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 Karin Hurt, Art Petty, Kate Nasser, Jesse Lyn Stoner, and Mary Jo Asmus..

From Karin Hurt: 5 Times It’s Better to Say No

“Misplaced yeses sabotage relationships, goals, and well-being.”

From Art Petty: Steering Clear of ‘Flailure’

“It’s critical at this point for a firm’s leaders and managers to react carefully and appropriately in this unfamiliar terrain or they risk moving quickly from flail to fail.”

From Kate Nasser: Dealing w/ Toxic People

“I remember a colleague from years ago who remained incredibly calm in the face of toxic people. Despite the storm of frustration, she moved forward unscathed, with a positive attitude.”

From Jesse Lyn Stoner: How to Maximize Your Energy When You Don’t Have a Lot

“Many of us find our energy dissipates at this time of year when the days are short and the nights are long. Instead of trying to muscle your way through it, here’s how to maximize the energy you do have.”

From Mary Jo Asmus: Leading with comfort and joy

“A favorite ancient Christmas carol speaks of ‘tidings of comfort and joy’, reminding Christians to rest easy in Jesus and be assured that all will be well. I’ve always loved the carol and see that there is some relevance in comfort and joy to how you lead others.”

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 using predictive analytics to clone your best decision makers, women are changing the face of venture funding, frugal innovation, global workforce gender diversity, and automation, jobs, and the future of work.

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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