Today there are only two, because both are heavy on the meat, which requires more time and thought to digest and make use of.

The first is a global survey on how executives dealing with the recession as opposed to the thoughts and feelings of middle management. It makes for fascinating reading and offers up some interesting surprises.

The second discusses better ways to utilize frontline managers. “Instead of administrative work and meetings, they should focus on coaching their employees and on constantly improving quality.” Notice it says ‘instead‘, not ‘in addition to’, a not-so-subtle point that is missed by many higher level managers and executives. McKinsey also set up a discussion forum on Facebook and the author responded here.

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Post from: Leadership Turn

Assuming you live on this planet you’re aware that there’s a recession going on, so what’s happening in the world of youth and parents?

Business Week had a great article on Growing Up In A Recession, while the NY Times says that parents finally are figuring out that whatever doesn’t have to be new and are opting for hand-me-downs and cutting off their trust-fund babies. Good grief, they might have to make it on their own!

Do you tweet? Some college professors are finding uses for Twitter in their teaching, although enhancing spelling isn’t one of them; speaking of education, some schools are delivering sex ed via cell phone.

How fair or valuable are anonymous teacher rating sites, such as Rate My Professors or Professor Performance, some teachers don’t aren’t concerned, but others may not be so sanguine.

Multiple studies by professors at a variety of universities show that having interracial roommates reduces prejudice. Not that surprising, it’s hard to hate a real individual vs. a hypothetical stereotype.

Finally, there’s a new texting champion (control your enthusiasm) who practiced by sending 14,000 texts a month. Isn’t that thrilling?

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Post from: Leadership Turn

Based on your reaction to date, it’s been of little use to you—a giant yawn.

So I thought I’d ask you directly, do you like the feature?

If so, is the content I find of use to you or does it need refining?

If not, what would you like to see here on Saturdays?

Please don’t be shy. The worst thing for any blogger is to ask for guidance from readers and not get any. Makes us wonder if anyone is reading.

In the meantime, Here are a couple of goodies for today.

Margaret Heffernan’s two most recent posts (1/6 and 13) are the start of a series and offer smart, real-life examples on dealing with the recession. As Heffernan says,

“Think of recessions as tests. Companies that fail them die. Companies that survive live to fight another day. But a few companies emerge stronger than ever.”

They’re short, with solid lessons and ideas for you to start using immediately.

Another useful reminder for recession managing comes in an 18 month old article in Business Week on the value of failure in achieving success. It’s more important in today’s economy than it was then, because without a safe environment in which to fail there can be no innovation and a company without innovation is a company on the slippery, downward slope to mediocrity—or worse.

I hope they’re of use to you.

Don’t forget to leave your thoughts and preferences for Saturday subjects as requested earlier. If you’d rather send them for privacy, you can reach me at miki@RampUpSolutions.com (please put Leadership Turn in the subject line to avoid filters).

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Post from: Leadership Turn