The Top 100 Blogs That All Managers Should Bookmark

Are you looking for inspiration on leadership and management? Lucky for you, the folks who live and breathe leadership and management every day enjoy sharing their thoughts and successes with the masses. Check out these top 100 blogs to help bolster your business acumen.

Leadership

1. CEO Blog — Time Leadership: Jim Estill, CEO of SYNNEX Canada, talks about how you, too, can meet business success.
2. Dispatches from the New World of Work: Tom Peters heads a consulting services company. His personal motto: “The starting point of all significant change is mindset.”
3. Extreme Leadership: Have you heard of extreme sports? Well, now there are extreme leaders, too. Steve Farber heads up Extreme Leaders Inc., a business-development company, and he also shares his thoughts on his site.
4. Leading Blog — Building a Community of Leaders: Michael McKinney thinks that everyone is a leader. Find out how to tap into your potential with his musings about learning, creativity and communication.
5. Leadership Turn: “Leaders DO — and it's your turn,” according to this site solely based on leadership and management.
6. Management Craft: Management is an art, according to Lisa Haneberg, a professional management and leadership trainer, coach, and organization-development consultant.
7. LeaderValues: LeaderValues aims to help leaders in all kinds of organizations and provide a meeting place for emerging trailblazers.
8. Slow Leadership: The title of this blog is legitimate: Postings are aimed at truly developing a leader through mindset and behavior change.
9. Say Leadership Coaching: This Polynesian-themed blog offers mentoring, coaching and training advice to managers and leaders.
10. Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Blog: Wally Bock’s very easy-to-scan site dishes up regular doses of information on leadership issues for North American business leaders.

Creativity and Inspiration

11. A Budding Contrapreneur: This snappy new blog by Matthew K. Ing talks about ideas and why some fail.
12. Liderlik/Leadership: Both English and German readers can check this blog to become inspired.
    
13. Life Beyond Code: Categories on this blog cover business models, distinguishing yourself and innovation.
14. Stephen Shapiro: Changing the Rules of Innovation and Creativity...: Steve shares his “unconventional approach on business innovation, creativity, goals, performance and critical thinking.”
15. Simplicity: The author of "Simplicity Is the Key" offers tips and tidbits on management, such as “Staff at the front line know all the answers. All the time.”
16. Springwise: Springwise offers a wellspring of ideas for entrepreneurs.
17. Orrin Woodward Leadership Team: Orrin discusses “ideas of consequence.”
18. Leading Answers: This blog offers leadership and agile project-management ideas, observations and resources.
19. Crossderry Blog: You’ll learn how to see “the forest for the trees” and take “the correct fork before heading into the woods” on this site.
20. Creative Energy Officer: Recharge weekly with “ideas and insights for optimistic, yet cynical humans.”
21. Troyworman.com: Troy Worman cultivates creativity in every page of this blog.
22. Chief Happiness Officer: Alex apparently is the “leading expert at happiness at work.” If you think “happiness” and “work” can’t possibly go together, fill up on his posts, which include research, lists and cute pictures.
23. Slacker Manager: With pictures, funny lists and useful tips, this slacker blog works hard to keep you interested.
24. The Bing Blog: You’ll surely find out what not to do to become an effective leader in this blog that covers bad jobs, bad bosses and how to zone out in an all-day meeting.
25. The Bogle E-Blog: The founder of The Vanguard Group Inc. tells you how to be as successful as he is.
26. Iinnovate: Iinnovate is a podcast by students at Stanford University's Business and Design Schools.
27. How to Change the World: This “practical blog for impractical people” shares the secrets of being an agent of change.
28. BrandSoul: This consultant wants to help you awaken the soul of business with some inspirations and ideas.
29. Digital Roam: You’ll clear up the fog in your mind’s eye with this site on visual thinking.

    Self-Awareness

30. The Leadership Evolution: This site offers quotes, examples and information from books on leadership.
31. BrainCram: Brain Cram inundates your mind and soul with lengthy posts on you and your work.
32. Timothy Coote: Timothy Coote works for a French company but gives you his views in English.
33. Lead on Purpose: This site fosters discussions on being a leader in your organization.
34. The Recovering Leader: Another behavior-modification approach to building your inner leader can be found at this blog.
35. Marshall Goldsmith Blog: The co-founder of Marshall Goldsmith Partners LLC, a network of top-level executive coaches, wants to help “successful leaders get even better.”
36. The Practice of Leadership: How-tos and inspiring quotes fill this blog.
37. Zinger On Strength-Based Leadership:“Strength-based leadership applies strengths, caring and energy in the service of engagement. Powerful leaders transform energy into engagement leading to improved results.”
38. Seth Godin's BLog: The best-selling author, entrepreneur and “agent of change” gives you personal insights on the leadership landscape.
39. 800-CEO-READ Blog: Do what the blog says and read up on the latest on business books, authors and the publishing industry.
40. Bigger Isn't Always Better: This blog imparts the wisdoms of the book of the same name, which was written by management consultant Bob Tomasko.
41. The Long Tail: Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired magazine, shares the theories behind his book "The Long Tail," which purports that the economy is shifting its attention from mainstream products and markets to niches.
42. David Maister: This leading authority on the management of professional-service firms shares his ideas with readers.
43. Mavericks at Work: This blog covers "Mavericks at Work," a veritable how-to book for “what-if executives and entrepreneurs — a collection of new and provocative answers to some of the most basic questions facing companies of every size and leaders in every field.”

