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 Art Petty, Kate Nasser, Terry “Starbucker” St. Marie, Lolly Daskal, and Mary Jo Asmus.

From Art Petty: Are Your Management Approaches Stifling Thinking?

“Whether we are describing the workplace or the classroom setting, too often, our management approaches stifle independent thinking.”

From Kate Nasser: 5 Ways to Sound Helpful Not Patronizing

“Whether you are a leader, manager, teammate, friend, or family member, people skills timing and tone of voice improve your image, interactions and results.”

From Terry “Starbucker” St. Marie: A Leadership Key To Success: Don’t Do Second Things First

“Remember those yellow legal note pads? They used to be my constant companions earlier in my career, before PCs, smart phones, laptops, and tablets.”

From Lolly Daskal: The Chaotic Leader: How to Survive It

“Have you ever worked with a leader who was always inviting chaos or a boss who constantly had to create drama?”

From Mary Jo Asmus: The day your life and leadership begin

“Every leader has the chance to learn a little more about themselves every day. You might learn from adversity, feedback, self-assessments, therapy, or a coach. Whatever way you learn, reflect on it and have someone you can discuss it with. Understanding yourself is one of the most important things you can focus on.”

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 mastering the mechanics of reason and emotion, a data-driven guide to becoming an effective boss, six reasons why cross-functional innovation teams fail, and the organization man and woman.

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. At the The 360 Degree Feedback blog, I join other bloggers with posts on leadership development. And, at Wally Bock’s Writing Edge, I share tools and insights to help you write better.

If you’re a boss, you should check out my Working Supervisor’s Support Kit.