maripat | Varga & Associates

What do leaders need from their leader?

Aug 31, 2009 | Leadership

Ideally, individuals are assigned to a leadership position within an organization because they are trusted, highly competent, great with customers and know how to enlist and engage their people.
With that high level of competence comes an assumption that they don’t need much guidance or handholding. They are big boys and girls, being paid accordingly and know what to do and simply need to be given the runway to make it happen.

What then, is the role of their boss – the CEO, President or Business Head? The obvious answer is to provide strategy, direction and clear goals and to allow that individual to accomplish them. Beyond that, what else would support their success? Here are a couple of ways the leader of leaders can stay connected and provide additional support:

Watch what you say – everyone is listening.

Aug 3, 2009 | Communication

Recently I attended an event where colleagues gathered. Time was spent catching up, swapping stories – all good. At a certain point, however, the conversation turned sour. Suddenly the talk turned to jabs/slights/disparaging remarks about individuals who were not there. This portion of the conversation probably only lasted about 15 minutes but it was enough to change the energy in the room from one of celebration and reunion to mean-spirited gossip.

Michael Jackson – connects the dots

Jul 12, 2009 | Uncategorized

The passing of Michael Jackson has produced an outpouring of reflections, commentary and tributes. I will add mine. Michael Jackson was a phenomenal communicator. Through his art – his music, his dance, his theatrical presentation – he reached millions across the world. In the few weeks since his death I have paid less attention to all the media hype and more to the very simple ways that his art communicated and connected people.

Geoff Colvin on The upside of the downturn

Jun 20, 2009 | Uncategorized

I was reading with great interest an article called “The upside of the downturn” by Geoff Colvin (in FORTUNE, June 8, 2009) and the article highlighted five moves to make now which I found to be right on…so much so that I wanted to re-enforce Colvin’s ideas here:

The communication adventure – examples abound

Jun 19, 2009 | Uncategorized

The great news for folks who want to improve their communication is that we have coaches, tutors and guides all around us providing examples of big and small ways we can improve.

A few days ago I stopped into a neighborhood restaurant for lunch. The waitress, Nancy, approached the table and with a big smile on her face and said, “Gosh, you look so much like my sister, Carol, and because of that I am gonna be super attentive to you today and if you want dessert, I’ll be sure to secure the biggest slice of cake for you. I know you probably don’t have a lot of time, so, what can I get for you…?” Nancy delivered a great experience for me that day and I noticed as she floated from table to table she exhibited the same upbeat friendliness to all her customers.