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 spotting and solving problems, micromanagement, time management from the inside, what defines a great job, and clearing the path for team members.

From Susan Mazza: Nothing is Wrong

“On the surface, problems can seem simple and the solutions obvious. Of course, sometimes they are.  On the other hand, what seems like an easy and obvious fix may only serve to treat the symptom and not address the underlying problem.  Other times you solve one problem only to reveal or even create another”

From Karin Hurt: The Insiders Guide to Micromanagement

“I’ve yet to meet a manager who admits to being a micromanager, but according to micromanagement expert Harry Chambers and other corroborating research, the majority of workers indicate that micromanagement has interfered with job performance. I imagine the disconnect is that it’s rarely an either/or situation. Micromanaging is a dysfunctional behavior that most leaders fall into from time to time. So how do you know if you’re slipping into the micro management trap?”

From Lolly Daskal: Master Time Management From Inside Out

“Time management is an art. It involves efficiency and productivity with a focus on our goals. It is not about filling every moment with busy work, but rather organizing our time around what is important. Successful leaders master their time from inside out”

From Les Hayman: What Defines A Great Job

“One of the questions that I was asked was, notwithstanding my three career rules of ‘never do a job you hate, never work for a boss you can’t respect and never work for a company you can’t be proud of’, which of my jobs did I love the most and why.”

From Art Petty: Your Job is to Clear the Path

“The best gift you can provide to your team members is the gift of time. If you’ve got the right team members (with the right values), they’ll respond to your willingness to clear the path with enthusiasm, creativity and commitment.”

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 three ways to improve strategy making, the newspaper business:, incremental innovation, the 2014 Forbes Women’s Summit, and less flexible companies for workers.

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.