Three Star Leadership Blog

5/24/13: Stories and Strategies from Real Life

Wally Bock — 2013-05-24T20:00:00Z

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

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Some of the best learning happens when you read stories real people and real companies. Read them for ideas, for lessons, and inspiration. This week's stories and strategies from real life are about a company growing faster than Apple, business models, the battery and bulb business, Sony, meeting the 9 to 5 challenge, Intel, and Snapple.

From Fortune: World Fuel Services: Growing faster than Apple on the Fortune 500
"A big player in a low-profile business has outpaced the tech giant in both revenue growth and stock return."

From the Charlotte Observer: Change keeps this Classic fresh
"David Pitts’ key to success is simple: Don’t fall in love with your business model."

From the Baltimore Business Journal: How I Got Started with Dustin Myers
"It is the nation’s largest all-battery-and-bulb franchise with over 550 locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. We sell over 40,000 different types of batteries, bulbs and related products."

From the NY Times: At Sony, Investor’s Challenge Brings Unwanted Suspense
"NOWHERE is the opulence of Old Hollywood more palpable than on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City. Arching just inside the front gate is an eight-story rainbow. This grand $1.6 million sculpture, a condition of a lot expansion, rose last year and became a symbolic link between past glories — “The Wizard of Oz” was filmed here — and current ones. Years of cutbacks have taken the shine off many studios, which now look like glorified factories. But Sony has preserved its lot as a perfect little movieland town: executive suites overflow with orchids, and cafes border a new park where employees sip lattes and stretch on the grass."

From the Charlotte Observer: Winning with a 9-to-5 crowd
"More than 82,000 people enter uptown Charlotte every weekday morning. And every weeknight, most of those 82,000 people leave. That 9-to-5 swell-and-recede pattern could be unsettling to potential vendors for whom five days of commerce per week isn’t enough. But for Whitney Ferguson and her mother, Susan Young, it posed the perfect opportunity."

From the Mercury News: Intel CEO shakes up units, new group focuses on mobile and innovation
" Intel's new CEO, Brian Krzanich, has launched a sweeping company reorganization and created a unit aimed at growing the Santa Clara chipmaker's market share in mobile technology."

From the Wall Street Journal: Snapple Guy's Overnight Success Took Decades
"Leonard Marsh transformed a tiny fruit-juice supplier into Snapple, a national brand of fruit-flavored beverages and iced tea powered by quirky marketing and bold flavors."

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.

Boss's Tip of the Day: How can I help?

Wally Bock — 2013-05-24T13:31:00Z

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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 .

How can I help?

Power questions can help you and the team improve performance."How can I help?" is the power question that expresses the heart of your role.

If you're a boss, your job is to help the team and the team members succeed. So ask "How can I help?" a lot.

Don't just ask the question in one straightforward way. Look for ways you can help and ask "Can I help you with that?" Ask "If we do this, will it help?" Ask "What kind of help do you need?"

Don't stop there, either. When you find out how to help, help. The helping example you set is contagious.

If you have a copy of the Working Supervisor's Support Kit , you'll find more on this in the chapter titled "Some Basic Principles."

The Second Phase of the Revolution

Wally Bock — 2013-05-23T20:18:41Z

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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.

Each Revolution starts with a basic invention. For Printing, it was movable type, for the Industrial Revolution, it was the steam engine. For the Digital Revolution, I'd nominate the UNIVAC computer.

That first invention is important, but things don't change much for another half century. It's the period some engineers call "The Steam Engine Phase." That's when there are lots of improvements to the basic invention, but nothing much changes in what we do with it.

James Watt put his modified steam engine to work in textile mills spinning cotton in 1785. The steam engine made a big difference. But, just like printing with movable type, the first differences it made were mostly in improvements to the way we did the old things.

Right around fifty years after the development of the steam engine, though, there was another invention tied to it that had radical impact. It was the railroad.

There were lots of other things that steam power affected. Certainly, steamships could do things that sailing ships could not, but those things didn’t seem to have the impact that the railroads did. Railroads changed our concept of the world.

With railroads, for the first time, a human being could travel faster than the sun. It might not be jet lag, but it probably was train lag. Springing up along with the railroads, because of their special needs, were special types of towns, management practices, and even ways of keeping time.

