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 Lolly Daskal, Karin Hurt and David Dye, Suzi McAlpine, Scott Eblin, and Jesse Lyn Stoner. Plus a tribute to Mary Jo Asmus.

From Lolly Daskal: How to Know Success Has Gotten to Your Head

“An overgrown ego is something to be consistently watchful for. Here are some of the most common signs:”

From Karin Hurt and David Dye: How to Encourage Your Team When Results are Disappointing

“It’s easy to lead when your team is on fire with fantastic results. You’re happy. Your boss is happy. Your team is happy. But even the best leaders face tricky circumstances when, despite great plans, long hours, and hard work, the results aren’t there. Today we share six ways to encourage your team while you work on your recovery strategy.”

From Suzi McAlpine: Beware the ‘Boss Shadow Effect’

“Many of us assume our teams are open and honest with us. About what they’re really thinking about our latest idea, how we ran that Monday morning meeting or what they think our strengths and weaknesses are as a leader. We like to consider ourselves approachable, open to feedback and self aware when it comes to our teams and how they view us, right? Well I hate to break it to you, but your team is probably holding back a bit more than you think they are.”

From Scott Eblin: Put Limits on Your Energy Drainers

“One of my favorite things to talk about with my executive coaching clients is ‘What are your energy givers and your energy drainers?'”

From Jesse Lyn Stoner: How to Create Shared Values That Guide Your Team to Greater Heights

“Values are beliefs about what is fundamentally important. They affect your decision-making and your behaviors, whether you are conscious of them or not. Your real values are reflected by your behavior, and if your espoused values are not consistent with your behavior, you will lose credibility and trust.”

From Mary Jo Asmus: The Good Bye

“Its time for me to say good-bye to this blog and to you. I’ve been writing here (at least) weekly for 11 years, and my internal compass indicates the signs are all there that something needs to be different. I don’t yet know what that means, but I know that it’s the right thing to do to open space for something else and to move on.”

Wally’s Comment: I first encountered Mary Jo Asmus when she commented on Steve Roesler’s blog. I remember that she jogged my thinking and I started following her blog. She’s been jogging my thinking, and maybe your thinking, for more than a decade. I know these times come, that they’re natural, but that doesn’t mean I won’t miss those regular, thoughtful posts. I can’t let her go without thanks for all those posts and all that insight. Fair winds and following seas for whatever’s next, Mary Jo.

That’s it for this week’s selections from independent business blogs. If you liked this piece you may enjoy my curation posts on this blog. Every Tuesday, “Leaders and Strategies in Real Life” helps you learn about leadership by studying what real leaders do. On Fridays you can wrap up your week with “Weekend Leadership Reading” consisting of choice articles on hot leadership topics culled from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms.

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.

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