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 Scott Eblin, David Dye, Karin Hurt, Ed Batista, LaRae Quy, and Ken Downer.

From Scott Eblin: The Leadership Difference Between Being Accessible and Available

“You might think the two words mean more or less the same thing. They do in the dictionary, but they don’t in the realm of leadership. There’s a big difference between the two and the example of the leader who has an open-door policy but is never around to answer it explains the difference. Accessible and Available. Not the same thing.”

From David Dye and Karin Hurt: How to Promote the Best Leaders

“Your decisions about who you put in management and leadership roles are some of the most important leadership decisions you’ll ever make. It’s a decision about who you will trust with your most important asset—your people. With so much at stake and riding on the quality of your leaders, what do you look for when you want to promote the best leaders?”

From Ed Batista: The Hero’s Journey in Everyday Life

“What can myths and folk stories tell us about our day-to-day lives? In what ways do we re-enact these tales handed down to us over thousands of years? And what are the implications for the leaders I work with in my coaching practice?”

Wally’s Comment: This is a must-read. Almost all of the posts I’ve seen about the Hero’s Journey are about storytelling, like my post “How to Tell a Story to Your Kids or Your Customers.” Ed’s post will help you use familiar concepts to make sense of your daily life and the life of your team members.

From LaRae Quy: Here Is How Smart People Can Stop Sabotaging Their Success

“Stereotypes are one of those ugly words that are freighted with negative connotations. But unconsciously, we make excuses for ourselves and surround ourselves with self-limiting beliefs that are based on nothing more than stereotypes we’ve cultivated about ourselves. Here’s how smart people can stop sabotaging their success:”

From Ken Downer: Beat the Hamster Wheel: 5 Ways to Keep Going When You’d Rather Not

“If we want to achieve the goals we have set, there is hard work and steady effort ahead. But that doesn’t mean it has to be joyless spinning on a hamster wheel. In fact, it’s better if it isn’t. My workout on the treadmill yesterday was not something I relished, but by the end, I was really glad I stuck with it. Here’s what I learned, and how it can help you achieve your goals.”

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. 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. 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.

The 347 tips in my ebook can help you Become a Better Boss One Tip at a Time.

Just promoted from individual contributor? Check out my ebook, Now You’re the Boss: Making the Most of the Most Important Transition in Business.