I'll call that "The Railroad Phase" of a great revolution. We're in one right now.

1951 was the year that the UNIVAC computer was introduced. "UNIVAC" became common slang for "computer" after the UNIVAC was used to project Dwight Eisenhower as the winner of the 1952 US Presidential election.

For fifty years, the computer created changes, but they were mostly changes in the same things. We could do what we'd done before only faster, better, easier, or with greater reach. Then we moved into the Railroad Phase.

Since the turn of the century we've been awash in new things. iPhone and iPad have changed the definition of what a computer is for most people and what they're used for. Social networking tools change the way we keep track of each other and manage relationships. And it's just starting.

Boss's Bottom Line

Keep your head up and in swivel mode, because things are changing fast. Stay light on your feet, because you will have to change, too.

Boss's Tip of the Day: Tell power stories

Wally Bock — 2013-05-23T13:30:00Z

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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 .

Tell power stories

Stories are the way humans communicate best. We've used them since we developed language. If you're a boss, you can use them to help the team perform better.

Choose power stories you can tell. Power stories are ones that illustrate your values and reinforce your culture.

Learn to tell stories naturally and well. Let your conversations and the comments of others suggest relevant stories from your repertoire. Then tell them well.

If you have a copy of the Working Supervisor's Support Kit , you'll find more on this in the chapter titled "Some Basic Principles."

5/22/13: A Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs

Wally Bock — 2013-05-22T20:00:00Z

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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 taming your calendar, making work meaningful, stewardship as an alternative to leadership, when you're ready for a coach, and the unknown unknowns.

From Scott Eblin: Seven Tips for Taming Your Calendar
"As the inflow becomes heavier and the expectations become higher, taming the calendar beast is a common challenge for leaders. Here are seven of the best ideas I’ve heard lately from leaders who are figuring out how to leverage their time to get important stuff done:"

From Tanveer Naseer: Making The Case For Creating Meaningful Work
"If there’s one ailment most of us can agree on that’s found in today’s workplaces it’s a lack of engagement between employees and their work. Specifically, a lack of connection between what we do and what matters to us – both professionally and personally. Now, thanks to the recent study 'Philips Work/Life Survey' conducted by Philips North America, we have additional insights into why organizations and their leaders need to address the issue of creating meaningful work in today’s workplaces."

From Jesse Lyn Stoner: Stewardship Is an Alternative to Leadership
"Stewardship is about choosing service over self-interest. It begins with a willingness to be deeply accountable for a body larger than yourself - for a team, an organization, a community. Imagine how strong your organization would be if everyone were deeply committed and accountable for its success. These are not new ideas. The evidence and research results are in, and we know for a fact that partnership and participation are the management strategies that create high-performance workplaces. Words like empowerment, collaboration and partnership have been tossed around for years. So how are today’s organizations and institutions doing?"

From Mary Jo Asmus: When are you ready for an executive coach?
"When I first started coaching, there were times that I would cringe at the promotion of my profession. At that time, a few well-known coaches had promoted our work as something mythical, magical, a cure for everything and a way to BECOME AN OVERNIGHT BILLIONAIRE! (yikes). I’m here to tell you that getting coached isn’t any of those things, and it isn’t always easy."

From Lolly Daskal: Leadership: What We Don’t Know We Don't Know
"I believe that learning is stronger than knowledge, that perception is more potent than reality, that vision is more powerful than actuality. I see learning taking place at three separate levels."

Carnivals and Such

Frontline Festival-May 2013: Trust and Transparency Edition hosted by Karin Hurt

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" points you to choice articles from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms. The last issue had pointers to articles about leadership and strategy, industries (including automotive, movies, and venture capital), the workplace (virtual and otherwise) and stories about LeBron James and Steve Burd.

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: Manage the observable

Wally Bock — 2013-05-22T13:29:00Z

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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 .

Manage the observable

You can't manage what you can't observe. So don't worry about "attitude." You can't observe it or document it. Instead pay attention to behavior, what people say and what they do.

If you find yourself thinking, "That person has a bad attitude," ask yourself what they say or do that sparks those thoughts.

If you have a copy of the Working Supervisor's Support Kit , you'll find more on this in the chapter titled "Some Basic Principles."

