Blue Fjord Leaders Blog
The Voice for Insightful Leadership with Shelley Row, P.E.
The Best Attributes of Engineers & How to Upskill to Be a Better Manager
Use these 3 tips for better management training It’s National Engineers Week! Let’s take a moment to celebrate engineers and the value they bring into the world. And let’s look at how to get more from that value. Think about it. Engineers design, build and...
The New Must-Have Skill for Managers: Empathy
Leadership after COVID demands a new approach — here's how to manage with empathy. Management & leadership is changing. Have you noticed? Check out this article from Fast Company on the “rare breed” of managers who are “original.” The article came to me from my...
The Hidden Costs of DIY Leadership Training
When resources are limited and uncertainty abounds, clients want to work with organizations they trust. Now, more than ever, your technical managers need enhanced interpersonal skills so that you are the trusted company with whom clients want to work. After all, there...
The Neuroscience of Managing Distractions & How to Rebalance your Brain
So much about work has changed in the last 18 months — how we think about it, how we talk about it, even how we simply get it done has endured a cultural shift with steep demands. As we round the corner into the end of year, here we go yet again. Managers and business...
Why “Power Through It” Doesn’t Work & How to Reset Your Brain
Photo by Paul Green on Unsplash "Power through it" is quick advice for hard or tedious work tasks. Our CEO Shelley Row breaks down the diminishing return of determination and how to reset your brain for more productivity. Expectation vs Reality “Noooooo…..Not another...
Emotionless Leadership Hinders Effectiveness … Do This Instead
In leadership positions it’s inevitable that situations arise and provoke emotional reactions. Some emotions are low grade but others are like five-alarm fires. We are taught to suppress our emotions in the workplace in order to be seen as credible, strong and...
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
Busy and Tired? How to Manage Your Energy
Feeling Busy and Tired Lately, there’s been a common thread that runs through conversations with clients and colleagues. Maybe you’ve noticed it, too. We start the call by asking, “How’s it going?” Inevitably the response is a variation of “it’s so busy,” “I’m so...
Get Motivated to Motivate Your Staff
Now more than ever, it’s time to motivate staff The recent LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Survey which canvasses roughly 5,000 US workforce members every two weeks noted a six-point drop in the optimism that employees felt about their employer’s business. While there...
You Shouldn’t Feel That Way – and Other Phrases to Eliminate
How to replace suppression phrases with validation to improve communication “You’re getting upset over nothing.” That’s what my boss told me after a particularly difficult project meeting where everything seemed to go wrong. I’m sure she meant well, but her words...
Curiosity: The Secret to High-Functioning Communication
How to be a curious, not judgmental leader Walt Whitman said, “Be curious; not judgmental.” The word, curiosity, evokes a sense of openness and flexibility. That’s a good way to approach interpersonal communication. In my courses, we define the goal of communication...
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