Thursday, September 14, 2006
Oh Marjo, My Marjo!
Marjo is the girl in the middle. :)
Happiest Delegate - Marjo, no matter how tired she is or how pissed off, always finds the energy to smile at people. I remember when I first saw her at the Helsinki local seminar, she got so much attention because of her natural sweetness and warm attitude. I also remember Marjo very distinctly telling me during Introsemma how she appreciates that I smile a lot and how I am always energetic. And I wondered privately, "That's what I thought about you as well!" Maybe this is the reason why we became friends. :)
Beyond the job roles - There are moments in an MCP's life that she feels that she needs to hide her emotions from people because of fear of looking vulnerable. However, Marjo helped me realize that putting on a facade of perfection was just plain bull. She made me realize that leaders do not need to be perfect to be respected. She made me realize that people will continue respect me inspite of my flaws and insecurities. That's the good thing about my friendship with Marjo. Our job roles rarely played a role in our friendship. She just treated me as Erica, her friend. A friend she invited to go on walks (though it never happened) when she knew I felt bad. A friend she invited over to watch a movie with when she knew I felt lonely. A friend she jokes with about the silliest of things. A friend who hugs me warmly every time she sees me. A friend whom I can ask the stupidest questions to. A friend with whom I confide my future plans to. And yet, she treated me as her MCD/MCP when necessary. How is that for a mature professional and personal relationship? :)
A Fantastic LCP - How can I even begin to describe Marjo as a leader? Simply put, she is one of the best I have seen. She managed to change the culture of her LC out of sheer dedication and optimism. She managed to inspire the people around her to strive for results without pushing them too hard. She managed to convince people to get in and stay in the organization. She managed and she manages. And she does this with so much humility and heart that it baffles me sometimes how she does it!
Marjo is really a special person to me although maybe she is not that aware of it. In a country as cold as Finland, Marjo is one of the people whom I look to for warmth and comfort. She brings me so much joy when I see her that sometimes all I need to do is be in her presence to feel good.
Oh Marjo, my Marjo! What would Erica 2006 be without you? :)
Special thanks to Henrik, Aiste, Rustem and Viktor for the compliments about my blog but did not post the comments here. :) You guys made me feel very blessed! :)
5 comments:
Dear Erica,
I love reading your blog in the middle of the busy day! You are truly a gracious and amazing person! Love you loads :)
Hugs from Indonesia,
Grace
Dear Grace,
Thank you very much for the nice words Grace. I love you too! My team loves you as well. :)
Hugs,
Erica
Hello, Erica!
Welcome to Blogger! :)
We met at IC, I was in one working group with you once.
Keep on posting and I'll keep on reading :)
Tsveti
Thanks Tsveti! I commented on your blog as well. :)
See you sometime, somewhere. Until then, I will be reading you. :)
Hugs,
Erica
Umm... Not that she wouldn't deserve it but rather just praising Erica's blog I'd like to say that I do agree with her about Marjo. It's hard to feel sad in Marjo's presense. I hope she develops whatever it is that has so far made her such a unique leader!
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