5/21/13: By and About Leaders

Wally Bock — 2013-05-21T20:00:00Z

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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. Articles by and about leaders and interviews with them are mini-case studies that show you an actual leader in a real situation.

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 Sir Ronald Cohen, Prasad Kaipa, Doug Oberhelman, Ginni Rometty, Harry Herington, Dick Costolo, and Phil Jackson.

From INSEAD: Sir Ronald Cohen: Venture Capitalist to Social Capitalist
"Sir Ronald Cohen is one of the founding fathers of modern venture capitalism. Now he is advocating a revolutionary new approach to narrow the widening gap between rich and poor, and wants investors to replace the “invisible hand” with the “invisible heart”."

Mercury News Interview: Prasad Kaipa, mentor to CEOs.
"After three years working for Apple (AAPL), Prasad Kaipa spent a snowy weekend alone in Yosemite, contemplating his career. He decided to quit his job."

From Business Week: Caterpillar's Doug Oberhelman: Manufacturing's Mouthpiece
"Oberhelman, 60, has a sturdy, serious demeanor that’s made him an ideal spokesman for American manufacturing. Over the past two years the Caterpillar chief has emerged as a powerful advocate for policy changes he believes will boost exports and create jobs: looser trade restrictions, a lower corporate tax rate, and greater infrastructure spending. Oberhelman recently became chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers, the industry’s influential trade organization, and has counseled numerous congressmen and the president."

From Fortune: Ginni Rometty reveals the future of Watson for IBM
'On May 15, Fortune senior writer Jessi Hempel interviewed IBM (IBM) CEO Ginni Rometty as a keynote for the National Venture Capital Association's 40th anniversary conference, Venturescape. What follows is an edited version of their conversation."

From the NY Times: Harry Herington of NIC, on Building Trust in Leaders
"This interview with Harry Herington, chief executive of NIC Inc., a provider of online services for federal, state and local governments, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant."

From Inc: Twitter CEO Dick Costolo: What I've Learned
"Dick Costolo’s path to CEO of Twitter has actually been full of surprising twists, and the company he runs has been a continual source of amazement--to him as well as everyone else. Costolo came to Twitter in 2009 as COO and took over as CEO, supposedly temporarily, when co-founder Evan Williams went on paternity leave. (Moral: Don't go on paternity leave.) He was interviewed this week by Jason Mendelson of the Foundry Group at the annual meeting of the National Venture Capital Association, the venture capitalists’ trade group. The following is an edited version of his remarks."

From the NY Times: Why Basketball Won’t Leave Phil Jackson Alone
"There is no such thing as life after basketball for the 13-time N.B.A. champion. Life is basketball."

Boss's Tip of the Day: What's new?

Wally Bock — 2013-05-21T13:30:00Z

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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 .

What's new?

Power questions can help you and the team improve performance. "What's new?" is a power question that can serve as an early warning system.

It seems like such a simple question, but "What's new?" can help you spot problems and opportunities early. Ask it during your conversations with team members. They deal with internal and external customers every day. They'll notice changes before anyone else and they can help you decide if what's new represents a problem or opportunity.

You'll get the most value from this question if you do two things. First, don't argue and don't interrupt. Second, ask the key follow-up question: "What do you think about that?"

If you have a copy of the Working Supervisor's Support Kit , you'll find more on this in the chapter titled "Some Basic Principles."

Ideas are like the rain

Wally Bock — 2013-05-20T20:00:00Z

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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.

On Sunday we had the kind of rainstorm that people around here call a "frog strangler." Torrents of rain poured out of the sky, filling gutters and sewers and watering plants and lawns. It got me thinking about how rain and ideas are alike

Rain and ideas are outcomes of natural processes. People have ideas because they're human. It's what happens next that matters, just like with the rain.

One of my neighbors has a cistern where he captures rainwater. You can capture ideas too. When you have an idea, capture it on a note card, in a journal, or in digital form. Then you'll have a bunch of ideas to consider when you need a good one.

My neighbor uses his cistern to provide water for his lawn and his garden. When we use ideas to create something, we call the process innovation. The ideas that matter, like the rain, are the ones we put to good use.

Boss's Bottom Line

Ideas will come naturally, like the rain. Capture them and use them wisely.

Boss's Tip of the Day: Who will be affected?

Wally Bock — 2013-05-20T13:29:00Z

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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 .

