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, Scott Eblin, Kate Nasser, Chris Edmonds, and Julie Winkle Giulioni.

From Karin Hurt: The Most Important Question to Ask When Facing a Big Decision

“I was talking with LGL subscriber, David Oddis (below) after giving a Winning Well workshop for his organization. He shared a game changing question his mentor asked when he was contemplating taking on a new role. His mentor simply asked, ‘Is this move part of your story?'”

From Scott Eblin: The Surprising Benefit of Comparing Yourself to Others

“Even if you follow golf, you may not know or remember David Duval. He used to be the number one player in the world back in 1999. In the latest world rankings, he was 1,268. You don’t make the cut very often as a pro when you’re ranked 1,268. As reported in the New York Times, earlier this year, Duval began leaving his playing career behind and signed up as an analyst for the Golf Channel. When he got up in the broadcast booth, he started comparing himself to the other players and his perspective shifted.”

From Kate Nasser: Creativity Culture: 7 Keys to Creating Safe Place to Engage

“Three years into running people skills global Twitter chat, I am thrilled with how many strangers from around the globe come together and engage openly. Recently, one newcomer said he was grateful I had created a safe open place to interact. His gratitude made me reflect on what I had done and what others did to make this happen. Here is what we did to create an open creativity culture! It applies to workplaces as well.”

From Chris Edmonds: Everyone Has Values

“I had a wonderful conversation online recently with a leader who disagreed with me. I love to engage people with different points of view in a respectful manner (from both sides!).”

From Julie Winkle Giulioni: How Do Your Employees Define Success?

“When employees succeed in their careers, so do their teams, departments, functions and organizations. As a result, businesses work diligently to develop systems and processes to promote career development; leaders grapple with how to help people reach their goals given structures that are flatter and leaner than ever before. Too frequently though, these efforts are based upon assumptions that may not be accurate for all employees.”

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 learning from Google’s digital culture, why brick-and-mortar retail is alive and well, the 2015 Breakthrough Innovation Report, the business case for women in the C-Suite, and how gamification taps into what makes us human.

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.