are based on Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit. Follow the link for more on each tip.

Make the Rounds

Decisions are Precedents

Take the Right Time to Decide

Take notes

Read fiction

My posts at Results vs. Activities on Talent Development

Talent Development in a Brave New World
We've realized for some time that jobs, as we've known them for a little over a century were doomed. The world is changing in too many fundamental ways for any artifact of the Industrial Age to remain unchanged. The big question is: "What will what we now call "jobs" look like in whatever you want to call the age we've moving into?"

2/2/12: Top Talent Development Posts this Week
Every week, I review blogs that cover talent development to find the very best talent development posts. This week, you'll find pointers to pieces about what we mean by talent, what's business critical on the HR agenda, what top execs think of recent college graduates, lessons from RIM's succession plan, and some careful thinking on companies, managers, learning and talent development.

When you follow me on Twitter you'll receive a stream of pointers to interesting blog posts, articles, and resources throughout each business day.

Client Projects

I'm writing blog posts for one client. I'm helping a strategy consultant write his book and coaching two other authors through the process of writing and publishing their first book.

If you want to get a book done or improve your performance as a boss, let's talk about options. My coaching calendar currently has space open.

What can I do for you?

Information Products

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

2/3/12: Super Bowl Weekend Imagination Igniters

Wally Bock — 2012-02-03T21:01:00Z

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.

For most of us, the weekend is less agenda-driven and more relaxed than our usual weekday. You're more likely to slip into that state of relaxed alertness that psychologists call "alpha." That's when you're most likely to have creative thoughts. Here are a couple of thought starters from Bill Parcells and former Coke CEO Neville Isdell.

This is going to be a heck of a Super Bowl for Coach Bill Parcells. This year, the competing teams are the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Both teams have won Super Bowls with Parcells as their coach. Not only that, both the coaches of this year's Super Bowl teams are his protégés. When he was asked about that in an interview, Parcells said:

"Those that follow, that's what's important."

Your legacy lives beyond you in the people you've touched, coached, trained, and mentored. No one has said that more strongly than former Coca-Cola CEO Neville Isdell.

"I do not have a legacy unless my successor is successful."

So, who's your legacy?

Since you also have more time for serious reading on the weekend you may want to pick up a copy of Isdell's book. He's not your everyday CEO. He was born in Northern Ireland, raised in South Africa, and he's worked around the world. He started his working life as a social worker, but he thinks that helped him because "as a social worker you have to get people to change their own minds."

Isdell is credited with turning Coke around and he's written a book about it. The book is Inside Coca-Cola: A CEO's Life Story of Building the World's Most Popular Brand.

Boss's Tip of the Day: Read fiction

Wally Bock — 2012-02-03T15:25:00Z

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.

If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit .

Read fiction

Sure it's important to keep up with your business reading, but you should read some fiction, too. It's fun and it engages you. You get lost in fiction in a way you usually won't with factual material.

The good news is that reading fiction will help you become a better leader, too. Researchers from the University of Toronto tell us that reading fiction will help you improve your emotional intelligence.

So, there goes your last excuse. Go, read some fiction and have fun!

If you find these tips helpful, you should consider purchasing my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

What if leadership wasn't a promotion?

Wally Bock — 2012-02-02T21:01:00Z

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.

Josh Bersin recently wrote a stellar post titled "The End of a Job as We Know It." One of the jobs that might end is the one called "boss."

For me, a "boss" is someone responsible for the performance of a group. There is plenty of leadership without position going on every day, all over the world, but I write this blog specifically for the men and women who are organizationally responsible for group performance. That requires position as well as influence.

Well, if Josh Bersin is right, many of those classic boss positions may become a thing of the past. He's not alone in that prediction. I recently wrote "You can eliminate the bosses, but," sparked by one of Harold Jarche's posts. Many others have said similar things. The powerful part of Bersin's post, for me, was the way he combined two insights. Here's one of them.

"What this all means is that in today's high performing companies, people now take on 'roles' not 'jobs.' They are responsible for 'tasks' and 'projects' and not simply 'functions.'"

That's pretty straightforward. I've heard it from Susan Finerty in our conversations over the last year or so. Susan thinks that every organization is becoming a matrix organization, whether it's officially called that or not. That means multiple relationships and reporting points, and, often, less hierarchy. Now here's the other Bersin insight.

"And leadership, by the way, is just a 'role' like any other - with its own particular set of skills."

That resonates with me because I think that leadership is a kind of work. Some people are suited for it, want to do it, and will do it well. Others will not.

Moving from individual contributor to a leadership role is more like a career change than a promotion. It's like changing from engineering to architecture. Leadership work is important work, but it's not more exalted work.

If we see leadership as a role, not a promotion or a position in the hierarchy, lots of things become possible. People can lead in situations where their strengths leverage the strengths of others and their weaknesses are irrelevant. Groups and teams can select a leader, instead of always having the leader selected from above. People can try out the role and decide if they like it and, if they don't, they can never do it again, with no stigma or career penalty.

Will things turn out this way? We can't ever be sure of the details of how big changes will end up. Because the change looks so clear, it's tempting to think it will happen quickly. Probably not. If history is a good guide, this kind of change will take a generation cycle or two to become the norm, so probably twenty to forty years.

Does all this make sense to you? How do you imagine that things will change?

Additional Resources

Over at Results vs. Activities I used the same Bersin post as the starting point from some ruminations on how talent development may change. The post was titled "Talent Development in a Brave New World."

If the issues above interest you, I suggest that you become a regular reader of Harold Jarche's site: Life in Perpetual Beta.

Boss's Tip of the Day: Take notes

Wally Bock — 2012-02-02T15:25:00Z

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.

If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit .

