by Shelley Row | Jul 18, 2016 | Leadership
Have you ever led a group discussion that wasn’t a group discussion? Sure, a few people jump into the discussion immediately but many sit quietly, particularly at the beginning. It’s particularly true for a high-stakes meeting with the boss in the room and everyone...
by Shelley Row | Jun 26, 2016 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
Do you desire to make a substantial career shift but find yourself paralyzed with inaction? Does the risk seem too big to surmount? You doubt your courage and fret over lost opportunities. The German philosopher Goethe once said, “Leap and the net will...
by Shelley Row | Jun 19, 2016 | Business Skills, Neuroscience
Look around. Take in everything that you see. There’s the stack of sticky notes with calls to be returned; a report that needs to be reviewed; the partially finished cost proposal for your big client; and a half-eaten sandwich sitting next to the book club book that...
by Shelley Row | Jun 12, 2016 | Leadership, Neuroscience
A leader sets the course for the organization. And while that can be challenging, even more of a challenge is retaining focus on that course. Each day brings new twists and turns that can distract, dissuade, and undermine the pathway to a goal. It takes discipline to...
by Shelley Row | Jun 5, 2016 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership, Neuroscience
Have you noticed that it feels good to help a co-worker, neighbor, or friend? And have you noticed that it feels good to play a key role in a well-functioning team? In both cases, the reason is that participation activates the reward center in the...
by Shelley Row | May 30, 2016 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership, Neuroscience
You’re wired to see what you already believe. It’s a simple statement but the implications for decision-making are complex. What you already believe is built layer upon layer from your experiences which create a filter through which you see the world. Good...
by Shelley Row | May 24, 2016 | Uncategorized, Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
They started with two helicopters, an office crammed into the corner of the hangar filled with beat up furniture. Today, there are eight helicopters, a flight simulator, an office building outside the hangar and services offered in three locations across the country....
by Shelley Row | May 16, 2016 | Uncategorized, Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership, Neuroscience
He worked fast and it was mesmerizing to watch. I was speaking at Asbury Communities on leadership decision-making using infotuition. As I spoke, Bruce drew. Bruce is an illustrator who graphically records programs as they unfold. It is remarkable to watch him work....
by Shelley Row | May 1, 2016 | Business Skills, Neuroscience
Chances are…you are losing time and productivity due to distractions at work. And there’s neither time nor energy in the day to waste. We choose to allow distractions to get in our way and it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s as though the...
by Shelley Row | Apr 24, 2016 | Decision-Making, Neuroscience
The morning was a bit cool for April as we finished our run. Trees were flowering white and pink like cotton and cotton candy. Yards popped with vibrant yellow and purple pansies. It looked beautiful and happy. If you aren’t a gardener you may not know that...
by Shelley Row | Apr 18, 2016 | Neuroscience
The big day was approaching. By “big day” I don’t mean election day (which can’t come soon enough) or a wedding day, I mean the Super Bowl-THE big day for U.S. sports fans. To be clear, I am not a U.S. sports fan, but even people like me watch...
by Shelley Row | Apr 10, 2016 | Decision-Making
Around and around you go…Your mind whizzes and churns. What if this? What if that? You feel like a dog chasing its tail. The culprit is over-thinking. Over-thinking wastes time, money and energy. If you don’t have any of those to spare, then let’s look at three...
by Shelley Row | Apr 4, 2016 | Business Skills, Decision-Making
NO! Wham. NO! Wham. My partner, large pads strapped to her forearms, shouted her encouragement. My forearms hit the pads with as much force as I could muster. Wham. “NO!” I yelled as loudly as I could over the other shouted “Nos” in the room. The power of yelling...
by Shelley Row | Mar 27, 2016 | Business Skills, Decision-Making
Perhaps you’re like me. You pack more into the day than it can possibly hold. The items on the to-do list stack up and the top priorities that need your undivided attention slip as you deal with unexpected emergencies that can’t wait. Frustration builds and...
by Shelley Row | Mar 21, 2016 | Leadership
The wedding was filled with music. The bride looked simply mesmerizing in a wedding dress similar to those found at www.winniecouture.com/stores/wedding-dresses-chicago-il/. We sat in the wooden pews listening attentively as music consumed the church. As the choir...
by Shelley Row | Feb 22, 2016 | Leadership
After 75 interviews with leaders, it’s clear. Leaders rely on intuition for decision-making in complex situations. Making decisions in the face of ambiguity and uncertainty is part of the job. There is neither the ability to know all the facts nor time to find enough...
by Shelley Row | Feb 15, 2016 | Leadership
Valentine’s Day is not a huge event in our household. With 16 years of marriage, we’re past the point of grand gestures, dozens of roses or big gifts…and I like it this way. I like it because it’s the small things that matter. Valentine’s...
by Shelley Row | Feb 7, 2016 | Leadership
It was evening at the Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino. I checked in after a long flight to Phoenix and, like always, I scouted out the facility for the next day. I don’t think you’d be surprised to learn that the thing that grabbed my attention first was...
by Shelley Row | Jan 31, 2016 | Leadership
It was an important hiring decision – a senior manager with a healthy budget and high-level staff. Most hiring processes will consist of an interview panel, checking references, conducting several rounds of interviews, and even potentially a police clearance to ensure...
by Shelley Row | Jan 24, 2016 | Leadership
By Saturday afternoon there was already 18 inches of snow. Tree limbs sagged with the weight and narrow, shoveled paths wiggled toward the garage. And, it was still snowing. The boxwood hedges, that I have nurtured since they were tiny, splayed apart from mounds of...
