Top 100 Inspirational Blogs for Managers and Leaders

I’m excited to share that this blog was featured in the top 100 list of inspirational blogs for leaders and managers! Mine’s #51, if you’re curious.  🙂  Nice to be included in this list with such esteemed writers as Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin, and such prestigious publications as Harvard Business Review and FastCompany! Originally, this post linked to the website that published this, which is now no longer online. Here’s that list:
“Even if you’re naturally inclined to be a good team leader, becoming an excellent leader takes practice. From learning how to solve office conflicts to making better decisions to discovering new ways to market your company, management training takes time. Whether you’re already at the top of your field or you’re a low-level employee working your way up, check out these 100 inspirational blog posts to become a better, more effective leader and manager. ”

For Entrepreneurs
Small business owners will learn about investing, networking, and planning here.

1. Advice for budding entrepreneurs: Sue Rutherford walks entrepreneurs through the process of building upon a great idea.
2. Essential Tips for the First-Time Entrepreneur: This post lists the different kinds of business plans that entrepreneurs should research before investing in their new brand.
3. 10 unordinary tips for entrepreneur women: Women in leadership positions in business, not just entrepreneurs, will find this post inspiring.
4. Ethical Conduct of an Entrepreneur: This post encourages entrepreneurs to believe in themselves and avoid greed.
5. 5 Sure-fire ways to know if your business will work or not: If you’re wondering how your business proposal or new idea will work out, read this post first.
6. Get Your Business Going Now: This post has great tips for starting all kinds of businesses.
7. A New Year to Be An Entrepreneur: This day-by-day guide can help you create an effective plan to growing your business.
8. Not Everyone is an Entrepreneur: This post can help you recognize your natural gifts as a business leader.
9. More Support for Unintentional Entrepreneurs: Find out how the economy is inspiring more people from the corporate world to become entrepreneurs.
10. How One Entrepreneur Grew Sales to $50 Million in a Mundane Industry: This post should inspire you to become successful just by altering your perspective.

Leadership
These posts offer insightful suggestions for becoming a better leader.

11. Three Dimensional Leadership: Learn how to lead with your “head, hand and heart” by reading this post.
12. Are You a Leader or a Manager?: Ron Edmondson outlines the difference between leadership and managing in this post.
13. Humility as a Leadership Trait: Guy Kawasaki encourages leaders and managers to be more humble.
14. Management: The Coaching Way: Learn how to manage with a coaching style.
15. Leadership Q&A: Leading An Open Organization: This post will help you lead in the new marketplace.
16. Thanks for leading: Think of this short post as a pat on the back for all your hard work.
17. 5 Things I Have to Do, But Don’t Like to Do, as a Leader: Discover why managing, waiting, submitting and even failing are necessary as a leader.
18. Getting the Response You Want: Learn how to get the results you want by reading this post.
19. What is the single most important task for a leader?: Watch Sean Maloney reveal his most important task in 30 seconds or less.
20. Nine Great Questions for Leaders: Ask yourselves these nine questions to challenge your way of thinking and leadership style.
21. Managers Who Coach: Think About Your Best Teacher: If you’re unsure of the leadership style you want to adopt, Steve Roesler recommends mimicking your favorite teacher.

Employee Management and HR
This collection of blog posts gives suggestions for inspiring your employees, investing in your company, training workers, and more.

22. How to earn respect from your employees: In this post, leaders learn how to become comfortable viewing themselves as decision-makers.
23. Forget Wall Street, Small Businesses are Still Hiring: Find out why you, as a small business owner, are in a better position to help the economy.
24. Five Major Pitfalls for Leading Effective Work Groups: In this post, Mark Craemer encourages business managers to create comfortable work environments, build upon the work group, and provide training.
25. Hire People Who Disagree With You: Don’t think that you can only hire people who turn out to be “yes men.”
26. Inspire Employees at the Grass-Roots Level: Get simple tips for inspiring your employees here.
27. Despite Cutbacks, Firms Invest in Developing Leaders: Find out why investing in and training choice employees is smart even during a recession.
28. Bad Leadership: This clever post gives specific pop culture examples of bad leaders.
29. Tough Talk for Tough Times: What CEOs Should Be Saying Now: Guy Kawasaki points readers to a list of things managers should be saying to unburden employees’ fears.
30. Where, oh where, has common sense gone?: This article helps employees and managers work together constructively.
31. Two ways to hire, and a wrong way: Seth Godin walks business owners and HR managers through the hiring process.
32. Remarkable Leaders Ask Great Questions: Learn how to push your employees by asking the right questions.
33. Ten Team-Building Tips for Managers: Become a more effective communicator, project manager and leader when you read this post about team building.

