Varga & Associates

Name: Varga & Associates
Address: Chicago, IL, 60640, US
Telephone: +17739897348

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The better you communicate, the better your results. We can help.

Whether you are a CEO communicating a vision, a sales professional presenting a new product, a business launching a brand or an executive facing the media – you are communicating a message. We help you define, deliver and market that message through Communication Training, Leadership Development, Facilitation & Experience Design and Vision Engagement.

07/05/2026

Vozinha’s response to defeat offers a powerful example of leadership under disappointment: he helped his team move from heartbreak toward pride, perspective, and composure.

The moment unfolded this week at the FIFA World Cup 2026, after Cape Verde’s 3-2 loss to defending world champions Argentina. Cape Verde had fought valiantly in its debut on the global stage, and although its Cinderella story came to an end, the team’s performance showed it belonged among the world’s best.

What happened after the final whistle was what stood out most. While many teammates were in tears or on the ground, the 40-year-old goalkeeper stayed composed and focused on lifting others up, both literally and figuratively. He reminded the squad that they had dignified Cape Verde on the world stage, encouraged them to be proud of how they played, and comforted players who were struggling with the loss. His emotional exchange with Lionel Messi after the match added to the dignity of the moment, but the clearest leadership lesson came from how he steadied his own team first.

That is what made Vozinha’s response so memorable. Leadership is not only revealed in victory; it is often most visible in the moments when disappointment is public, emotions are raw, and others need someone to restore perspective. His steadiness, empathy, and pride in his team turned a painful defeat into a master class in dignity, resilience, and emotional leadership.

07/04/2026

I saw a clip of Sawyer Sparks umpiring a baseball game, and I could not stop thinking about it.

Sawyer is an 18-year-old former youth baseball player from Bakersfield, California, who started umpiring Little League games after his mom encouraged him to stay connected to the sport. What made people notice him was not just that he was umpiring—it was how he did it.

He sprinted. He slid. He made animated calls with energy and conviction. Local clips went viral, and that attention eventually led to an invitation from the Savannah Bananas, where he made his umpiring debut in June 2026.

But what I love most about Sawyer’s story is that the flair was not just performance. It came from effort. It came from taking the job seriously. It came from doing what was needed to stay close to the play and make the right call.

That is the lesson I wish more young people heard when they are looking for their first job: the role does not have to be glamorous for your effort to matter.

You can stand out by showing up fully. By setting ego aside. By doing the task in front of you with care, consistency, and pride—even when no one has promised you a bigger stage.

A friend once told me, “If my job is to clean toilets, I’m going to clean them better than anyone has ever done before.” I have never forgotten that.

Sawyer’s story is a reminder that opportunity often follows people who bring uncommon effort to ordinary moments. His future is bright—and wherever life takes him, I have a feeling he will bring it. https://lnkd.in/gjTU9kzP

05/21/2026

The typo lives to fight another day! Michael Waters for the Atlantic on May 21 shares: "To some, the typo is no longer a sign of laziness but proof of human touch." I spent many years living in horror of a typo (before all the editing and AI tools we have today). I will never forget a letter I composed to "Brian" and didn't catch that I had spelled his name as "Brain". He sent me back the letter with Brain circled in red...nothing more. Sigh.
As Mr. Waters communicates, "AI-generated writing has flooded workplaces, social media, and dating apps, old hallmarks of sloppiness—typos chief among them—are getting a new gloss. Some job applicants are intentionally adding typos to their cover letters to prove that they, and not an AI program, wrote them. Celebrities and CEOs are sending out error-ridden emails and Instagram Stories, and instead of getting a scolding, they are praised for sounding authentic. A peculiar reconfiguration of what people consider careless writing is taking place. Although typos and other mistakes don’t suddenly mean that a piece of writing is good or praiseworthy, to some people, they are at least signs that it is worth reading. On a base level, many of us are willing to invest time in reading a long email if we sense that someone actually wrote it, line by line."