    Development, Marketing and Finance

44. Kent Blumberg: Learn leadership, strategy and performance tips at this site.
45. Pink Slip: Maureen Rogers wants to make sure that you don’t get the pink slip and offers advice on business lessons learned the hard way.
46. Ed Batista: Executive coach and change-management consultant Ed Batista wants to tell you how to become the best possible leader.
47. Business Pundit: Learn how to cope when your venture fails, the six traits of idiot bosses and other useful leadership information.
48. Sanders Says: “Sanders Says is an advice Weblog about business, culture and spirit.”
49. Managing Leadership: Stay on your toes with this blog “designed to help busy directors and executives understand how leadership really works in their organizations.
50. Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog: Get daily doses of leadership development advice on the go.
51. SustainableWork: Novices can get tips for innovation, startups and emerging enterprises, while established leaders can get know-how on developing sustainable new products and services.
52. Signal vs. Noise: This blog discusses design, business, experience, simplicity, the Web, culture and more.
53. apbLIFESUCCESS Blog: Positive posts permeate this site.
54. Mary Schmidt: This marketing troubleshooter wants to help you get your business back on track.
55. Trusted Advisor Associates: Speaker and executive educator Charles H. Green tells you how to build trust in your business.
56. ASK THE CZAR: You’ll never again require business advice from another source, according to Gerry “the Czar” Czarnecki.
57. The Trump Blog: Financial fodder straight from the Don’s mouth.
58. The Becker-Posner Blog: Becker and Posner are the Siskel and Ebert of business and financial info.
59. Digital Rules: The Blog: The publisher of Forbes magazine blogs about — you guessed it — business and finance, along with a smattering of politics.
60. Feld Thoughts: Emailing, rejection and photos of bloody injuries greet you on this blog by Brad Feld, an investor and entrepreneur.

    Using Technology

61. Web Worker Daily: The site amasses advice for using the Web for work..
62. Biz Stone: The co-founder and creative director of Twitter ruminates on social media and business.
63. Scobleizer: Known as a “technical evangelist,” Robert Scoble can help you discover the newest ways of communicating with customers.
64. Marketing with Technology and More: Jordan Ayan, CEO of SubscriberMail LLC, an email-marketing service, offers tips on marketing using technology and email marketing.
65. The Business Blog at Intuitive.com: These online strategies and communication tips are applicable to leadership.
66. TomBomb.com: Tom Hayes is the bomb at discussing viral business.
67. MarketingProfs Daily Fix: These professors will tell you how to market your business using social-media, Web 2.0 and other tools.
68. Daniel H. Pink: Businessman, author and lecturer Dan Pink blogs about business and technology in the new workplace.
69. Listen Up: John Porcaro's unofficial blog about marketing, public relations, the Xbox, management and personal life.
70. Pause: Personal anecdotes pepper this blog by Jory Des Jardins, a media consultant who works with businesses and media companies to develop communications strategies.

    Getting Results

71. Steve Yastrow: Reinvent the way your company connects with customers through Yastrow’s know-how.
72. Bob Sutton: Gear up to get better results with the professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University's School of Engineering.
73. PyroMarketing: Greg Stielstra, author of "PyroMarketing: The Four Step Strategy to Ignite Customer Evangelists and Keep Them For Life," shares his marketing mastery on his blog.
74. Bird's Eye View: Learn how to better engage employees and get results with this blog by Susan W. Bird, an author and expert on leadership.
75. ManagementIQ: BusinessWeek writers Diane Brady, Michelle Conlin and Jena McGregor gather insights from the business thinkers and critique the latest management trends to help you manage smarter.
76. Fred Reichheld: Fred Reichheld blogs about bettering your business through customer, employee and partner loyalty.
77. Cali and Jody: Cali and Jody created ROWE — Results-Only Work Environment — to reinvent the relationship between employers and the people who get the work done.
78. Made to Stick: Another blog based on a book, this one is about communicating ideas that will sink in.
79. KR Connect: Kevin Roberts serves as the CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the world's leading creative organizations, which employs more than 7,000 people in 83 countries. Translation: He knows his stuff.
80. Management by Baseball: “Management consultant and ex-baseball reporter Jeff Angus shows you almost everything you need to know about management you can learn from baseball.”
81. Rock & Roll Lessons: John O’Leary blogs about business lessons from rock-and-roll bands, which he also using to compile a book.
82. Play the Game of Life: Columbia University Business School graduate and world traveler Ryan Petersen shares his thoughts on business.

