Blue Fjord Leaders Blog
The Voice for Insightful Leadership with Shelley Row, P.E.
Three Ways to Make SMART Goals Smarter
The 1996 Summer Olympics were approaching fast. Atlanta hummed with construction. I was part of a team that designed and built the Transportation Management Center or TMC. The work engulfed the city, all of the surrounding counties, the state department of...
How to Not Waste Time on Performance Reviews
It is likely that your performance review process is a colossal waste of time - for you and your employee. Can your business tolerate a process that is a colossal waste of time? If your answer is no, then here are some tips that with a bit of thought, will improve the...
Persuasion: It’s Not About the Facts
“Just the facts: they speak for themselves.” Don’t they? Not so much. From my technical background, I have observed a fact-based approach to persuasion many times but rarely successfully. It’s no wonder. The brain isn’t designed to respond to facts alone. Analytical...
How to Manage Your Mood and Language to Resolve Workplace Disputes
"I can't work with him! The project was late because he didn't do his part. I have to hold his hand every step of the way." That's what she said as she stood in my office frustrated, agitated and angry. And, she expected me to "take care of it." The situation is...
Five Ways to Reward Employees – It’s Not About the Money.
It was a perfect July 4th evening in Annapolis, Maryland. A soft breeze blew in from the water as the crowds gathered on the bridges, piers, and in boats moored within the harbor. Poof, poof, poof and the sky glitters with globes of red and blue twinkles. Poof, boom...
Four Ways Fairness Addresses Performance Problems
"It's not fair!" You have a team that is working hard and delivering results...except for one team member. He's not pulling his fair share and the workload has to be reallocated because of missed deadlines. The other team members' effort and morale is being impacted....
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
Tips from a Tea Kettle: How to Reframe an Over-Reaction into a Considered Response
There it is – a tea kettle. Shiny and copper. It sits quietly until the heat is on. Suddenly, unexpectedly, it erupts, “Eeeeeeeeee!” There you are. Sitting quietly at home or at work doing what you’re doing. Something happens – a cross word, a sideways glance, an...
Are Your Decision-Making Habits Feeding Your Organization?
I’m intrigued but not surprised. The a-ha moment happened as I discussed the pitfalls of over-thinking with a group of 70 transportation leaders. It could have been any group of leaders. Perhaps it is evident: Leaders develop good and bad decision-making habits and so...
Three Steps to Just Getting It Done
It was a beautiful Texas afternoon and I decided to take a short walk along the street where my mother lives. Walking, I passed a short, old woman slowly ambling along out for her afternoon walk and carrying her cane. We smiled and acknowledged each other as our...
Four Ways Leaders Use Intuition
Think, think, think. We live in a culture that values thinking. We have big thinkers, deep thinkers, creative thinkers, out-of-the-box thinkers. There are think tanks and a sculpture called, The Thinker. We think out loud; we think to ourselves and then we think...
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