Blue Fjord Leaders Blog
The Voice for Insightful Leadership with Shelley Row, P.E.
Flaming Emails: Don’t be THAT Person
You know a flaming email when you see it. Sarcasm, anger, or a belittling tone seep through the screen. It’s astounding how much tone we read into an email. It’s easier than you might think to send a flaming email. In fact, most executives that I work with don’t...
Over-thinking It? Notice and Name Feelings
Video #6 of the Series - Effective Decision-Making in an Over-Thinking World In this video series, Shelley works with you to understand the under-the-surface influences that impact your decision-making. You’ll learn how to stop over-thinking decisions; slow knee-jerk...
Is It Soup Yet? How To Know when It’s Time to Decide and Move On
You want to make a sound, thoughtful decision but it’s a tough one. How do you know when you have given adequate consideration? How do you know when it’s time to decide and move on? An executive that I work with calls that question, “Is it soup yet?” Have you...
Tough Decision? Use Your Secret Weapon–Values
You have a secret weapon anytime you face a tough decision. That secret weapon is your value system. Understanding and aligning with your values are a particularly useful addition to your decision-making toolset. Your value system indicates if a particular decision...
Big Decision? How to Get Input You Can Really Use
You are faced with a big decision and you hesitate, debate and procrastinate. It’s a moment where you could benefit from the experience of others, particularly your boss, mentor or the executive who you admire. That’s a good thing. You can learn a lot from the input...
For Better Decisions: Convert Competitive Talking into Collaborative Talking
You are in a meeting with a group of people trying to discuss a project, program, course of action, you-name-it. But it isn’t really a conversation. It’s more like competitive talking. One person starts a thought only to have their sentence stepped on by another. ...
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
Increase Focus with a Nature Break
It was a hustle bustle morning. I was in Austin preparing for a client meeting. I was downtown, and they were in South Austin. It required a drive down Interstate 35 in rush hour to reach their office. Traffic was stop, start, stop, start for several miles before the...
Words Matter: Three Steps to Using Words to Get What You Want
“I’m trying not to be worried. It will be fine.” If I said it once, I said it a hundred times. I said it to my friends. I said it to my work colleagues. And most importantly, I said it to myself. Looking back, I thought I was being positive. “It will all be fine.”...
For Effective Leaders: Five Reasons Why “Feelings” is Not a Dirty Word
“There’s no place for feelings at work!” I heard it frequently as a young engineer. Thankfully, I learned this admonition was impossible to achieve and very bad for my career. Today, after interviewing 76 effective leaders, it is clear that the skillful use of...
Bravery in Action
We were in Mikki William’s speaker school. The room was filled with accomplished professionals from a variety of businesses, each there for their unique reasons. One was Barbara. Tall and striking, Barbara’s goal was to overcome her anxiety about speaking. On day two,...
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