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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 on change, credibility, the number one form of waste, communication, and manager engagement.

From Management Excellence: Improving Your Odds of Success in Driving Change
"There is a fascinating article on Change Management in a recent issue (Issue 2/2009) of the McKinsey Quarterly (subscription required) by Carolyn Aiken and Scott Keller, entitled: “The Irrational Side of Change Management.” "

Wally's Comment: Art Petty brings his thought and experience to bear on the problem of driving change in your organization.

From You're Not the Boss of Me: Change & the Credibility Factor
"I’ve been thinking about change lately, mostly about what it is that separates a person who seems to be able to influence change in a positive direction, from a person who might have the authority and the technical skill to do the work, but seems unable to pull it off."

Wally's Comment: This is change from another perspective. Gwyn Teatro analyzes the sort of leader others are willing to follow into new areas.

From 8 Hours and a Lunch: the #1 form of waste in business
"Those familiar with the Toyota Production System know that they've identified 8 forms of waste that they work relentlessly to eliminate.  But do you know the #1 form of waste? Unused employee creativity."

Wally's Comment: One of my favorite business quotes is from Woody Morcott, then CEO at Dana: "Why did we hire 55,000 brains and only use three of them?" You'll be asking yourself a similar question after you read this post.

From the Practice of Leadership: No Communication = No Leadership
"Communication is essential to effective leadership. It’s often something we take for granted and not given the attention it deserves."

Wally's Comment: George Ambler calls attention to a big gap in the way we think about leadership. Strategy gets a lot of play. Communication gets a lot less. But you can probably get by without a great strategy if you communicate well. It doesn't work the other way.

From All Things Workplace: Purposeful Passion and Managing Engagement"No one I've ever met is actually against the idea of being passionate about one's work. But how passion is related to results, how it is channeled, and what keeps it going can generate a lot of buzz. "

Wally's Comment: All the talk is about engaged workers. Steve Roesler wants to know why we don't talk about engaging managers.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.