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 Ken Downer, Kate Nasser, Aad Boot, Jesse Lyn Stoner, and Scott Eblin.

From Ken Downer: New Leader Questions: 4 Questions to Ask if You Want to be Effective

“Whether it’s your first leadership position or your fifty-first, taking over can be a challenging business. One key to success? Don’t start out by answering questions; start by asking them. Today we’ll talk about four new leader questions you should ask, and how to get the answers so that you can lead confidently and effectively.”

From Kate Nasser: Leadership Readiness: Are Your People Skills Ready?

“When you think of your leadership readiness, do you assess whether your people skills are ready too? Are you ready to inspire other human beings? Are your people skills ready to engage employees of different cultures, generations, and motivations? Can you handle the following human issues in your organization?”

From Aad Boot: Stop Believing These Persistent Myths About Leading Change

“In one of our most-read articles here on Leadershipwatch ‘What Does Change Mean to You?’ I describe how change always has been and always will be a natural part of our lives. We’ve dealt with change ever since we humans started to wander this globe. We have seen over and over again how it works, how we can turn it into a motivating, inspiring and successful experience instead of feeling burdened by it. But somehow some persistent myths about leading change are still alive. These myths hinder us instead of helping us. It is time we stop believing them.”

From Jesse Lyn Stoner: Why You Might Be a Micromanager and It’s Not Your Fault

“Marissa was frustrated. As district manager of a large retail chain, she was responsible for ten stores. Her district was doing well, meeting sales goals and store operations were generally smooth. The problem was that her boss, the regional manager, was a micromanager. Every time an issue arose, her boss was right in the mix with his sleeves rolled up. Marissa ended up spending as much time responding to her boss as she did addressing the issue. It was time consuming, and affected her self-confidence and her team’s confidence in her.”

From Scott Eblin: How to Create Time in a Packed Schedule

“There may not be a lot you can do to create some white space in your schedule in the weeks before you go on vacation, but there are some steps you can take now so you’re in better position when you get back:”

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 reinventing management, four behaviors that define successful leaders, learning’s role in innovation, the promises and limitations of big data, trends in remote working, and leadership lessons from watching a great cook.

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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