Well, I never thought I'd see the day AND here we are. I am not encouraging sloppy writing but I am remarking about the collective desire for authenticity.

04/07/2026

Rylan Grace and his Hero’s Journey – unpacked

With Artemis 11 venturing deeper into space than ever before, I was inspired. The closest thing I could do to feel part of the action was to go see the new Ryan Gosling movie, Project Hail Mary. As I sat in the dark theatre with my popcorn I observed the trajectory of the film’s protagonist, Rylan Grace, who awakens on an interstellar spacecraft with no memory of how he got there. He was clearly on a hero’s journey.

When I work with clients to assist them in developing personal stories that will captivate their audience’s attention, we often discuss mythologist Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, he identified a universal narrative pattern – departure, initiation, and return – shared by myths worldwide that heavily influence modern storytelling – with George Lucas’s Star Wars as a primary example.

And now we have Project Hail Mary as another clear example. (Warning, spoiler alert, for those of you who have not seen it). Here’s how the Rylan Grace’s journey unfolds:

For more, visit: https://vargacom.com/rylan-grace-and-his-heros-journey-unpacked/

03/20/2026

What does it really mean to be confident, especially when you’re speaking to others? It’s by far the most common goal I hear from clients: “I want to come across as confident.” But here’s the catch—confidence isn’t just a switch you flip at will. It’s an emotional state, a feeling that grows from knowing your strengths, understanding your limits, and truly being comfortable in your own skin.

So, how do you cultivate that aura of confidence that makes people listen and respect what you say? The secret ingredient here is assertiveness. Assertiveness isn’t about being aggressive or bulldozing your way through conversations—it’s about standing up for your ideas clearly and respectfully. It’s a tangible skill you can build with practice, and it shows up in how you phrase your thoughts and the energy you carry.

Here are four techniques you can immediately employ: https://vargacom.com/how-to-sound-and-feel-confident-every-time-you-speak/

02/24/2026

Alysa Liu’s lesson on performance anxiety

I remember it like it was yesterday: one of my first major conferences, a room full of potential clients, and me backstage trying to steady my breathing. I had prepared — thoroughly — yet I was still as nervous as a long‑tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, as my grandmother would say. I tried mantras, deep breaths, focusing on the audience instead of myself. None of it worked. Mid‑speech, my mind simply went blank.

In my scramble to be “perfect,” I lost my train of thought and fumbled for what felt like an eternity before I finally found my way back. It was mortifying, and it rattled my confidence — but it also taught me something important.

I was reminded of that moment when I watched Alysa Liu’s gold‑medal performance at this year’s Winter Olympics. Liu retired at sixteen because she didn’t want to become, in her own words, “a sulky, overtrained arthritic with the emotional disposition of burnt toast." For more: https://vargacom.com/alysa-lius-lesson-on-performance-anxiety/

02/18/2026

The Wisdom of the Little Wave

A coaching client of mine recently opened up about his crippling fear of losing his job of three years at his current employer. He envisioned himself summoned to a meeting with his boss, who would extol his virtues as an asset to the team, but who would also inform him that he was being let go because of factors beyond his control. The thought of breaking the news to others made him grimace, and he worried about how difficult it would be to find a new job he enjoyed just as much. He was rattled.

Either the impending catastrophe or its aftermath is something that we have all experienced. Now it’s on full display at the Winter Olympics, but in a different arena. Athletes who have worked so hard to compete often suffer devastating defeats because they lose confidence or take a wrong step, which destroys their dreams.

What is the best way to deal with the emotions that come with the prospect of an unfavorable outcome or to bounce back from a devastating setback?

