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 by Linda Fisher Thornton, Frank Sonnenberg, Art Petty, Karin Hurt and David Dye, and Suzi McAlpine.

From Linda Fisher Thornton: Leaders: Practice Perspective Shifting

“We’re in a time when conversation can quickly become divisive, with otherwise friendly people choosing sides and ostracizing former friends and family members. This article will focus on the benefits of perspective shifting and how to practice it so that you can more quickly see beyond the disagreement to the bigger picture.”

From Frank Sonnenberg: Keep An Open Mind

“Open your eyes to the world around you. You just may learn something. It will make your decisions better, your relationships stronger, and it will transform you into a more enlightened person. Being open-minded doesn’t require a major investment of your time but rather, a fresh new way of thinking. It requires you to be a sponge — obtaining information from various sources, seeking input from people of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints, and evaluating that input based on its merits rather than on whether it conforms to your way of thinking. Do you have an open mind?”

From Art Petty: Who Are You?

“You aren’t a leader until people know who you are and why they should follow you. People comply with the title. They follow the person. While many individuals deliberately keep their work personas and their personal personas separate, I checked, and each of us is one person. Sure, there are boundaries, and you need to respect theirs and maintain some of yours without question. Yet, the faster you grow comfortable letting them see you as that whole person, the faster they’ll trust you.”

From Karin Hurt and David Dye: 7 Reasons Your Feedback is Being Ignored

“It’s a frustration we hear all the time. ‘My people aren’t coachable. They’re defensive. It’s like they have a wall and just won’t listen.’ We get it. One of the most frustrating human experiences is feeling ignored or unheard. And sometimes people who can’t grow aren’t in the right position. But… there are also legitimate reasons your people ignore feedback. Eliminate these roadblocks to build teams where everyone grows together.”

From Suzi McAlpine: Three common traps to avoid when it comes to one on ones (and one thing to dial up)

“One on ones with your direct reports are one of the most important meetings you’ll have as a leader. If you’re still not convinced, read this. But it’s not enough just to have them. How you approach your one on ones, and what you focus on during them, can be the difference between wasting time or providing huge benefits to both you and your team member. Here are three common traps to avoid when it comes to one on ones – and one thing you should dial up right now:”

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 a better job and live a better life. And, at my blog for part-time business book authors, I share tools and insights to help you write and publish a book you’ll be proud of.

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