Who will be affected?

Power questions can help you and the team improve performance. "Who will be affected?" is a power question that will help you assess the impact of any change.

Whenever you're considering a change ask who will be affected. The answer usually includes more than the first people who come to mind. The families of your team members may be affected. Consider the situation of vendors and customers. Keep asking till you're sure you've identified everyone. Then ask the question one more time.

You can make your analysis more helpful if you ask: "How will they respond?" Don't assume they won't care. Do assume they'll react.

Ask who will be affected will help you spot unintended consequences and unworkable solutions.

If you have a copy of the Working Supervisor's Support Kit , you'll find more on this in the chapter titled "Some Basic Principles."

5/19/13: Leadership Reading to Start Your Week

Wally Bock — 2013-05-19T22:00:00Z

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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 choice articles on hot leadership topics culled from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms, to start off your work week. I'm pointing you to articles about leadership and strategy, industries (including automotive, movies, and venture capital), the workplace (virtual and otherwise) and stories about LeBron James and Steve Burd. Be sure to look for dots that you can connect.

Note: Some links require you to register or are to publications that have some form of limited paywall.

Thinking about Leadership and Strategy

From BCG Perspectives: The Ingenious Enterprise: Competing Amid Rising Complexity
"Business, at its heart, is about solving problems. Problem solving is performed both explicitly by analysts and computers and implicitly by your organization as a whole. And the way your organization is designed—the structure, processes, communication policies, incentives, training, and talent management you have in place—shapes the way your problems are approached and solved. Many organizations, however, lack explicit strategies for problem solving."

From London Business School BSR: Transform your business model by discovering your Plan B
"If the founders of Google, Starbucks, or PayPal had stuck to their original business plans, we’d likely never have heard of them. Instead, they made radical changes to their initial models, became household names, and delivered huge returns for their founders and investors. How did they get from their Plan A to a business model that worked? Why did they succeed when most new ventures crash and burn?"

From Mike Myatt: Leadership Lesson: The Difference Between Google and Apple
"Google and Apple are both highly esteemed brands. Both companies share many common traits which have contributed to their success, but there is one very big difference between the two – Google plays offense while Apple has recently settled for playing defense. Apple is struggling to maintain its position in the market, while Google is expanding its position."

Innovation and Technology

From Forbes: New App Lets You Boycott Koch Brothers, Monsanto And More By Scanning Your Shopping Cart
"Once you’ve scanned an item, Buycott will show you its corporate family tree on your phone screen. Scan a box of Splenda sweetener, for instance, and you’ll see its parent, McNeil Nutritionals, is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Even more impressively, you can join user-created campaigns to boycott business practices that violate your principles rather than single companies. One of these campaigns, Demand GMO Labeling, will scan your box of cereal and tell you if it was made by one of the 36 corporations that donated more than $150,000 to oppose the mandatory labeling of genetically modified food."

Industries and Analysis

From the NY Times: Chinese Creating New Auto Niche Within Detroit
"Dozens of companies from China are quietly planting roots in Detroit, investing in American businesses and new vehicle technology in what is seen as a first step toward the sale of Chinese cars in the United States."

From Industry Week: The Competitive Edge: Myths About Manufacturing
"'We don't need to make anything here to create wealth' and other myths still hamper the U.S. manufacturing recovery."

From the NY Times: As Studios Lean on Blockbusters, the Flop Looms
"Hollywood, increasingly reliant on big-budget spectacles that make hundreds of millions of dollars, may be headed over a blockbuster cliff."

From the Mercury News: Latest quarterly numbers paint dismal picture for venture capital
"When tech investors from around the country convened in San Francisco last week for the annual convention of the National Venture Capital Association, spirits were high. The group was celebrating its 40th anniversary, and members hailed last year's passage of the JOBS Act, which advocates say will help more companies go public by easing regulations. But the association's latest quarterly funding roundup provides a sobering counterpoint."

Work Now and in the Future

From Wharton: Productivity in the Modern Office: A Matter of Impact
"More than 50 years after management guru Peter Drucker first wrote about the difficulty of defining and measuring the productivity of knowledge workers, management experts say many companies still do a poor job of it. 'In general, organizations have not truly come to grips with how to think about productivity in a knowledge economy, let alone how best to manage it,' says Jordan Cohen, a productivity expert with PA Consulting Group."

