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 Mary Jo Asmus, Mick Yates, Julie Winkle Giulioni, Lolly Daskal, and Jesse Lyn Stoner.

From Mary Jo Asmus: The courageous conversation you must have

“The project was suffering, at a plateau several millions of dollars into it’s beginning. It was an enterprise-wide global effort; a new system that would make life easier and ultimately save money for our company. We were in somewhat of a crisis and saving money by leveraging such systems was pretty important.”

From Mick Yates: Why More Bosses Should Be Like Michael Scott

“But as he would say, he’s not a bad person. He has shown time and again on the mockumentary NBC TV show ‘The Office,’ that there are hints of a good manager in there. He’s risen through the ranks from staff to management. He’s good at recognizing his soft spots (sometimes too good at announcing them). And nobody knows more about his staff and their skills than he does. Here are five examples of traits he showed, ones many bosses could put to good use.”

From Julie Winkle Giulioni: The Work of ColLABORation

“Done well, collaboration looks effortless. It appears to be a fluid give-and-take, a hand-in-glove partnership among individuals who make it all look natural and easy. But these appearances belie the fact that ‘labor’ is at the center of collaboration… and that most collaboration is the result of very deliberate work and attention.”

From Lolly Daskal: Learn How to Manage What Triggers You

“If we don’t learn how to manage our triggers, our triggers will manage us, and therefore, we must learn how to manage our triggers successfully.”

From Jesse Lyn Stoner: Mindfulness and Vision are Complementary

“Do you have to choose between the present and the future? Do you switch back and forth? Is one better than the other? The answer is: You do both at the same time. Mindfulness and vision are complementary, not exclusive.”

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 what you know that you don’t know can hurt you, how retail stores are using virtual reality to make shopping more fun, selling vinyl records, graphic novels, and Indian food via text message, Microsoft and Facebook tout equal pay, but there’s another issue, and good bosses create more wellness than wellness plans do.

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.