    Branding

83. The Engaging Brand Blog: Employee-management tips permeate this blog by Anna Farmery, speaker and social-media coach.
84. Influxinsights: “The goal of Influx is to provide ideas for brands that help connect them to culture and allow them to thrive” by “using a combination of skill sets: Account planning, anthropology, trend forecasting and creativity, Influx helps create future pathways for brands.”
85. Hog Blog: Action, insight and inspiration will make you happy that you checked out these musings from a speaker, author and branding expert on radical innovation.
86. MartinLindstrom.com: Martin Lindstrom, who founded his own advertising agency at the age of 12, is a branding guru who imparts knowledge on transforming marketing strategies into positive business results.
87. Name Wire: Experts with experience at Pillsbury, Kraft Foods Inc., Pizza Hut inc. and other companies blog about brand development and strategy.
88. The Simmons SOM Library Blog: This blog is for the Simmons College School of Management community and is maintained by the school's librarians.
89. Frontline Leadership TRENDS: Get leadership tips, lessons and ideas.
90. Personal Branding Blog: Learn how to not abandon your brand but instead see it through from conception to completion and beyond.
91. What's Your Brand Mantra?: Jennifer Rice blogs about brand strategy, integrated marketing communications and customer research.
92. Metacool: Marketer, engineer and educator Diego Rodriguez wants to inspire your innovation.

    Women

93. The Power of the Purse: Fara Warner finesses on how companies can cater to “the world’s most important consumers”— women.
94. The Wild WE: This fun blog targets businesswomen.
95. WonderBranding: More useful information on marketing to women appears on Michele Miller’s blog.
96. Great Leadership: Opinions on information on leadership and leadership development by Dan McCarthy, manager of leadership and management development at an undisclosed Fortune 500 company.
97. Learned on Women: This blog researches female customers to help your business target them.
98. Boomer Women Marketing: Mary Brown, president and founder of Imago Creative — the only marketing firm in the U.S. specializes exclusively in marketing to baby boomer women — shares her beliefs about creative branding relying on human connections.
99. Rethink Pink: News about marketing to women can be found at this blog.
100. Women's Leadership Exchange Blog: Leslie Grossman threads news and politics with business basics for women.

My Favorite Quote of the Week

"The only people who screw you are the people you trust. The people you don't trust never get the chance. So keep an eye on the people you trust."

Social Technographics Explained

This is the future of most powerful marketing as we know; It no longer matters what corporations broadcast about how truly great they are but what most influential social power arbitrators blog, share and reveal about their experience with these corporations' brands. 

I would encourage every avant-guard marketeer to check out this presentation by Forrester and feel free to email me at (hakan at akbas dot us):

Social Technographics Explained

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The Worst Predictions About 2008

Just about everybody got wrong-footed by 2008, but some people's mistakes were truly spectacular

From Businessweek

Here are some of the worst predictions that were made about 2008. Savor them—a crop like this doesn't come along every year.

1. "A very powerful and durable rally is in the works. But it may need another couple of days to lift off. Hold the fort and keep the faith!" —Richard Band, editor, Profitable Investing Letter, Mar. 27, 2008

At the time of the prediction, the Dow Jones industrial average was at 12,300. By late December it was at 8,500.

2. AIG (AIG) "could have huge gains in the second quarter." —Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008

AIG wound up losing $5 billion in that quarter and $25 billion in the next. It was taken over in September by the U.S. government, which will spend or lend $150 billion to keep it afloat.

3. "I think this is a case where Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) are fundamentally sound. They're not in danger of going under…I think they are in good shape going forward." —Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee chairman, July 14, 2008

Two months later, the government forced the mortgage giants into conservatorships and pledged to invest up to $100 billion in each.

4. "The market is in the process of correcting itself." —President George W. Bush, in a Mar. 14, 2008 speech

For the rest of the year, the market kept correcting…and correcting…and correcting.

5. "No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble." —Jim Cramer, CNBC commentator, Mar. 11, 2008

Five days later, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) took over Bear Stearns with government help, nearly wiping out shareholders.

6. "Existing-Home Sales to Trend Up in 2008" —Headline of a National Association of Realtors press release, Dec. 9, 2007

On Dec. 23, 2008, the group said November sales were running at an annual rate of 4.5 million—down 11% from a year earlier—in the worst housing slump since the Depression.

7. "I think you'll see [oil prices at] $150 a barrel by the end of the year" —T. Boone Pickens, June 20, 2008

Oil was then around $135 a barrel. By late December it was below $40.

8. "I expect there will be some failures. … I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system." —Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, Feb. 28, 2008

In September, Washington Mutual became the largest financial institution in U.S. history to fail. Citigroup (C) needed an even bigger rescue in November.

9. "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." —Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007

About a year later, Madoff—who once headed the Nasdaq Stock Market—told investigators he had cost his investors $50 billion in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

10. A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win, the title of a book by conservative commentator Shelby Steele, published on Dec. 4, 2007.

Mr. Steele, meet President-elect Barack Obama.