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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 "no-fly zones," the "romance" of leadership, reasons to listen that you may not have thought of, leading virtual teams, and investing in those you lead.

From Scott Eblin: The Questions Leaders Need to Ask About “No-Fly Zones”
"Every so often, a word or phrase will pick up so much buzz that everyone starts talking about it at once.  This week, the catch phrase “no fly zone” has achieved that status"

Wally's Comment: This post is an example of something that Scott does superbly, taking a current event and turning it into a leadership lesson. Before you get caught up in the current fads or buzzwords, be sure to read and heed this post.

From Laura Hunter: The “Romance” of Leadership
"A colleague of mine left a phone message for me a few days ago. She said she was sitting in her office fantasizing about how beautiful it must be at my farm at this time of year. She had this vision of my horses and I out in the pristine snow-covered fields as part of some sort of “romantic adventure.” I left a reply on her answering machine, describing in detail some health maintenance chores I had to do that day with my horses"

Wally's Comment: Now, there's a phrase to conjure with, "health maintenance chores." Oh, my. But, yes, there are a lot of those in leadership and they're not romantic at all. In fact, a good test of whether leadership is the right work for you is whether you're willing to do all the less romantic chores.

From Mary Jo Asmus: Three Surprising Benefits from Better Listening
"Many of the leaders I’ve worked with over the years can improve their listening skills. I certainly can improve my own, and chances are that you can get better at it too. I’ve seen that the simple act of listening can improve a leader’s relationships with others in many ways that go beyond just hearing things better."

Wally's Comment: Just when you thought you'd heard everything there was to hear on the benefits of listening, Mary Jo Asmus comes up with insights you haven't thought of. At least I hadn't thought of them before I read this post.

From Tanmay Vora: 10 Key Lessons On Leading Virtual Teams Effectively
"In most of the troubled projects I have seen, the real challenges were not technical/engineering ones but communication/collaboration ones. Having been a part of distributed team and having managed a few projects with virtual teams, here 10 most important lessons I have learned."

Wally's Comment: This is what they call "the voice of experience." Leading virtual teams is something Tanmay Vora does and, lucky for the rest of us, he thinks about what works and what doesn't.

From Bret Simmons: Leaders Invest In Their Employees
"People are talking. Ensuring they have something good to say about you and are motivated to share it with as many people as possible is very good for your business. The things your increasingly connected customers and employees say online not only last forever, they also spread farther, faster, and have greater impact than ever before."

Wally's Comment: Bret Simmons comes at the issue of investing in the people who work for you from the direction of customer service and business reputation. It's a helpful direction.

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 ideas on a flexible workforce, innovation, Starbucks and Howard Schultz, IBM and Sam Palmisano, and lessons from the revolutions in the Middle East.

Here, on Three Star Leadership, I post things that will help a boss at any level do better and live a better life. At Results vs Activities, I join other bloggers with posts on talent development. My blog at the Toolbox for HR is People and the Changing Workplace .

If you're a boss, you should check out my Working Supervisor's Support Kit.

And be sure to stop by at Weekly Leader where I'll offer you my Challenge of the Week.

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.