Blue Fjord Leaders Blog
The Voice for Insightful Leadership with Shelley Row, P.E.
On Being Thankful for Patience and Impatience
Patience is a virtue. While there is wisdom in that cliché, I've also come to appreciate the value of impatience. For those of us running businesses and working toward goals, impatience is a performance driver. But if all we appreciate in impatience, we miss the joy...
Over-React? Use Your Emergency Tool Kit
Your expectations for the project were clear, but the staff didn't follow them. In the blink of an eye, the voice in your head explodes and you lose your composure. The team exchanges nervous glances and shuffles out of the room silently. You know they won't be silent...
Make Space for Thoughtfulness
The rain was steady as I waited in Starbucks. We planned to meet over coffee and talk about collaborating. As usual, I anticipated a busy day working through my to-do list - the one that stretched to infinity. Each day it felt like the list grew longer, and I hung on...
Are You Unknowingly Suppressing Your Personal Growth?
Across the bottom of Amazon’s book page it pronounces, “New for you…” Low and behold, there is a list of books based on my past purchasing history. I follow someone new on Twitter and up pops three more Twitter feeds with the caption “You might also want to follow.”...
Take a Long Weekend Off! Three Reasons Why it is Good for Business
"I can't go away for a long weekend," my over-thinking brain proclaims. "You have so much to do – programs to prepare for, articles to write, follow-up calls to make." But, I promised my husband a few days away. We planned to drive to the mountains of West Virginia,...
Flee the Workplace Fires: Five Factors to Consider
Again. It happened again. Twice in five years fire gobbled up trees, pastures, and homes outside of Smithville, Texas, my hometown. Nearly 5,000 acres and 40 structures burned, are today's numbers. Fire trucks bearing names like Gonzales, Bryan, Sequin, Nacogdoches,...
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
A Mid-Air Emergency: Five Characteristics of High Performing Teams
It started like any other flight. The memorized announcements, beverage service, and a few peanuts. With my head buried in my laptop, I became aware of a commotion of two rows in front of me. A woman asked for help for her husband. The announcement over the speaker...
The Facts Speak for Themselves. Do They?
“Just the facts: they speak for themselves.” That's the approach many take when they want to persuade someone to their point of view. But do they speak for themselves? Not so much. From my technical background, I have observed a fact-based approach to persuasion many...
Collaboration: Four Tips Learned from Packing a Truck
It was hot...really, hot. In front of us was a large SUV with the back open, waiting expectantly. Behind us were boxes, a chair (really, a chaise lounge), a table and an assortment of odds and ends anticipating the ride from Texas to Annapolis inside the SUV. Our...
Perfect is Over-Rated
Six little girls about eight-years old, a mom with her small son, and me and my friend, Patti. We were at Painting With a Twist in South Austin. A blank, white canvas and a paper plate (a perfect substitute for a palette) with puddles of paint in vibrant colors was in...
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