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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 managerial talents, leadership truths, picking great managers, giving talent a chance, and Superman Syndrome in new managers.

From All Things Workplace: What Is Your Managerial Talent?
"Research done by the IDAK Group shows that: 1. There are three distinct managerial talents. 2. No one in the studies has been found to possess more than one as a talent. 3. Thirty percent of respondents had a managerial talent."

Wally's Comment: Steve Roesler shares some research on managerial talents and offers advice on what to do with it.

From Great Leadership: A New Leader's Pocket Guide to Improving Performance
"While we all know leadership & management can’t be distilled down to a pocket guide, there are probably only a limited number of proven ways to squeeze (err, “inspire”) more performance out of people."

Wally's Comment: Dan McCarthy lays out a list of things that we pretty much know for sure about leadership. It's a good and comprehensive list. Use it as a checklist or a guide to development.

From the HR Capitalist: Want a Great Manager? 5 Reasons to Stay Away From the Stars and Hire a Scrub
"Figured it out yet?  They're all great coaches - you're right.  More importantly, they were all mediocre players, at least on the level in which they ultimately became coaching icons."

Wally's Comment: Kris Dunn points out, cogently, that most great sport managers were not star players. Think about it.

From Management Excellence: Taking Chances on the Talent Around You
"It’s time to take some chances on the people around you. Too many leaders constrain and contain, but the very best leaders provide opportunities for their team members to achieve things that these individuals might never have believed they were capable of achieving."

Wally's Comment: Part of your job as a boss is helping your team members unleash their talent. Art Petty gives you some of the whys and hows

From Partners in Excellence: New Sales Managers and the Superman Syndrome
"Many people are moved into their first sales management jobs because they were great individual contributors.  Their entire experience base and self perception is built around their ability to close deals. In moving into sales management, they tend to think of it as doing more of the same thing, in a larger territory."

Wally's Comment: It happens all the time. Managers of all kinds try to accomplish the mission by doing it all themselves, instead of getting it done through the team. David Brock lays out symptoms and solutions.

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.