From Corey Michael Blake: 8 Steps To Create A Powerful Virtual Culture
"As a virtual company that employs 20 people spread all over the country, Round Table Companies (RTC) learned the value of investing time and money into our culture. As a company that helps individuals and companies to connect to their audiences through storytelling, brilliance and joy are two of our core values — and they cannot be achieved without feeling highly connected, caring for one another and setting a tone that empowers people. Since our inception in 2005, we have discovered that there are certain keys to thriving in a virtual business:"

From the Globe and Mail: With no middle managers, travel agency loses its way
"Alexandre Handa and two business partners spun off Toronto-based Handa Travel Student Trip Ltd. (S-Trip) from his father’s travel company, Handa Travel Group, in 2006. All its employees were equals."

These didn't fit in any of the above categories

From Michael Schrage: What LeBron James Knows About Analytics that You Should Too
"Kirk Goldsberry brilliantly describes the open secret to James' success: Nothing makes serious competitors more open to analytics than losing."

From the Mercury News: Safeway CEO Steve Burd has legacy as a risk-taker
"After a forceful two decades of leadership, Steve Burd will step down from Safeway this week, leaving behind a company that he molded into the nation's second-largest supermarket chain. He shepherded the grocery retailer through its most tumultuous period, and the company now bears little resemblance to the floundering operation he took over in 1993."

Wally's Comment : That's the only article that I could find (outside the supermarket business publications) about Steve Burd as he retired. I wonder why.

Carnivals and Such

Frontline Festival-May 2013: Trust and Transparency Edition hosted by Karin Hurt

If you enjoyed this post, you should check out my other curation posts. Here are the ones from last week.

5/14/13: By and About Leaders
Studying individual leaders is a great way to learn about leadership. Think of each article as a mini-case study in leadership. This week I'm pointing you to posts by and about David Steinberg, Jack Ma, John Paton, Rob and Zoe Benzinger, Brooke Denihan Barrett, Denise Morrison, Linda Rabbitt, and Beth Comstock.

5/15/13: 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 the duality of leadership, values and choices, real issues in work/life fit, why leaders should be indifferent, and 10 tools for new managers

5/17/13: Stories and Strategies from Real Life
Some of the best learning happens when you read stories real people and real companies. Read them for ideas, for lessons, and inspiration. This week's stories and strategies from real life are about Warby Parker and Reed Hastings

"Sir Alex Ferguson," "Thank heavens for Miss Daisy," and "A Force for Good " 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.

5/19/13: Big Data

Wally Bock — 2013-05-19T13:57:32Z

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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 seems like every day brings another learned article or hyped-up news release about Big Data. How can Mrs. Bock's little boy (or anyone else) make sense of it? Maybe we need to stop being so serious. How about a TV sitcom titled "Big Data?"

I imagine that the lead character would be Andreas Weigend or some other big-brained computer scientist. In each episode he would have some wacky adventures involving Big Data. One week they'd be solving world hunger. The next week they might be enslaving everyone on the planet. The possibilities are endless.

Well, until that comes along you'll have to make do with what's been appearing in the business and technology press about Big Data. Here are five articles to help you make sense of it all.

From the NY Times: Transforming Data
"Someday you’ll tell your grandchildren you remember the old days when data just sat there, like some list of information for people to look at."

From Thomas C. Redman: In a Big Data World, Don't Forget Experimentation
"In the data world today, 'big' dominates. But sometimes you don't need big. You need a small dose of exactly the right data. Data that bear precisely on the question at hand, that you understand deeply, and that you can trust. If such data are already at hand, great. But frequently they are not. And then, nothing beats a well-conceived, -designed, - controlled, -executed, and -analyzed experiment. Companies need to make sure experimentation is included in their 'data toolkits,' learn when to use it, and develop the skills to conduct effective experiments."

From Chief Executive: Getting Smart With Big Data
"When smaller companies reach the big leagues of data analysis, it pays off, often giving them capabilities that larger firms lack."

From the Wall Street Journal: How Many Turns in a Screw? Big Data Knows
"Companies' pursuit of 'big data'—collecting and crunching ever larger amounts of information—is often thought of as another way to figure out exactly what customers want. But big data is also a means of measuring millions of little things in factories, such as how many times each screw is turned."

