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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 evaluating leaders, developing leaders, improving your listening and documentation skills, and Bob Sutton's views of an ethicist's views of layoffs.

From Great Leadership: Would Your Peers Vote for You?
"A few years ago, I attended an executive development program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School called Leadership for Extraordinary Performance. We were all required to do a 360 assessment as a part of the program, using the Leadership Practices Inventory. As we reviewed the results in class, the instructors, Jack and Carol Weber, told us about a piece of research they did. Having conducted hundreds of these programs using the LPI, they decided to do a study to see which rater group – manager, direct reports, or peers – were the most significant predictors of promotability. They tracked down program graduates to see who had been promoted, and compared their 360 scores to those that had not been. The results were surprising them; but by now you’ve probably guessed the answer – it was peers!"

Wally's Comment: Dan McCarthy posts about research which indicates that peers are the best judge of a boss's performance. He also describes the implications of that finding.

From All Things Workplace: Are You Really Developing Leaders?
"Why aren't we putting people into increased positions of responsibility so they can gain experience and maturity?"

Wally's Comment: Steve Roesler takes us back to basics and asks some common sense questions about what we expect from leaders and what that implies for how we should help them develop.

From Wisewolf Talking: 5 Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills
"Listening is an important part of recognizing people and their contribution and making them feel part of your team."

Wally's Comment: Listening is a critical skill for any boss. But wait, there's more. You also need to let the other person know you're listening.

From HR Daily Advisor: Your Manager's Documentation—Exhibit A at Trial
"Employment lawyers aren't allowed to just say "Document," says attorney Allison West; they are required to say "Document, document, document." There's a good reason for this mantra—documentation is critical."

Wally's Comment: For years I've taught new bosses that documentation needs to be contemporaneous, describe behavior or performance accurately and be fair. This post covers that and much more. You may want to file this away for future reference.

From Bob Sutton: When Layoffs are Immoral: Randy Cohen in The New York Times
"Sunday's Times had an essay by "ethicist" Randy Cohen that made a remarkably black and white argument about when it is and is not ethical to lay off employees.  I had a mixed reaction to the article.  On one hand, I agree that too many organizations use layoffs as a first or early resort and that there are too many times when senior executives slash employee jobs just to protect their own pay --and there is an argument from some research that companies that do layoffs at the first whiff of trouble are at a competitive disadvantage.  But I think that Mr. Cohen's arguments strike me as too moralistic and too naive at times."

Wally's Comment: Bob Sutton is at his thorough, evidence-based, best as he describes what he agrees and disagrees with in Randy Cohen's NYT article about "immoral" layoffs. His main point is that it's easy to be moralistic when you're not the one in the midst of a complex situation and when you don't have to actually make any decisions. But as with most of Bob's posts, there is richness and nuance here that repays your reading.

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.