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...
by Shelley Row | Jun 14, 2015 | Leadership
Everyone has biases. The only thing worse than having a bias is not realizing that you do. It is in the knowing that there is opportunity to manage unintended bias. Humans are designed to crave relatedness. Millions of years ago your tribe was key to survival. Quickly...
by Shelley Row | Jun 6, 2015 | Leadership
Money, prestige, power, promotion. These are rewards that matter – right? We tend to believe that employees must be rewarded with money. That’s the default. Not so fast. The way businesses are rewarding their employees are changing as more managers are looking...
by Shelley Row | May 30, 2015 | Leadership
It’s inevitable. At some point you make a decision that doesn’t go well. The astute leader takes time to assess the decision-making process and determine what worked or didn’t. To appreciate why self-evaluation is essential, we need to understand more about the brain....
by Shelley Row | May 26, 2015 | Leadership
The deadline for a big work or study project is approaching. The deadline creates just enough stress to focus you on the task. But the stress doesn’t stop there. While working on the big project, three others show up with imminent due dates. Or, just as you were...
by Shelley Row | May 13, 2015 | Leadership
Setting strategic goals is the job of a leader. And not just any goal will do. We are implored to set stretch goals or a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). But is that really a good idea? Neuroscience shows that falling short of expectations launches a downward spiral...
by Shelley Row | Apr 30, 2015 | Leadership
(Hint: Some are better than others!) Hot buttons: Some arrive unexpectedly in an instant and others you know well. In either case, hot buttons issues have a serious impact on your ability to make effective decisions. A hot button issue is a memory stored in one of the...
by Shelley Row | Apr 26, 2015 | Leadership
In leadership positions it’s inevitable that situations arise that generate an emotional reaction. Some emotions are low grade but others are like five-alarm fires. We are taught to control our emotions in the workplace to be credible, strong and unshakable. “Don’t...
by Shelley Row | Apr 21, 2015 | Leadership
Have you noticed that some situations trigger a negative voice in your head? Perhaps it is, “I’m not good enough,” I have to achieve to be worthy,” “They won’t choose me,” “I’m not smart enough.” It’s a stuck story and it hits quickly and powerfully. Stuck stories are...
by Shelley Row | Apr 12, 2015 | Leadership
Does information seem to pass through your mind like a sieve? Do you find that the information from that conference call this morning escapes you this afternoon? Research in neuroscience is providing clues to how your brain encodes, stores and retrieves memories. The...
by Shelley Row | Apr 6, 2015 | Leadership
You know when it happens…that flash of insight, moment of inspiration, the proverbial aha moment, or the solution that pops into your head when you’re not expecting it. It feels like magic and hopefully comes at just the right moment. But can you encourage that moment...
by Shelley Row | Mar 28, 2015 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
Stop Shooting Yourself in the Foot! Learn to Recognize and Manage Triggered Reactions We all have them…those hot-button issues, things that get under our skin. When one of them happens it triggers an over-reaction that is emotion-filled, quick and is probably not in...
by Shelley Row | Mar 1, 2015 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Feb 4, 2015 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Jan 1, 2015 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Nov 30, 2014 | Leadership
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...
by Shelley Row | Nov 6, 2014 | Business Skills, Decision-Making, Leadership
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...
