From the Independent Business Blogs: 7/5/17

  |   Leadership Reading Print Friendly and PDF

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 Michael McKinney, Mary Jo Asmus, Harold Jarche, Terry “Starbucker” St. Marie, and Kevin Eikenberry.

From Michael McKinney: 4 Characteristics of Great Teams

“THE AMERICA’S CUP is the world’s oldest international sporting trophy, first contested in 1851 when the schooner America crossed the Atlantic and beat 15 British yachts. The trophy became known as the America’s Cup for the winning yacht in 1851. This year at the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda, Team New Zealand beat the defending Oracle Team USA. What made their victory possible was a new team with a new approach.”

From Mary Jo Asmus: Becoming a great leader takes intention and mindfulness

“Leading others can look easy. In reality, most leaders aren’t naturals at leading people; they have to learn by trial and error. Think of all the professions that people go into that require years of honing their craft: musician, doctor, lawyer, engineer, teacher, scientist….the list goes on. Although leadership has yet to acquire the title of ‘profession’ (even if it should), it similarly requires continual awareness, learning, and fine tuning in the craft of leading others. In other words, it takes hard work to get better at it.”

From Harold Jarche: soft skills are permanent skills

“Are soft skills the new hard skills? I asked this question six years ago. I would suggest that hard skills are really temporary skills. They come and go according to the economy and the state of technology. Today, we need very few people who know how to shoe a horse. Soft skills are permanent ones.”

From Terry “Starbucker” St. Marie: Change Makers: My 10 Most Effective Leadership Mantras

“Mantras are defined as a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that are considered capable of ‘creating transformation’ (Wikipedia). They are useful guideposts to action, because as they are repeated, over and over again (and you need to do it at least 15 times- that’s Terry’s Rule), the underlying concepts can take root, setting the stage for real change.”

From Kevin Eikenberry: One Thing People Want From Their Leaders

“Of course, there are lots of things we can do that can help make that happen, but there is one fundamental thing we can do; based on a truth of human nature. It’s something that everyone wants from their boss. If you can provide this one thing, you will catapult your odds at having the list above being true for your team members.”

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 Jeff Bezos explaining why it will never be Day 2 at Amazon, why we need new corporate structure for new economy, blockchain as the major next step in the evolution of the internet, the Amazon-Walmart showdown that explains the modern economy, developing the next wave of women leaders, and the golden age of restaurants is stranger than it seems.

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.

The 347 tips in my ebook can help you Become a Better Boss One Tip at a Time.

Join The Conversation

What People Are Saying

There are no comments yet, why not be the first to leave a comment?