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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 maximizing shareholder value, forced rankings, developing strengths, productive teams, and lessons from "Deadliest Catch."

From Caddell Insight Blog: Time to retire shareholder value maximization strategies. How about focusing on customers instead?
"In the current Harvard Business Review, Rotman school dean Roger Martin (author of “The Opposable Mind” and “The Design of Business,” both books endorsed by this blog) argues that it’s time for a new overarching goal for the firm (”The Age of Customer Capitalism“). Martin argues that since the 1980s companies have been focused on the wrong objective: shareholder value. He states that shareholders are frequently short-term holders and overwhelmingly indirect (i.e., you buy a share of a mutual fund that invests a fraction of that share in a particular firm). Therefore, the side effects of shareholder maximization strategies are short-term thinking and lack of concern for anything not directly financially-related."

Wally's Comment: The idea that maximizing shareholder value is the only or even the most important objective for the managers of a public corporation is being challenged in many places. John Caddell suggests that shareholders are one "audience for corporate strategy" but not the only one.

From Fistful of Talent: Forced Rankings Are for Winners!
"Let me just begin by saying I love Forced Rankings - hell, I would force rank my kids if my wife allowed me (talk about getting your kids to perform better - "Hey, Billy, you better step it up, if you ever want to eventually change Dad's adult diapers!").  Insurance giant, AIG recently made the decision to compensate its employees based on a system that grades their performances numerically. The rankings would then be used to determine their annual bonus."

Wally's Comment: Tim Sackett tells us why he likes forced ranking and then outlines why he things they have a bad name among HR pros and others.

From All Things Workplace: Develop Strengths or Weaknesses? Yes.
"Have you noticed people making excuses for poor performance or ugly behavior by invoking the "It's just who I am" defense?"

Wally's Comment: Many people tout "building on strength" as the magical, mystical motivation tool to achieve magnificent results. Steve Roesler says, "Not so fast there."

From Reflection Leadership: Challenges To Being a Team
"For several years now organizations have been trying to become more team oriented. Somewhere along the way we collectively seemed to understand that more things can be done when we split the work amongst a team of people. Nowadays job applicants need to prove that they can play well with others and many times job interviews aren’t with a single person, but with other members of the team to make sure the new person is a good fit. Based on my experiences, I think we are overselling the use of the word team."

Wally's Comment: When they're not touting the power of building on strengths, many pundits are touting the magical, mystical power of teams to achieve magnificent results. Tom Glover says, "Not so fast there."

From Incentive Intelligence: Deadliest Catch Loses A Real Character
"I'll admit it.  I'm a fan of the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch.  I've been known to sit on the coach for hours on a weekend watching back-to-back episodes.  There is something about the characters on this crab-fishing reality show that is compelling and captivating.  Yesterday, one of the featured captains in the show passed away - Phil Harris (53), Captain of the Cornelia Marie.  I've had a post using this series as a baseline in the back of mind for a while and Captain Phil's passing pushed it to the fore."

Wally's Comment: Paul Hebert pays homage to Captain Phil Harris and tells us why he thinks the "Deadliest Catch" has many solid leadership lessons for you and for me.

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.