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 Kevin Eikenberry, Steve Keating, Lolly Daskal, Ed Batista, and Suzi McAlpine.

From Kevin Eikenberry: You Won’t Solve It with Software

“I get it – software seems like an easy answer. Our meetings are very effective – maybe we need a better tool. Communication isn’t very effective, is there software that can help? Chances are whatever tools you are currently using can give you 90% of what you need. The problem isn’t the software, it is how you are (or more likely aren’t) using it. Research has long shown that the average organization is using about 20% of the functionality of the software they have invested in. Before you begin shopping for new software tools, consider these actions:”

From Steve Keating: What Employees Want

I hope, particularly if you’re in a leadership position, that you don’t learn a thing from this post. That’s because you should already know everything in this post. It would be best if you learned it from the people you lead. It would be better than best if you learned it by asking them directly.”

From Lolly Daskal: How To Increase Your Influence—Up, Down And Across

“Whatever type of organization you’re leading, to be effective in your role requires being able to influence people. If your skills are more focused in other areas of leadership, here are some tips that can help you increase your influence in every direction—up, down and across.”

From Ed Batista: The Value of Embarrassment

“None of these experiences were pleasant. They were all, in the moment, quite dreadful. But they were also extremely valuable–and I’ve come to appreciate the importance of embarrassment and what it can teach us, particularly when we’re in a leadership role. And it’s when we’re acting as a leader that our embarrassment is most visible, most painful and most useful.”

From Suzi McAlpine: What a little bathroom karaoke reminded me about moments of joy

“Life is tough. Don’t deprive yourself these little moments of joy. Do something that makes you laugh and fills your heart up – even if, like me, you suck at it. Give that inner critic the bird. Especially if listening to it threatens to rob you of a moment of childlike, unselfconscious joy. Because, let’s be honest, we can all do with a bit of that goodness.”

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.

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