World renowned businessconsultant Michael Virardi has delivered workshops, facilitation sessions, and keynotes to over 24 countries and has collaborated with some of the most prestigious organizations in the world including Coca Cola, Google and Ericsson. He’s trained over 50,000 people with the goal of helping companies and leaders build and nurture a winning culture. He’s also a bestselling author and a TEDx speaker.
How do you create a strong workplace culture:
“Culture is ‘the way we do things around here.’ And the way people do things around here is something that cannot be easily copied. They can copy your prices, they can copy your strategy, they can even lure away your people, but they cannot copy your culture easily. So, I believe what makes a good culture is if the management is leading by example, if they are living their values, and if they adhere to those values.”
It’s so important to respond to someone promptly:
“If you go onto my website and you contact me, you will see that I will respond back within the ‘Seven, seven, seven’ (framework). Seven seconds if I’m not doing anything; seven minutes if I am doing something and I want to finish it and respond back; or within seven hours, which is the duration of a workshop. That’s my mentality and that’s how I was brought up by my late father. He was always prompt and he said there was no 24-hour rule of answering someone back.”
How to build a powerful team:
“The best thing you can do is to attract great people, genuine people, transparent people, bright people and then build an academy inside your business. Hire the attitude and teach the skill. Attract talent by attracting great people.”
Michael answered a phone call from a friend in need:
“When he called me (during a lecture), I saw it, and I answered. I answered because I didn’t want him to lose hope. If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t have answered because I need to respect my audience. I would never do that. But I did it because if one person loses hope we are all lost.”
What makes a great leader:
“At the end of the day I believe that it should be a person who is eager to learn and grow and understands that the only constant thing in life is change. And they need to adopt and adapt with the new skills into the new era.”
How great leaders make people feel:
“You want people to come and tell you that you gave them goosebumps. And it’s not about speaking perfect English, it’s not about having an accent, it’s not about anything. It’s about being yourself, talking about something that you’re passionate about, and illuminating the room.”
What’s the common denominator of great leaders:
“I believe that you should always think that you have eyes looking at you, even in the dark moments. Everyone is looking at you, so you act in the best interests of your family and yourself. And be honest. At the end of the day, be true to yourself, be authentic, be honest, and that’s the common denominator.”