Coaching | Varga & Associates

Martin’s leadership, learning, and sharing journey

by maripat | May 23, 2023 | Career Development, Coaching, Communication, Employee Engagement, Influence, Leadership, Personal Development | 0

I met Martin in the test kitchen at #fgf and the first thing he said to me with a laugh was: “I...

How to Focus: Lessons from a Banana Cream Pie Debacle

by maripat | Nov 30, 2021 | Coaching, Communication, Focus, Listening | 0

I must acknowledge immediately that I do not count cooking or baking as personal strengths or talents. As a result, when the holidays roll around, I get a tad nervous about what dish I will be asked to make for potluck gatherings. This year’s assignment was to make a banana cream pie. I jumped in excitedly, because I love banana cream pie, but missing some of the key recipe details turned the pie into a soupy mess. Here’s what I learned about how to stay focused and attentive to the details. Critical for pie -making and any other pursuit you may have…

Persuasion in action during COVID-19

by Varg_Admin | Apr 7, 2020 | Coaching, Communication, Influence, Leadership, Personal Development, Persuasion, Presentation Skills | 0

On a call this week with a not-for-profit organization I work with we discussed everything from...

Communicate to Engage during COVID-19: 9 ways to make lemonade

by Varg_Admin | Mar 30, 2020 | Coaching, Communication, Digital Communication, Employee Engagement, Interpersonal Skills, Leadership | 0

Communication has never been more important than it is now as we navigate our way through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leaders are now recognizing that keeping their teams engaged and focused during this time period is essential – and for the most part, it must be done remotely. It’s time to make lemonade. Here are 9 strategies.

Why is my WERQ instructor smiling?

by Varg_Admin | Feb 18, 2018 | Career Development, Coaching, Communication, Influence, Interpersonal Skills, Media, Pitch, Presentation Skills | 0

How to lead and influence through expression “Smiling stimulates our brain’s reward mechanisms in...

Notice: 5 ways to improve your observation skills

by Varg_Admin | May 22, 2017 | Coaching, Communication, Customer Service, Personal Development | 1

I do my best to take daily walks in the park near my home. This past week I happened to walk by a father with his two young children on a couple of occasions as they traveled the same path as me. One thing that struck me was...

Conversation Rules of Engagement this Holiday

by Varg_Admin | Nov 28, 2016 | Coaching, Communication | 0

We look forward to gathering with our families and friends during the holiday season and yet this year may offer interesting challenges. With the recent political upset, many families are divided and it is easy to have...

Tolerance or Acceptance: What are you communicating?

by Varg_Admin | Nov 15, 2016 | Coaching, Communication, Interpersonal Skills | 0

Growing up, I often heard my parents preach the importance of demonstrating tolerance for all who might be different than me – different in background, politics, race, beliefs, etc. We just experienced the most tumultuous and...

Are you a Decathlete or Specialist at Work?

by Varg_Admin | Aug 21, 2016 | Brand You, Career Development, Coaching, Interpersonal Skills, Leadership, Personal Development, Teamwork | 0

At work, do you do one thing really well or have you developed the ability to do many things with a high level of proficiency?

I look forward to watching the Olympics every four years – not only to watch the amazing athletes who have trained so hard to get to this point – but to also observe how the athletes manage the pressures and intensity of the competition. How they express “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”. While locked in battle, how well do they work together and demonstrate respect?

This past week I was glued to the track contests and noticed the difference between what I would call the specialists (athletes who train solely in one sport) and the decathletes (who are required to master 10 different sports).

3 Convention Speakers & What We Can Learn From Them

by Varg_Admin | Aug 1, 2016 | Coaching, Leadership, Presentation Skills | 0

I am admittedly a speech nerd and as such I watched just about every speech at both the RNC and DNC forums. While doing my own analysis I was struck by something that NY Times columnist and PBS commentator, David Brooks said. He remarked that at the conventions he found that speakers generally fit into one of three categories:

Passion Re-boot & Reclaiming your Game

by Varg_Admin | Apr 16, 2016 | Coaching, Leadership, Personal Development, Uncategorized | 0

My sister Ellen has been kicking some serious butt lately. She re-booted her passion for tennis after abandoning it for several decades. Ellen grew up playing tennis. Between the ages of 13 – 18 she was on the tennis court,...

Leadership Lessons from the Boy Scout Handbook

by Varg_Admin | Mar 26, 2016 | Career Development, Coaching, Communication, Effective meetings, Leadership, Personal Development, Teamwork | 0

Sometimes what is old is new again. The Boy Scout Handbook was first published in 1910 and it has recently been used to turn around a troubled school and transform boys into men.

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In a recent episode of 60 Minutes that aired on March 20th, St. Benedicts Prep School in Newark, New Jersey was featured. The school, once a mostly white, prestigious prep school had fallen on hard times. Today the all-boys school is 50% African American and a third Hispanic – with the remainder white. The majority of the student population live in poverty and gangs, violence and drugs rule their neighborhoods. The odds are against these kids.