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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 curiosity, starting fast with a new team, a vision of the future, gender-related management issues, and engagement evidence.

From You're not the Boss of Me: Leadership & The Value Of An Inquiring Mind
"Remember when you were a kid and asked questions like bullets coming out of a gun?  Why is the sky blue? How come fish can breathe in the ocean? Why does the lady next door always wear that silly hat with the big red feather? Curiosity was something that once came naturally to us, something perhaps, that also came from a thirst for life and a need to explore. Over time, many of us learned to be more discreet. We learned to mind our own business because it was polite.  And, along with all of that went a great deal of this natural drive to know about things and people.  In fact, as we grew, we came to understand that the world could be a pretty scary place and so we put aside much of our curiosity and sought safety instead. But an inquiring mind is an invaluable leadership tool."

Wally's Comment: Part of leadership work is helping your team move to a different, better place. Curiosity is what starts the process of identifying that place, why it's good, and how to get there. When I read this post I remembered a scientist friend who said that all great discoveries (and I believe all great strategic insights) begin with, "Hmmmm, that's interesting."

From Building Better Leaders: Starting Fast as a Leader With Your New Team
"The “start-up” phase with a new team is challenging for even the most experienced of leaders. If you’re an “all new” leader…someone hired from outside or at least outside of the team, there’s an inherent degree of uncertainty and apprehension about you. No one knows your style or your agenda, and frankly, while you have authority and respect conferred by title, you have not earned credibility or trust."

Wally's Comment: This is Art Petty at his practical and helpful best. For some additional reading on the subject, I suggest a Forbes article, "Seven Rules for Succeeding as a Brand New Leader" by Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days.

From Mary Jo Asmus: The Day 360's Are Obsolete
"I have a dream. Some may call it a fantasy, but I like to think of it as a real possibility. My dream becomes full reality before I leave this earth (I never claimed not to be ambitious!) when I see that we no longer need to use 360’s in our organizations because:"

Wally's Comment: Mary Jo Asmus wrote this post in the spirit of Dr. Jonas Salk who said he dreamed of a day when there would be no need for the polio vaccine he invented.

From Dorothy Dalton: A case for gender related management training
"Let’s stop being trapped by political correctness. Do men and women need different types of management training? I think so."

Wally's Comment: Dorothy Dalton is one of the best writers on the web when it comes to raising and analyzing gender issues in the workplace. Don't read this post to find an answer. Read it to gather ideas for the answer you will develop for yourself.

From Bret Simmons: Leadership Integrity, Value Congruence, and Employee Engagement
"One of the things this new research suggests enhances engagement is value congruence. Value congruence is the extent to which the individual can behave at work consistent with their own self-image. It’s very difficult to experience meaningfulness in our work if we are expected to behave in ways that are inconsistent with the highest values we espouse to ourselves and others."

Wally's Comment: This is one of several recent posts by Bret Simmons on some new research about engagement. Start with this one. Read the comments. Follow the links.

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" which features five choice articles from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms. The last issue had pointers to articles about Elon Musk, Avery Dennison, Loblaw, Mercadona and LG Electronics.

And be sure to check out Weekly Leader where I'll try to get you thinking about The Question of the Week.

Check out my latest book, Ruthless Focus, at Amazon.

Posts about Ruthless Focus

Ruthless Focus: How to Use Key Core Strategies to Grow Your Business
The Story of the Book
Annotated Table of Contents
Keep it Simple, Strategist
Strategy: Staying with What Works
Ruthless Focus on the Business Basics