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, Jesse Lyn Stoner, Nina Simosko, Mary Jo Asmus, and Art Petty.

From Karin Hurt: A Powerful Way to Gain the Trust of Your Team

“The Senior Vice President stood in front of my all hands meeting of 300 and said, ‘I was wrong.’ I’ve never heard a group that size sit in such silence. I’m not even sure we were breathing.”

From Jesse Lyn Stoner: How to Delegate Effectively and Minimize the Risk

“Delegating is often one of the hardest things for a manager to do. You give away your authority to make decisions but are still responsible for the outcome if something goes wrong.”

From Nina Simosko: The Four Styles of Mentoring

“Kim Getty, president of Deutsch LA, an advertising agency which markets for companies such as M&M’s and 7up, talked in a recent article about how people of all ages can be mentors to others. She talked specifically about how younger people make great mentors. Getty, who also teaches journalism classes, said her students act as mentors, as they keep her up-to-date on trends in the media. She focused upon the four types of mentors which are essential for any professional.”

From Mary Jo Asmus: Creating harmony – a teamwork lesson from a cappella groups

“Driving along the highway with the radio tuned to the Here & Now show, I was just ‘sort of’ listening. But then…..Deke Sharon (producer for The Sing Off and both Pitch Perfect movies) came on to be interviewed about the resurgence of interest in a cappella music. I pumped my fist and shouted YEAH! when Sharon mentioned that part of his job requires him to smooth over rough patches in the relationships amongst group members.”

From Art Petty: Becoming Agile and Adaptable is THE Leadership Issue

“Historically, we built our organizations for efficiency and our leadership and management approaches reflected this purpose. We built tall organizations with distinct silos surrounded by moats and supported by the defenses of the silo executive. While the vestiges of those castles and moats still survive in many organizations, they (and their senior leaders) are increasingly out of place…out of context with the realities of the day. They are organizational and leadership anachronisms.”

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 deadly business strategy myths, tracking and winning the retail revolution, the simple rules of disciplined innovation, successful female execs recount path to the top, and the fascinating ways our attitudes about work are changing.

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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