From the MIT Technology Review: The Data Made Me Do It
"Would you trade your personal data for a peek into the future? Andreas Weigend did."

5/18/13: Wally's Posts on Leadership and Talent Development

Wally Bock — 2013-05-18T20:00:00Z

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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 posts on leadership and talent development this week. There were posts on Sir Alex Ferguson, the power of coaching, great supervisors, and being a force for good. There were also pointers to other resources by and about leaders, on talent development, to top posts from the independent business blogs, and my Boss's Tips of the Day.

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

Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson is one of sports history's greatest coaches, so his retirement is drawing a lot of attention. But Sir Alex was no ordinary successful coach and his is no ordinary retirement.

5/12/13: Leadership Reading to Start Your Week
Here are choice articles on hot leadership topics culled from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms, to start off your work week. They're about leadership and strategy, success and failure and important issues of the day. This week, I'm pointing you to several articles including those about why managers haven't embraced complexity, innovation at Corning, additive manufacturing, international banking, food trucks, competition in the mobile space, and women tech entrepreneurs flourish in L.A.

Thank heavens for Miss Daisy
I've observed supervisors for a couple of decades now. The good ones are always in the mix with their team. Miss Daisy is one of the good ones.

5/14/13: By and About Leaders
Studying individual leaders is a great way to learn about leadership. Think of each article as a mini-case study in leadership. This week I'm pointing you to posts by and about David Steinberg, Jack Ma, John Paton, Rob and Zoe Benzinger, Brooke Denihan Barrett, Denise Morrison, Linda Rabbitt, and Beth Comstock.

5/15/13: 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 the duality of leadership, values and choices, real issues in work/life fit, why leaders should be indifferent, and 10 tools for new managers

A Force for Good
The work you do as a boss isn't just about business results. It's also about your effect on people's lives.

5/17/13: Stories and Strategies from Real Life
Some of the best learning happens when you read stories real people and real companies. Read them for ideas, for lessons, and inspiration. This week's stories and strategies from real life are about Warby Parker and Reed Hastings

My posts at Results vs. Activities on Talent Development

You don't know how good you've got it
Today, you can get coaching to help you do a better job. It wasn't always that way.

5/16/13: Top Talent Development Posts this Week
Every week, I review blogs and other publications that cover talent development to find the very best talent development posts. This week, you'll find pointers to pieces about online hiring tools, talent poaching, onboarding, what to do after the talent review, and retaining top talent.

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 two clients. I'm helping working on a book about what Professor Clay Christensen says could be "more important than disruption." I'm writing a training manual for a client and coaching two 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.

5/17/13: Stories and Strategies from Real Life

Wally Bock — 2013-05-17T20:00:00Z

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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.

From Wharton: What Eyeware Startup Warby Parker Sees That Others Don't
"Shortly after Neil Blumenthal launched Warby Parker, the e-commerce eyeware startup known for its $95 retro-cool frames, customers emailed asking if they could "stop by" the company's Philadelphia headquarters and check out the glasses for themselves. There was just one problem: Warby Parker -- the brainchild of Blumenthal and three Wharton classmates, Andrew Hunt, Jeffrey Raider and David Gilboa -- didn't have a showroom. So they improvised."

From Business Week: Netflix, Reed Hastings Survive Missteps to Join Silicon Valley's Elite
"On a normal weeknight, Netflix (NFLX) accounts for almost a third of all Internet traffic entering North American homes. That’s more than YouTube, Hulu, Amazon.com (AMZN), HBO Go, iTunes, and BitTorrent combined. Traffic to Netflix usually peaks at around 10 p.m. in each time zone, at which point a chart of Internet consumption looks like a python that swallowed a cow. By midnight Pacific time, streaming volume falls off dramatically"

Boss's Tip of the Day: Positive What if?

Wally Bock — 2013-05-17T13:29:00Z

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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 .

Positive What if?

Power questions can help you and the team improve performance. The Positive What if? question is the power question that helps reveal possibilities.

Don't limit yourself to the usual planning or problem solving questions. Ask "What would we do if resources weren't a constraint?

Resources include money, staffing, time, technology, know-how, and more. Asking this question will reveal ideas that may actually be possible. It will stretch your thinking, too.

