Marcia Daszko’s inquisitive thinking is based in deep leadership knowledge. She engages everyone to think and re-examine their beliefs, actions, and outcomes. Through her powerful messages in Pivot, Disrupt, Transform, How Leaders Beat the Odds and Survive, no one stays the same. New opportunities are endless.
Call or text: +1 (408) 398-7220
Email: md@mdaszko.com
Listen to this robust podcast where podcast host John Livesay thoughtfully and with a keen observation interviews Marcia Daszko about her new leadership book. PIVOT DISRUPT TRANSFORM is about transformation and how to implement it to pursue success never before achieved!
Read MoreWhen people say No, Stay on Your Journey. When people bully you, use your voice. Communicate your boundaries. When people are barriers, go around them. When people are exclusive rather than inclusive, reach out to help others. When people are cliquish, build your own community full of care and love. Live Your Journey—and NEVER Give Up!
Read MoreGreat leaders are open to new learning. Peter Winick and I had a great conversation on his podcast Leveraging Thought Leadership. We discussed why huge companies fail and disappear. Why old methods of motivation no longer work. And how people often forget about their customers. Listen, and discover what you learn!
Read MoreThe Flow of Caring When there’s strife in politics and unrest around the world, some people or groups become polarized. Others protest by raising the torch to remind people to be kind, humane, and caring. It’s essential for people to care and feel cared for when they are at home, at work, or in their community.
Read MoreIn this podcast, Marcia discusses the key factors that allow an organization to create positive transformation. She tells us why adding best practices without a compelling purpose creates complexity but not success, and why it’s important to stop using a language of failure and create a language of success instead.
Read MoreGreat planning for the future starts with different, bold strategic thinking and new questions. Traditional strategic planning in organizations generally means that the more of the same will be done in the same way. There are two significant strategies that are foundational. One is the improvement strategy. The other is the innovation strategy.
Read MoreTHIS YEAR in many places there have many challenges. In California, some of our recent catastrophes have been with the wildfires in both northern and southern parts of our state. The impact on hundreds of thousands of families is shocking.
Part of what has emerged from these horrific tragedies is the generosity of people who are coming together to help and serve. For some like the first responders, it is the work they have a passion to do. When the surrounding and global communities step up to donate, share, open their home, or contribute however they can, it’s why we are on this earth, to live well with each other. I’m proud to say that everyone I know who I have talked to has taken time to donate. That’s a huge outpouring of care.
Sunday was a new experience, beginning my book signing process at the Barnes & Noble in San Jose, CA. Thank you Barnes & Noble for being my host and setting up a great space at the front of your store!
Thank you to all who attended the book signing: family, friends, Rotarians, my MBA students, and Bay Area Deming User Group (BADUG) friends. It was non-stop flow of seeing and chatting with everyone for a few minutes for almost two hours!
PIVOT DISRUPT TRANSFORM, the first leadership transformation book written by Marcia Daszko, is now available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It will be available in bookstores on Oct. 2. ( Pre-order on Amazon /Pre-order on Barnes & Noble) After years of working on this book and using its principles in my consulting for 25 years; teaching leadership MBA classes in six universities across the nation; and, speaking to corporate and conference groups, I can share PIVOT, DISRUPT, TRANSFORM: How Leaders Beat the Odds and Survive.
Read MoreWith more than 6,000 startup companies in Silicon Valley, it’s common knowledge that only about 10% of them will survive. Of those a few will be wildly successful: the next Amazon, Google, Facebook.
SURVIVAL IS OPTIONAL. Some leaders and organizations struggle and fail while others soar with success! What’s the difference? It’s not that hard to succeed, but a few elements are essential. Many organizations don’t have them.
Read MoreAs a leader (of your home, job, organization), are you choosing to fail or succeed? Failure happens when you follow a path of the “status quo” through struggles and La-La Land! Those who succeed are focused! They have a vision that they continually adapt as they learn (and they are obsessive learners and listeners), ask questions to understand and connect in their relationships and with customers.
Read MoreOver the past few years, I have written articles and posts (and now a book manuscript) and spoken about SURVIVAL IS OPTIONAL. Many people and organizations struggle, but they don’t need to. Leaders (all through your system) can rapidly accelerate its growth and collaboration and achieve disruptive success like never before.
Read MoreBy now, through my newsletters and various posts, you may have discovered my love of asking questions. They open up possibilities and opportunities. They create environments so people can share ideas. Whether at home, school, work, or in society, questions allow us to pause, reflect, envision—and then learn, work, problem solve, improve and innovate TOGETHER. What power!
Read MoreHow are you doing? Almost 8 months through the year. Pause . . . pause . . . pause. Are you happy? Are you contributing? Are you making a difference? Are you supporting others around you and being helpful? Start with family and close friends. They’re your foundation. There’s your workplace. Are you in a healthy system?
Read MoreHow ever we seize the opportunities and confront challenges in 2017, its helpful if we can mentally and emotionally prepare ourselves for what we know and some of the unknown. Coming TOGETHER to focus on what is important to us at school, at work, in our nation and in society, matters!
