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 ways that leaders lose credibility, neutralizing fear, personality tests, creating a team charter, and “giving them something of value.”.

From Karin Hurt: 5 Subtle Ways Leaders Lose Credibility

“Credibility is hard to establish and even easier to lose. The sad truth is I’ve seen really good leaders lose the confidence and credibility of their teams by making well-intentioned and innocent mistakes. I’m not talking about the big stuff like lack of follow-through or breaking commitments, but the subtle shifts that undermine all the trust you’re working to build. Don’t fall into these traps.”

From Steve Roesler: Neutralize Fear, Bring Out the Sunshine

“What do you do when faced with fear? Forget about saying you will overcome it, ignore it, or deal with it later. You have to make it real so you can see it and deal with it for what it is and isn’t.”

From Lisa Rosendahl: {Personality Tests} Don’t Give Me That “I”!

“People are complex, variable and unpredictable. I like to think that we are more sophisticated than any 9-box grid, True Colors or personality test could ever hope to encompass. I feel violated when a marketers gets lucky and I suddenly ‘need’ something I didn’t know even existed a few minutes earlier. Nonetheless, personality tests are part of what we do. I recently took the Myers-Briggs as part of a health care leadership development program.”

From Jesse Lyn Stoner: Create a Team Charter to Go Faster and Smarter

“Victor’s team had recently delivered a couple of large projects, and he was pleased with their performance. But there was feedback that they were feeling burned out, and two people had recently requested transfers. When I suggested creating a Team Charter, he told me, ‘Planning is fine, but I’m all about action. I’d rather see people take action and feel ownership than set up a bunch of rules that slow things down.'”

From Mary Jo Asmus: Give them something of value

“In your work as a leader you’re at your best when you’re providing value to your organization (by getting the results that are expected) and to the people you interact with to achieve those results (through the relationships you have with them). It can be a struggle, but it’s one that pays off.”

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 about strategy, innovation, women and the workplace, and work now and in the future Highlights from the last issue include when convictions blind leaders, marijuana boom spawns ancillary businesses, innovation: why startups work, female entrepreneurs driving growth in small businesses, and a glimpse into the workplace of the future.

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.