Blue Fjord Leaders Blog
The Voice for Insightful Leadership with Shelley Row, P.E.
Mental Flexibility: Stay Calm and Find the Workaround
It happened for the second time. I arrived to speak at the conference workshop and realized that I left the mail-back cards and envelopes at home...again. (Yes, I have a packing checklist; yes, I used the checklist; yes, I still overlooked it.) That feeling of panic...
Top Leadership Tip: Just Care and Be Nice
Some time ago, I spoke at and facilitated an Executive Leadership Program for a notable association. The speakers were a who’s who in that industry--successful business people with a solid track record. There were sessions on responding to RFPs, auditing and...
Customer Service Week: Lessons from Helicopter Pilots
They started with two helicopters, an office crammed into the corner of the hangar filled with beat up furniture. Today, there are eight helicopters, a flight simulator, an office building outside the hangar and services offered in three locations across the country....
Communication Lessons from a Lightning Strike
We were climbing out of the Denver International Airport on an overcast day with bumps typical of Denver. I was flying from a speaking engagement in Keystone to another one in Atlanta and was engrossed in my work when…POP! Flash! The noise and bright light came from...
Tasting Scottish Whisky: What It Means to Your Team
Scotland is known for fine woolens, shortbread, the heather-covered moors and single malt Scottish whisky. I'm not a single malt whisky drinker but as a visitor to Scotland for ten days, I decided to try two per day. If I was a teenager or student I would be loving...
Scaling Difficult Tasks: Leverage Your Resources
The Isle of Skye in Scotland is laced with hiking trails. Some run through heather-covered rolling moors; some are technical climbs that scale tops of peaks; others drop to the sea along sheer cliffs. It's not just Scotland with the tricky terrian; all around the...
Blue Fjord Leaders Newsletter with Shelley Row, PE, CSP
Your place for short, easy-to-read articles on management, leadership, decision-making, and personal & professional development.
Featured Blog Posts
Do You Know What Makes Your Staff Tick? Use these Five Questions to Keep Them Ticking
When you download a new app, buy a new phone or acquire the latest cool technology like Alexa, you learn to use it. You explore its capabilities, you learn how it works, and over time you learn how it can assist you. Do you make that effort with your staff? Do you...
Know Your Staff! Four Briefing Styles that Give You Clues to Their Superpower
Think about your first management position. What was initially on your mind? For most of us, we dove into the technical work. What are the projects? Are they on time and on budget? What are the technical challenges? What is the financial picture for each? For sure,...
10 Things Every Technical Person Should Know when They Become a Manager
Whether your technical expertise is in engineering (like mine), law, finance, technology or science, we technical folks don’t have good reputations as managers. When a technically accomplished person is promoted into management, suddenly the old skills that made us...
Is Your Leadership Falling Victim to the Villain?
Is your leadership falling victim to the villain? “What villain?” you say. It’s a dastardly villain that limits your leadership potential and short-circuits your effectiveness. Particularly in technical fields, we’ve been trained to go along with the villain. Here’s...
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