Read MoreREVISE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE: Is it time to update your LinkedIn profile? How many years has it been since you updated your photo, current work location, accomplishments, contact information? Take out your calendar and schedule 10 minutes to invest in updating your own profile! (I learned that at the NSA meeting I attended.) Update your profile or you may miss connecting with friends, colleagues, or those who have a dynamic opportunity “just made for you!”
Read MoreCOMPELLING AIM/PURPOSE. What are we trying to accomplish TOGETHER to serve our customers or members? Your aim is NOT to make money. That is a result of leading your organization as a system.
CLEAR, FREQUENT COMMUNICATION. (multiple times daily with every constituency you interact with; for example if you lead a school, you communicate your Aim to teachers, students, staff, parents, the community, politicians, repeatedly so that everyone understands it and how you all need to work together to support it.)
Miguel is on the staff at one of my client companies. One day he told me, “It’s not that hard.” He was referring to, It’s not that hard to run the business well. But sometimes managers run a business into the ground. They’re trying hard and putting in their best efforts. But they’re not getting the results they need.
Read MoreIf this headline is our headline (one example) in life, how are we doing? How did we do in 2014? What changes will we make in 2015 to help us get closer to who we want to be? If we are one person at home with our family and are judging, criticizing, and bullying people at work, are we authentic? How do you want to be remembered tomorrow and in five years? How do we show up? How many people have 500 Facebook friends or 1500 LinkedIn connections, but never make a date for lunch or coffee?
Read MoreOriginally written in June 2014
WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
Periodically, we have an “event” in our lives that gets our attention. It helps us realize what’s important and where we really want to focus our time and energy. The “event” may be the death of a parent, friend or a colleague we admired; it may be a child calling across the miles saying, “I miss you;” it may be a close call accident, a medical emergency, a business failure, or a job layoff; or a wildfire in drought-stricken Cailifornia.
On April 1st (April Fool’s Day), I had one of these events (up close and personal.) No fooling. My Neurology team (how many people can say they have a neurology team—and I stress the word team!?) were amazed that I survived, but I am on my way to full recovery—spunkier than ever!
LEARNING TAKES GUTS
Friends said, “You must have been scared.” “You’re lucky to be alive.” “It wasn’t your time; there’s a purpose for your life to continue.” There is learning and self-reflection in process.
In my career, thousands of conversations have focused on: executives who want to become better leaders; leaders who want to ensure they are leaving a great legacy; and senior teams who need to assess, “How are we doing? How can we transform? How do we deliver better Quality? How do we accelerate our competitive edge?” (Unfortunately for some, they are asking the wrong questions that have already sucked the soul out of them—I have no need to mince words; they ask, “How many millions in costs can we cut; how many people can we cut and destroy their livelihood; how can we get a better stock price by manipulating numbers?)
LEADERSHIP TAKES GUTS
Thoughtful, natural leaders don’t need an “event” for a wake-up call. But whether you experience an “event” or not, leadership (in your career or personal life) takes courage. Courage has become a rare commodity in executive suites and even in homes and relationships over the past decade or two. Leadership means asking yourself some tough personal questions and then acting on them. Reflect on these:
ARE YOU AWARE?
When was the last time you took a quiet day to reflect on the man or woman you have become?
When did you last assess who you are?
How do people perceive you?
Do you consider yourself a leader, but others perceive you as arrogant, greedy or a bully?
How busy are you? Do you realize the person you have become, with either gratitude and humility or in auto-pilot?
Are you the person you want to be? Are you the parent, son, daughter, friend, co-worker, manager, leader, or mentor you want to be?
Are you leaving a positive legacy?
What’s really important to you?
Are you aware? Do you care?
SO WHAT?
THE ACTION YOU TAKE
For many people, our lives move at a frenetic pace. We’re working, traveling, grocery shopping, helping with homework, seeing friends . . . everywhere we have obligations, and we try to fit in some fitness, me-time, and giving back. How are you doing?
When we’re busy and accomplishing our goals and making a living, we just keep on truckin’. There’s no reason to ask the above questions. But every so often, there comes a moment or an event that catches our attention and we learn what’s important to us.
7 GUIDING QUESTIONS:
Today,
1. Who are the significant people that you love or admire (this may surprise you.) Do they know it? Show it.
2. List the most important things you care about. Are you engaged? Engage.
3. You have one last day or hour; what do you feel/do? Feel it; do it.
4. If you die tonight, what needs to be in order that may not be? Get it in order—now.
5. You have a year left until you retire. What do you want to accomplish? Where do you give back? Plan your legacy.
6. You are here (wherever in time); how do you spend your time? Schedule it.
7. Every day you interact with people. Do you make a difference in improving their lives, in a small or large way?
THE QUESTION: What’s your priority, and where do you focus?
Today is time (you may not have a tomorrow) for self-assessment. Then reach out for an objective assessment. Any leader needs a tough guide, just like a patient needs a doctor, and a 49er needs a coach.
Book Marcia for your local and global events and conferences:
Virtual and live keynotes, workshops, live streams, open Space facilitation.
Hire Marcia as your expert meeting and inspiring speaker on the virtual stage, in your Zoom meeting, at international conferences and summits. She serves global audiences and the Silicon Valley, San Francisco Bay Area (Santa Clara, San Jose, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Napa, and Monterey) in California.