Innovation
Discover new ways to strengthen and expand your company or department from these bloggers.

34. Change Management in 4 Steps: The FC Expert Blog outlines the best practices for change management.
35. Ten Top Tips for the Innovative Leader: Embracing change, breaking the rules and collaboration are just a few tips listed in this motivating post.
36. Ten Great Ways to Crush Creativity: Learn how to step aside and let creativity flourish in your workspace.
37. The Mistakes that Kill Sales: If you’re a sales manager, learn what not to do in this article.
38. Five Tips for CEOs on Innovation: By making innovation a priority in your office, everyone will be more creative and insightful.
39. How to Think What Nobody Else Thinks: Learn the trick to being an independent, forward thinker here.
40. How Events Shape Your Career: Are You Paying Attention?: After reading this blog, you’ll learn how to take advantage of offhand comments and seemingly unrelated situations.
41. Think Laterally: Thinking laterally will help your business grow faster.
42. How to Be Lucky: Here you’ll discover that luck isn’t just coincidental.

Continuing Education and Career Growth
Work on your own career to find new management opportunities when you check out these blog posts.

43. Cultivate Your Online Reputation: This blog post by Jennifer Wang has tips for personal branding and monitoring your company’s image, too.
44. Interview with Jason Rzepka: Read this interview with a young communications and public relations executive at a major entertainment company.
45. An Important Leadership Question: What’s Your Dream?: Kevin Eikenberry motivates leaders to consider their own dreams if they want to be successful in the workplace.
46. How to Influence “Up”: Get tips on building a solid reputation, being adaptable and more.
47. Best business networks for women entrepreneurs: Women entrepreneurs and leaders will want to check out these networking resources.
48. The hierarchy of success: What’s most important: attitude, strategy, goals or approach?
49. Leadership: You’ll Know Them When They Know You: Learn how to stand out at work by reading this post.
50. How to Move Out of Your Comfort Zone: Leaders are constantly thinking outside the box, even in terms of their own careers.
51. Leadership is About Powerful Partnerships: This post will inspire you to network for the sake of your own brand and your company’s health.
52. Leaders vs. Managers…Are they really different: Consider the differences between leaders and managers here.
53. Aspiring Managers: Learn to Behave Like Adults: Steve Tobak gives managers a lesson in maturity.
54. Leadership Training: Learn about all of the retreats, trainings and other continuing education opportunities available for leaders.

Goal Setting and Decision-Making
Below you’ll find tips for planning out projects, setting goals and making better decisions.

55. Tackle Business Projects: The Smallest Thing That Could Work: This post cautions managers against pitching big ideas first.
56. Better Meetings: Decide How to Decide: Here you’ll learn how to effectively plan out meetings and tap your employees’ brains.
57. 10 Common Mistakes That Startup and Small Companies Make: If you’re helping a company or new team grow, be aware of these mistakes.
58. Powerful manifestos and goal-setting tools: This post on the power of manifestos should inspire you to create one for your own department or company.
59. The Leader’s Role at Project Completion: When everyone else is celebrating the end of a project, what should you be doing?
60. When goal-setting backfires: When setting goals, be aware of these risks.
61. A Time for Flexible, Positive Leaders: In this article, you’ll learn why being flexible and positive will help you make better decisions.
62. The importance of questioning your work: Questioning your work will help you make better decisions and plans.
63. Goals Into Habits: Steve Pavlina shows leaders how to turn goals into habits.
64. Insights into effective decision making: This advises mangers to “try again,” “slow it down,” and “let go of your ego” when making decisions.

Marketing
Here you’ll learn ways to market your company and your own brand, too.