If you have a copy of the Working Supervisor's Support Kit , you'll find more on this in the chapter titled "Some Basic Principles."

A Force for Good

Wally Bock — 2013-05-16T20:00:00Z

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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.

In the early part of my career, I was working as the general manager for a trucking and rigging company. Charlie somehow talked himself into a job with us. It was a horrid fit.

The work in our yard and on our job sites was hard, physical and dangerous. Charlie didn't have the experience, stamina, or temperament for it. It took a couple of days for us to realize how bad it was. I waited until Monday morning, called Charlie into my office and fired him.

The next day, the Yard Boss came to my office and told me that Charlie had clocked in and was working in the yard. "I thought you said you'd fired him."

I brought Charlie up to the office. Explained that he was no longer working there, reviewed the reasons, and asked if he understood. He said he did. I told him we'd pay him for the day, since there was obviously a misunderstanding, but that wouldn't happen again. He left.

The next day I got to the office a little late and the Yard Boss met me in the parking lot. "He's back. Can't you even fire someone?" I repeated the process of the previous day, but without paying Charlie.

The next day, he showed up again, but this time I caught him at the time clock. We went to my office. Charlie started to cry.

It turned out that he was afraid to tell his wife that he'd been fired. So he packed his lunch and put on his safety boots in the morning and went back to "work."

We wound up getting his wife involved, which turned out to be a very good thing. She, in turn, got their Pastor involved for some counseling for both of them. Charlie never came back to the yard. It was a happy ending.

The ending got even happier about two years later. Charlie sent me an invitation to his graduation from technical school. With his wife's support and his Pastor's help, he had gone to school and gotten some training that helped him land a job repairing office equipment. He loved it and I'm sure he was better at it than he was at working for us.

Boss's Bottom Line

What you do has impact beyond the numbers. What you do and how you treat people changes their lives and yours. Be a force for good.

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Monique Valcour for her wonderful post "The Ripple Effects You Create as a Manager" which triggered the memories and inspired the thoughts that resulted in this post.

Boss's Tip of the Day: Negative What if?

Wally Bock — 2013-05-16T13:30:00Z

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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 .

Negative What if?

Power questions can help you and the team improve performance. "What if?" is a power question that you can use to prepare for surprises.

Ask "What if?" to think about what you'll do when disaster strikes.

What if we lose our best customer?

What if NAME gets sick?

What if the computer goes down?

What if a tornado strikes?

You can come up with your own list. Asking "What if?" helps you think in advance about how to respond to emergencies. Asking "What if?" also helps you and your team members develop agile thinking skills.

If you have a copy of the Working Supervisor's Support Kit , you'll find more on this in the chapter titled "Some Basic Principles."

5/15/13: A Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs

Wally Bock — 2013-05-15T20:00:00Z

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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 the duality of leadership, values and choices, real issues in work/life fit, why leaders should be indifferent, and 10 tools for new managers.

From Lolly Daskal: The Duality Of Leadership
"As twenty-first century leaders, we need to understand that we are moving toward a NEW ethic, one that is built on duality. In the OLD way of thinking, we based our leadership on a set of shared values and principles aimed at achieving moral perfection while maintaining social order and well being. What got left behind in the old approach are the things that we are coming to value and seek out in the NEW: authenticity, vulnerability, unity."

From Mary Jo Asmus: Family and friends
"Remember that your organization is always willing to take whatever you give. The lure of that giving is seductive. What choices do you need to make today so that decades from now, you can say you’ve had no regrets about how you spent your time?"

From Cali Yost: It's Not Just About "When" You'll Work, But "Where"
"We’ve thrown everyone into the work flexibility water without lessons and said, “swim,” then wonder why so many of us still cling to the side of pool not sure how to move forward. One area of confusion I hear often is that most people still think managing your work+life fit is simply a matter of good time management. Actually, it’s not. In a world without clocks and walls to tell us where work ends and the other parts of our life begin, 'when' we are going to accomplish a particular action or priority is important. But you also have to focus on the 'where' and 'how.'"

From Scott Eblin: Why Leaders Need to Be Indifferent
"A couple of months ago, I was talking with an executive leader I’ve known for a few years. One of the things I’ve noticed about him in that time is that his confidence has grown in a very appropriate and admirable way. I mentioned this to him and, in reply, he laughed softly and said, 'It’s a fine line between confidence and indifference.'"

