Blue Fjord Leaders Blog
The Voice for Insightful Leadership with Shelley Row, P.E.
Get Rid of Analysis Paralysis Once and For All
You know what it’s like…constantly seeking more data. More data leads to more analysis. More analysis brings up more questions. More questions provoke the need for more data. And so it goes, round and round…like a dog chasing its tail. It wastes your time, your...
For Effective Leaders…Five Reasons why “Feelings” is Not a Dirty Word
For Effective Leaders…5 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...
Four Steps to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions on Track
Does the thought of New Year's resolutions fill you with anxiety or exhilaration? Personally, setting New Year's resolutions feels like breathing in the fresh, crisp air of possibility and hope. It's as though a gleaming new road is spread out in front of me. But the...
Three Benefits of Gratitude
Still. Quiet. It is 7am on Thanksgiving morning and not a creature is stirring. Well, that’s not completely accurate. Overhead, a seagull squawks and there’s a woop, woop of wings beating against the air as a flock of smaller birds zip past. I’m running along the...
Four Steps to Loosen the Grip of “Supposed-Tos”
To clap, or not to clap. That is the question. Mike and I attended opening night at the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. The newly renovated Maryland Hall was filled with expectant energy. They really did sound amazing! They must have used something akin to the Graham...
Four Tips to Manage Your Energy Drains and Fillers
“You’re doing what?” The question came from my girlfriends during our morning run. I had explained my plan to attend a weekend meditation retreat. It wasn’t the meditation retreat they reacted to. It was the plan: Friday night concert (we already had tickets);...
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
Flip the Switches in the Brain: 5 Ways to Motivate Your Team, Staff or Client
The brain has two important electrical circuits for motivation. One activates feelings of reward and the other, feelings of threat. Whether staff, teams or clients, the reward circuit is the more reliable, long-term motivator of behavior. Unfortunately, the threat...
Reap the Rewards of a Checklist: Two Easy Steps
Pilots use it; some doctors use it. The benefits of its use have been documented. What is it? A simple checklist. Are you taking advantage of it? My sister and her husband are pilots. Each time I fly with them they pull out their pre-flight checklist. Even with hours...
Kindness Matters
Where are the keys? They must be here somewhere. I drove to Starbucks between a meeting and my flight home. Clearly, I had the keys when I arrived. The Starbucks staff helped me search. No keys. "Maybe you left them in the car?" they offered. Maybe. It's worth...
The Number One Way to Show Respect at Work
I didn’t see it coming. The executives were gathered for our work on communication skills for the sake of enhancing productivity. (Poor communication skills are a leading cause of productivity loss.) Based on their input, we had flip charts around the room each with...
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