From the Independent Business Blogs: 3/15/17

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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 Susan Mazza, Ken Downer, Jennifer Kahnweiler, Karin Hurt, and Mary Jo Asmus.

From Susan Mazza: How to Invest Today in Your Future

“If you do this already, then I applaud you. Yet the reality is, most of us don’t. It’s way too easy to get caught up in the grind of life. On a typical day, we may spend our time, we may use our time, but we don’t usually relate to our time as an investment of our life. All too often we get caught up in the activity of our never-ending to do lists.”

Wally’s Comment: My book, Become a Better Boss One Tip at a Time can help you keep moving forward in spite of the grind of life.

From Ken Downer: Mind the Gap: 9 Ways to Close the Trust Gap on Your Team

“People will only willingly follow you if they trust you, and believe in your destination. But like boarding a train, there comes a moment when they have to step from the platform into the passenger compartment and join you for the ride. Crossing that gap is a leap of faith: It requires trust.”

From Jennifer Kahnweiler: Five Proven Approaches To Bring Out Introverts

“Many introverts tell me that they prefer live meetings to conference calls. Why? They find it easier to read people when they can see them. Body language cues and facial expressions are helpful in understanding more about who is speaking and what they are expressing. Listening to voice cues alone is often limiting. Smart managers know workarounds to this dilemma and use 5 proven approaches to bring out introverts.”

From Karin Hurt: The Worst Mistake You Can Make With a Bad Hire

“The worst mistake you can make with a low-performing new hire is being overly patient. Why are we overly patient? Well first off, we hired them, and it’s just freaking awkward that they’re this bad. So we convince ourselves they’ll be okay, and hold our breath and wait. Or, we know how hard it can be in a new job…so we just give them time and space to get better, and assume it will all work out.”

From Mary Jo Asmus: The neuroscience of asking insightful questions

“I teach coaching skills to leaders. When I get to the section on how to ask questions (an important part of learning to coach) I might ask a trick question to start off: ‘How many of you are good at solving problems?’. Without fail, almost all hands shoot enthusiastically into the air.”

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 ten principles of strategy through execution, the four stages of success in executing strategy, why Amazon is the world’s most innovative company of 2017, Silicon Valley Bank report says lack of women in tech startups is getting worse, the risks and benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, disrupting 21st Century corporate learning, and raining that works.

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.

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