A fable often attributed to spiritual master Ram Dass came to mind for me as a result of this. The story is as follows: On the ocean’s surface, you can see two waves, one somewhat larger than the other. Suddenly, the larger wave starts to cry and grow quite distressed. The smaller wave inquires about the problem. The larger wave says, “You don’t want to know.” The little wave demands, “What is it?” to clarify. I don’t think so; it’s awful. You would be miserable if you knew the truth, just like I do. ” The little wave keeps going. At last, the massive wave provides an explanation: “You can’t see it, but I can see that, not too far from here, all of the waves are crashing on the shore.” Our disappearance is imminent. The small wave says, “I can make you happy with just six words, but you have to listen very carefully to them.” What does the little wave know that the huge wave doesn’t? Regardless, he is in a state of desperate denial. Finally, after much ridicule and skepticism, the larger wave begs the smaller one to tell him. So, the little wave continues, “You’re not a wave; you’re water.”

A sign of both strength and vulnerability, the wave can be seen as a metaphor for the ever-shifting nature of existence. Water doesn’t “die” when it forms a wave; rather, it transforms into something else, possibly serving a new function, but it is still water. Whatever we do (skier, marketing director, ice skater, coach, etc.) is secondary to how we show up to meet the challenges life presents. Recognizing that as individuals, we are a part of a greater whole, and our ultimate impact is determined by how we navigate what life has thrown our way.

02/06/2026

Are your conversations as productive as you'd like them to be?

Recently, my colleague and I encountered an obstacle—disagreement—while discussing the direction of a project we were co-creating. She had a vision of the direction she thought we should go in, and I had mine. I think it surprised both of us, as we are usually in sync. Because we couldn’t immediately resolve the tension we were experiencing, we decided to cool off and come back to it later. I admit to overthinking our conversation and preparing my response, including the points I wanted to make.

Jefferson Fisher's new and practical book, The Next Conversation, came to my aid. On page 46 I saw this graphic that illuminated how important it is for any conversation to have goals and to strive for having something to learn rather than something to prove. For more: https://lnkd.in/gHgmmm-w

01/06/2026

I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. While it wasn’t exactly the holler, nearly everyone outside my family had what you’d call a “southern accent.” My dad, a Kentucky native, had little discernible accent due to his career in sales and frequent business travel. My mother, on the other hand, was from New York, so her accent was distinctly East Coast. While others referred to our city as “Loo-uh-vul,” we pronounced it “Louisville”—you get the picture. For all these reasons, The Atlantic article titled “The Last Days of the Southern Drawl” caught my attention. https://tinyurl.com/Last-Day-of-the-Southern-Drawl

As I entered the fields of broadcasting and public speaking, I became determined to eliminate any trace of an accent. I believed that sounding “neutral” was the key to success.

But then, I had an epiphany. For more: https://vargacom.com/can-an-accent-help-or-hurt-your-presentation/

12/16/2025

What a year it has been. This year has caused many of us to struggle to maintain focus and equilibrium. Discord on a global and local scale, armed conflict, and political instability have rocked us. Despite everything, there is a human imperative to keep going and search for ideas on how to thrive during troubled times.
I traveled to Finland this month with friends, and one of the primary reasons I chose to visit Finland was because of its reputation as the world's happiest country—an acknowledgement it's received for the past eight years running, according to the World Happiness Report. I was eager to immerse myself in the culture and uncover their unique formula for happiness.
Some of the reasons Finland has been so successful at achieving 'happiness' include its stable economy, high levels of social support, minimal levels of corruption, and excellent governance, among other factors. And while there, I discovered something that didn’t appear in any formal survey results: SISU. "Sisu" is a magical (and, to be honest, a little bit undefinable) word in Finnish culture; sisu can mean a mix of bravery, strength, determination, grit, and persistence in the face of adversity. One Finn remarked to me, “It’s not as though we are all merely wandering within a happiness bubble, completely untroubled.” Instead, we’re all about making the most of what we’ve got instead of wishing for what could be or what’s missing.” It's a chill kind of happiness, and sisu plays a significant role in that.
For more, go to https://lnkd.in/g-NXfKuX.

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