65. Get Your Marketing Strategy Right and the Rest Will Follow: Small business owners and leaders will learn how to conduct effective market research and present marketing plans.
66. Establishing the “Connection” Factor in Your Business: Lauren Berger offers tips to connect with consumers.
67. Small-Business Owners Anticipate Growth, Market Smarter: Here you’ll get a boost of confidence regarding your next marketing plan.
68. 137 Small Business Twitter Tips: If you’ve had it with social marketing and don’t think you have any ideas left, read this article for more ways to use Twitter to promote your brand, company or department.
69. Public Relations: Your Secret Weapon: Customer Service: Focus on your customer service strategy for a better PR and marketing campaign.
70. Use Salesmanship to Energize Your Organization: John Baldoni recommends a salesman mentality to strengthen your company.
71. Blogging as Management, not Marketing: Rethink your blogging responsibilities here.
72. 25 Must-Read Social Media Marketing Tips: These tips come from high-profile businesses like UPS, Home Depot, Wells Fargo and more.

Office Environment
As a leader and manager, you need to understand how to cultivate an effective office environment that encourages productivity, harmony, and professionalism. Here you’ll learn all about conflict management and more.

73. Conflict at Work?: Steve Roesler offers great tips for understanding office conflict and working through it.
74. Avoid Wasting Valuable Time: Turn your office into an efficient workplace by implementing these strategies.
75. What to Do When People Avoid Conflict?: Learn how to manage employees who shy away from conflict and confrontation.

Communication
These bloggers teach managers to be better leaders through more effective communication.

76. How Leaders Make Big Issues Personal (and Possible): Be more persuasive and influential by learning how to relate to your projects.
77. The Art of Giving Praise: Get over yourself and learn how to give praise to your employees.
78. 9 Tactics to effectively communicate your vision: Read this post for tips on getting others to see your way.
79. How to Speak to an Unruly Crowd: This post has suggestions for speaking to those who may not want to listen.
80. Communication is essential in times of crisis: In times of crisis, your company is counting on you to help them understand their next move.

Getting Help
Even managers need help. Here you’ll find posts that deal with stress management and more.

81. What To Do When You Run Out of Ideas: In this post, you’ll learn how to refresh your mind and get new ideas.
82. 7 Signs You’re Creating Your Own Workplace Stress: This post outlines seven things you’re blowing out of proportion for no reason.
83. Five Myths About Life and How You Should Be Living It: Don’t get sucked into a self-destructive pattern just because you have a stressful life.
84. Stress Management Tips for the Small Business Owner or Freelancer: John Reeve talks small business owners through the stresses of needing to control every aspect of your job.
85. How to Escape Perfectionism: Be a little easier on yourself after reading this article.
86. Who Can Help the CEO? Other CEOs: Learn how to ask for help from your peers in this post.
87. Are you being effectively mentored?: It may be time to find a new mentor after reading this post.
88. Is Work Taking Over Your Life?: Find out if you need to take a step back and breathe.
89. Leaders hold themselves to a higher standard: Motivate yourself to find challenges, make decisions and implement change.
90. Job Stress Management Tips: This post recommends sharing the workload and getting a fresh outlook to deal with stress.

Finance and Economics
Managers will learn how to survive the economy and make smart budget decisions after reading these blog posts.

91. No More Budget Hacking – a.k.a. Know Where to Cut and Where to Spend: Nico McLane has helpful tips for reworking proposals to meet the budget.
92. Is Your Business Ready for the Recovery?: Find out how to get your business ready for the economic recovery here.
93. Make Cost Cutting Invisible to the Customer: Minimize the damage of budget costs by reading this post.
94. Is Your Small Business Getting the Help it Needs?: Learn to fight for your company’s share of freebies and benefits that are being handed out during the recession.
95. Seven steps to successful change, or How can a company start making money again?: In this post, Sam Homer offers ideas for business owners and leaders to rethink their business model and grow from the recession.
96. Weathering the Recession: Tips for Keeping Employees Happy and Productive: Here you’ll learn how to keep your workers happy and comfortable despite a worrying economy.
97. 5 Ways to Fight the Recession as a Small Business: From budgeting to expanding a web presence, these tips can make the difference during a recession.
98. Ten Tips for Using Good Leadership to Survive the Recession: This posts recommends facing problems head on, weeding out low performers and networking.
99. 5 Character Traits to Survive the Recession: Helen Whelan thinks you can help your company survive the recession if you have a healthy dose of passion, perspective and courage.
100. How to survive the recession: Keep your company afloat by adding value to your product, being flexible and becoming an expert in your field.