Take notes

There's a saying that the palest ink is stronger than the strongest memory. It's accurate. One reason to take notes is so that you'll remember important things. That's not the only reason.

Taking notes on a conversation or issue is a sign of respect. When you take notes you communicate, "I'm taking this seriously."

Notes are a tool you can use to check your understanding. Read back your notes about what a team member said, and ask if you got it right.

If you find these tips helpful, you should consider purchasing my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

2/1/12: A Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs

Wally Bock — 2012-02-01T21:05:50Z

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.

This week, I'm pointing you to posts on performance management, ethical behavior, setting goals, work-life synergy, and one way you may be sabotaging yourself.

From Dan McCarthy" A Performance Management Model
"As a follow-up to the recent post and comments "Are You Managing or Just Nagging?", here's everything you need to facilitate a robust dialog on performance management, with lots of room for grey areas."

Wally's Comment: I rarely choose sequels or posts that are part of a series for this collection, but there's an exception to every rule and practice. Dan recently had a great post titled "Are You Managing or Just Nagging ." The post above will stand on its own, but you'll get more from it if you also read Dan's earlier post.

From Chris Edmonds: Plot Your Path to Ethical Behavior
"That is a longer term solution. In the short term, what can you do to ensure you behave ethically – in your own eyes and in those who observe your plans, decisions, and actions – each day?"

Wally's Comment : Wondering about a particular action? Chris Edmonds has three questions you can ask yourself to test it against your ethical standards.

From Jesse Lyn Stoner: 7 Things I Learned About Goal-Setting in 1999
'In 1999 I decided to re-prioritize my life. My children were five- and ten-years old, and my career was approaching a peak. I travelled two to three days a week and worked an additional 30 hours a week in my home office. I squeezed work into every crack – joining a conference call while preparing breakfast, responding to email while my children played, and preparing program materials after they went to sleep."

Wally's Comment: There's an awful lot written about the power of goal setting and a fair amount is bunk. Here's a post that illustrates the power of goals setting as well as the way goals and life interact.

From Mary Jo Asmus: Three Surprising Tips to Getting More Done: Work-Life Synergy
"Some of us remember the days when we were excited about the possibilities for technology to save us time. Personal computers, cell phones, and the internet allowed us to have access to any information wherever we were, and allowed others access to us whenever they needed. We really believed that that all of this connectivity would make us more efficient."

Wally's Comment : Mary Jo Asmus is an effective executive coach, so she knows that having a life as well as a job is a far bigger challenge than it sounds. She suggests three things you can pay attention to that will make it, if not easier, at least more effective.

From Scott Eblin: Is being the “go-to person” holding you back?
"A big part of my work as a coach involves working with high-potential leaders in workshops, keynotes and webinars. One of my favorite questions to ask these audiences is, “How many of you think of yourselves or have been referred to by others as the ‘go-to person?’ ” Usually, about every hand in the room goes up. I asked that question as a flash poll in a webinar recently, and 98% of the 400-plus managers and executives on the line affirmed that they are the go-to people. It’s not surprising, really. Most people who end up in leadership roles have built a reputation for being go-to people."

Wally's Comment: Boy, did I see myself in this post. It's more proof of how things that make us successful in one situation can have the opposite impact in another. Good news, though, Scott Eblin has three suggestions for how to neutralize the curse of being the "go-to" person.

That's it for this week's selections from independent business blogs. If you liked this piece you may enjoy my regular post on "Leadership Reading to Start Your Week" which features five choice articles from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms. The last issue had pointers to articles about Sam Palmisano, JC Penney, Carrefour, internal competition, and social media.

How I Select Posts for this Midweek Review

They must be published within the previous week.

They must support the purpose of the blog: to help leaders at all levels do a better job and lead a better life.

They must be from an independent business blog.

As a general rule, I only select posts that stand on their own, no selections from a series.

Also as a general rule, I do not select posts that are either a book review or a book report.

I reserve the right to make exceptions to the above.

Here, on Three Star Leadership, I post things that will help a boss at any level do better and live a better life. At Results vs Activities, I join other bloggers with posts on talent development. .

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

Boss's Tip of the Day: Take the Right Time to Decide

Wally Bock — 2012-02-01T15:25:00Z

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.

If you're a boss, you know that every day is a challenge to do better. This tip is based on the same research I used to develop my programs and the Working Supervisor's Support Kit .

Take the Right Time to Decide

Sure the world is moving fast and, yes, you must be quick to thrive in business today. And it's true that you should have a bias toward action and avoid "paralysis by analysis." BUT that doesn't mean you have to make every decision quickly or solve every problem lickety-split.

Ask, "When do we need to decide?" Then, if you have time and if you need more time to gather information or sharpen your analysis, take it.

If you have the time and you need the time, take the time.

If you find these tips helpful, you should consider purchasing my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

1/31/12: By and About Leaders

Wally Bock — 2012-01-31T21:01:00Z

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.

I think that one of the best ways to learn leadership isn't studying "leadership" at all. Instead, study individual leaders in their natural habitat and decide what they do that you want to try. That's why, every week, I bring you a selection of post about individual leaders. This week I'm pointing you to posts by and about Harry West and Lapo Elkann.

NY Times interview with Harry West: You Can’t Find the Future in the Archives
"I’m the eldest of six kids, and I think that may have some significance. One of the main groups in our company is the strategy group, and we once looked at the family position of most of the people in the group, and they’re pretty much 100 percent the eldest kid. So I think there’s some correlation between maybe being the eldest and wanting to blaze a trail. I think that probably helps in some way. But I think that’s just one type of leadership, which is the type I have: the need to find a new way and take responsibility for other

From the Globe and Mail: Fiat's Lapo Elkann: Revved up for new challenges
"Two amazing things about Lapo Elkann are his arms and his apartment. I was treated to a tour of both."