Blue Fjord Leaders Blog
The Voice for Insightful Leadership with Shelley Row, P.E.
Increase Focus with a Nature Break
It was a hustle bustle morning. I was in Austin preparing for a client meeting. I was downtown, and they were in South Austin. It required a drive down Interstate 35 in rush hour to reach their office. Traffic was stop, start, stop, start for several miles before the...
Words Matter: Three Steps to Using Words to Get What You Want
“I’m trying not to be worried. It will be fine.” If I said it once, I said it a hundred times. I said it to my friends. I said it to my work colleagues. And most importantly, I said it to myself. Looking back, I thought I was being positive. “It will all be fine.”...
For Effective Leaders: Five 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 76 effective leaders, it is clear that the skillful use of...
Bravery in Action
We were in Mikki William’s speaker school. The room was filled with accomplished professionals from a variety of businesses, each there for their unique reasons. One was Barbara. Tall and striking, Barbara’s goal was to overcome her anxiety about speaking. On day two,...
Fire Up Your Conversations! When to Use Email–or Your Voice
It’s a cold winter’s day and the fireplace is blazing. Yellow flames grasp upward and their heat warms the room. It’s the gas fireplace in my living room. Down the road the fireplace is blazing at my friend’s house. Yellow flames grasp upward, heat warms the room...
Confessions from a Goal-Setter on New Year’s Day
The party is over. The confetti clings to the floor, reluctant to be swept away. The hats and horns are conspicuous with glittered hot pinks, blues and golds. And so the new year begins. Maybe you had a New Year's Eve like this or maybe you sat quietly at home in...
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
Know the Six Influencers Who Impact Your Effectiveness
Our new boss arrived with an agenda and he wasn’t timid about it. It seemed that he gathered input from everyone but us. Because he was influenced by an array of people unfamiliar to us, the work environment became challenging, to say the least. Through this...
Know Your Boss! Five Things to Learn About Them to Make Your Work Life (and Theirs) Easier
Teresa wanted to see the big picture strategy before discussing specifics. Tom wanted general ideas with time to think before deciding. Paul wanted to give orders that were followed to the "T". To be successful, each of these bosses required a unique approach. The...
What are the Drivers Behind Your Behaviors?
Imagine a Ferrari. It looks sleek and fast. Now imagine a Ferrari with a Ford Focus engine. It still looks sleek but its performance is impacted by the mechanics under the hood. It’s not so different for you. The influences “under your hood” dramatically impact your...
Can You See Your Humps?
Can You See Your Humps? Your Strengths and Communication Styles? Keep Reading To Learn Here. How do you behave at work? What work style and communication traits are associated with you? There’s an African proverb, “The camel never sees its own humps, but that of its...
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