by Shelley Row | Jan 17, 2016 | Leadership
Last week, I participated in my first speaker showcase. More than 20 speakers provided ten minutes of their program to a room full of 200 meeting planners. Hearing different a motivational christian speaker throughout the day it brought nerves on. It was like speed...
by Shelley Row | Jan 11, 2016 | Leadership
It starts the instant the alarm on the phone sounds. There’s that jarring moment even if you set the phone for a soft harp, quiet ring, or the chirp of crickets. It’s off to the races. We struggle to pack more and more in and feel bad when we’re not...
by Shelley Row | Jan 3, 2016 | Leadership
Have you ever noticed that little bits of wisdom show up in the most unexpected places? I love when that happens. It was an overcast New Year’s Eve morning as my girlfriends and I met for our morning run. The Chesapeake Bay glistened silvery and still as we jogged...
by Shelley Row | Dec 28, 2015 | Leadership
Carols were sung, gifts were exchanged and fudge was consumed. After all of the holiday hub-bub, it’s easy to feel a bit deflated. Instead of the excitement of finding the just-right gift and anticipating the look of glee on a kid’s face, you’re left...
by Shelley Row | Dec 21, 2015 | Leadership
‘Twas the night before Christmas…and family dynamics are taking a toll. There are the folks you see often and those less regularly. Some relationships are easy and welcome. Others …well, other relationships may grate on your nerves. Let’s face it,...
by Shelley Row | Dec 13, 2015 | Leadership
“Whereof what’s past is prologue,” wrote Shakespeare in The Tempest. When applied to stable businesses, that statement has a ring of truth. However, for entrepreneurs in emerging industries where new ways to do business or entirely new businesses show up, past is not...
by Shelley Row | Nov 29, 2015 | Leadership
You run the numbers, debate the pros and cons, talk to others, and now it’s time to make the decision. It should be obvious but something holds you back. There’s a tug in your gut as you struggle with an intangible feeling that there’s more to this decision than meets...
by Shelley Row | Nov 23, 2015 | Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Nov 16, 2015 | Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Nov 9, 2015 | Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Nov 2, 2015 | Leadership
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.”...
by Shelley Row | Oct 25, 2015 | Leadership
“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...
by Shelley Row | Oct 19, 2015 | Leadership
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,...
by Shelley Row | Oct 12, 2015 | Leadership
It was another one of those days. There were too many things on the to-do list to squish into the available time. I fretted and agonized. “How will it all get done?” The anxiety in my body mounted: tightness in my chest, knots in my stomach. “Oh no! You’re going to...
by Shelley Row | Oct 5, 2015 | Leadership
It’s another long day at the office. You work late and there is still so much left to do. It’s never ending. You get home late and are up early the next morning. Back at the office to chase down the to-do list. Somewhere along the way, busy-ness became a...
by Shelley Row | Sep 27, 2015 | Leadership
Once upon a time, we sat together on our piano bench listening to a recording of Johann Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz. The music floated along – pretty, but unremarkable to my school-girl ears. My dad, a school band director, explained to me that the music represented...
by Shelley Row | Sep 14, 2015 | Leadership
Once upon a time, we sat together on our piano bench listening to a recording of Johann Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz. The music floated along – pretty, but unremarkable to my school-girl ears. My dad, a school band director, explained to me that the music represented...
by Shelley Row | Sep 9, 2015 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
Watch and listen to Shelley’s New VideoCast Series on Leading Change. No matter what your organization does, change can be tricky. But change is part of organizational life. Our world is changing faster than ever. The astute leader must understand change...
by Shelley Row | Sep 8, 2015 | Decision-Making, Leadership
By the time I arrived, she was groggy, clammy and complaining of chest pains. The emergency management technicians (EMTs) drove up to my mother’s house in spite of me giving them the wrong address. Red lights reflected off the windows as they pulled into the...
by Shelley Row | Aug 31, 2015 | Decision-Making, Leadership
How many cathedrals are enough? After traveling over Europe I had enough of soaring cathedrals with vast interiors filled with church art and relics. But, my husband, born and raised a Catholic, has a cathedral fetish. And so it was that we walked around the outside...
by Shelley Row | Aug 24, 2015 | Decision-Making, Leadership
We didn’t know where to go so we followed the throng of people. We jostled through the streets of Monaco under a blazing blue sky. We were traveling in southern France, and to our surprise we learned about the qualifying time trials that were taking place for...
by Shelley Row | Aug 18, 2015 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
Have you ever tried to persuade someone and it did not go well? You have all the facts and data; you have a compelling case and the answer seems obvious – at least to you. Yet, they are not convinced and their arguments seem counterintuitive. This situation plays out...
by Shelley Row | Aug 9, 2015 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
Whoo-hoo! I was promoted to mid-management (GS-13 in government lingo). I was going to Headquarters! I made it! …not so fast. My first assignment was to write policy on the use of motorcycles in HOV lanes. If you think that doesn’t sound very exciting,...
by Shelley Row | Aug 2, 2015 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Jul 24, 2015 | Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Jul 18, 2015 | Leadership
“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...
by Shelley Row | Jul 12, 2015 | Leadership
“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...
by Shelley Row | Jul 5, 2015 | Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Jun 28, 2015 | Leadership
“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’...
by Shelley Row | Jun 21, 2015 | Leadership
The work day started as usual —a long, tedious commute for a meeting-packed day. Lost in thought, I strode past our administrative assistant, Melinda, and into my office intent on reviewing and prioritizing the day’s actions before interruptions started. Just as I sat...