From Katy Tynan: Top 10 Tools and Resources for New Managers
"Starting a new job with management responsibilities? It can be overwhelming. The good news is there are plenty of tools to help you be successful in your new management role. Here are a few of my favorites:"

Wally's Comment: In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that one of the resources on Katy's list is my Working Supervisor's Support Kit. In the spirit of gratitude, I thank her for including it.

Carnivals and Such

Carnival of HR hosted by Robert Tanner at Management Journey

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" points you to choice articles from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms. The last issue had pointers to several articles including those about why managers haven't embraced complexity, innovation at Corning, additive manufacturing, international banking, food trucks, competition in the mobile space, and women tech entrepreneurs flourish in L.A.

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 a fresh look

Wally Bock — 2013-05-15T13:29:00Z

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 a fresh look

Power questions can help you and the team improve performance. "What would we do if we were new?" is the power question that will help you take a fresh look at what you're doing.

The force of habit is like the force of gravity. It's invisible, but it's strong. So we go on, doing things the way we've always done them, even if there's a better way. You can find that way if you stop from time to time and ask "What would we do if we were new?"

Make that question a frequent feature of your team meetings. Devote time to a single process or practice and ask what you would do today if you were starting from scratch.

There are lots of names for this technique. I've heard it called the "Visitor from Mars" approach. Some call it "the Andy Grove approach" after the time in his career where he asked this question about Intel's basic business. It's also called "looking at a situation with fresh eyes" or approaching it with "a beginner's mind."

Whatever you call it, do it.

If you have a copy of the Working Supervisor's Support Kit , you'll find more on this in the chapter titled "Some Basic Principles."

5/14/13: By and About Leaders

Wally Bock — 2013-05-14T20:00:00Z

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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.

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 David Steinberg, Jack Ma, John Paton, Rob and Zoe Benzinger, Brooke Denihan Barrett, Denise Morrison, Linda Rabbitt, and Beth Comstock.

From the NY Times: He’s No Longer the Loudest Guy in the Room
"David Steinberg, chief of XL Marketing, says that entrepreneurs can learn a lot about people and understand them if they are more open and inquisitive."

From the Wall Street Journal: Jack Ma of Alibaba
"How Is an IPO Like a Marriage? The Billionaire Founder of China's Alibaba Goes Public."

From the Globe and Mail: Charting print through choppy waters
"Mr. Paton, who got his start as a copy boy at the Toronto Sun, is now in charge of one of America’s largest newspaper groups, one with more than 75 daily newspapers in the United States and their affiliated digital properties through Digital First Media. He has also fashioned himself as something of a guru on the new world of selling news in the digital age -- a reputation he carries despite the apparent lack of financial success of some of the entities he manages, such as Journal Register Co., which last year filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in three years. Mr. Paton is undeterred. He sees a fleeting opportunity to build a new industry on the back of the old."

From the Baltimore Business Journal: How I Got Started, with Rob and Zoe Benzinger
"We manufacture botanical skin care products including Shave With Benefits, with an all-natural foam that makes the razor perform better and last longer."

From the NY Times: Brooke Denihan Barrett on Family and Business
"This interview with Brooke Denihan Barrett, co-chief executive of Denihan Hospitality Group, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant."

From the Boston Globe: Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison talks corporate innovation
"If you still think of Campbell's as the tomato soup behemoth that inspired Andy Warhol, maybe you haven't been paying attention. The New Jersey company these days offers customized Goldfish crackers, and recently launched a new line of microwaveable soups exclusively through digital and social media like Spotify, Tumblr, and the Angry Birds game. The company also named a vice president of innovation, Michael Paul, in March. A few nuggets from Morrison's keynote address, and my quick chat with her afterward."

From the NY Times: Founder of Rand Construction Didn’t Care for Teaching
"Linda Rabbitt is the founder, chairwoman and C.E.O. of Rand Construction in Washington."

From Knowledge at Wharton: Beth Comstock and GE: Imagining the Future
"Beth Comstock was stuck. A self-described small-town Virginia native, she was in her mid-20s, recently divorced and the mother of a four-year-old daughter. She was also shy and somewhat wary of change. One way or the other, though, a change was going to come, so she decided to screw up the courage to make it a big one."