Communication Blog | Varga & Associates

Coaching in action at hbk

Apr 27, 2014 | Career Development, Coaching, Communication, Leadership, Personal Development | 0

What if there was an established channel in our organizations where the senior people could learn from the junior people and the junior people could be coached by their senior counterparts?

Recently I had the opportunity, along with my colleague Richard Pearlman, to work with Ron Kaminski, CEO of hbk Engineering, and his senior leadership team. After we completed a communication exercise together, we were chatting in the hall with Ron, asking about the company and how he develops leaders.

What Google looks for when they hire

Apr 20, 2014 | Brand You, Career Development, Coaching, Communication, Influence, Job interview skills, Leadership, Market, Personal Development | 0

This past Sunday in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman featured “Part 2” of his interview with Google’s Laszlo Bock, the senior vice president of people operations for Google.

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Mr. Bock had some powerful things to say about what matters to them when it comes to hiring decisions. No matter what your company or business, these insights into what Google looks for are valuable for us to consider. Here are some highlights from Friedman’s article:

Become a business meeting superstar

Mar 10, 2014 | business strategy, Communication, Effective meetings | 0

A recent Time Magazine article, titled “Code Red” by Steven Brill, revealed how a quickly assembled group of tech gurus descended on D.C. to help revive HealthCare.gov late Fall 2013. We are all familiar with the story of the disastrous launch of the site but what the article revealed is how this team of tech wizards (the same team that the Obama campaign had used for his re-election in 2012) came together to quickly and effectively revitalize the site and reduced the response times from eight seconds in late October to under ½ a second in January and the site has now processed 1.9 million enrollments.

We are love

Feb 8, 2014 | Communication, Influence, Leadership | 0

Last evening as I watched the opening ceremonies to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, a song was played at the end of the evening’s broadcast called “Nothing More.” The lyrics by Tim Warren and Eric Donnelly of The Alternate Routes, caught my attention. It was moving and beautiful in its simplicity. It was apparently written to honor the victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. It’s message is a universal one that bears repeating here.

Watch your tone, Missy!

Jul 4, 2013 | Career Development, Communication, Personal Development, Presentation Skills | 0

“Watch your tone, Missy!” I heard that a few times growing up from my parents and I knew exactly what it meant and still cringe today thinking about those moments. It referred to the times I was being disrespectful or mean spirited in my comments. Speaking that way got me nothing but trouble.

As an adult and communication coach I recognize that “tone” is one of those important tools we need to be sensitive about when it comes to the way we communicate everyday. If we want to get traction for our ideas rather than trouble, we’ll watch our tone.

Coaching in action at hbk

What Google looks for when they hire

Become a business meeting superstar

We are love

Watch your tone, Missy!

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