New View with Varian Brandon
TDR: What issues are you most passionate about in your community?
Varian: Self-esteem of high achievers, Personal Power, Designing a life you love, and Being Intentional
TDR: What are most of your philanthropy efforts typically directed towards serving?
Varian: Education, but not necessarily formal education. I love contributing to and helping people acquire the necessary skills they need to live a full and fulfilled life. Many times our purposes are undiscovered because of lack of exposure and access.
TDR: How do you define leadership?
Varian: Influence. I am an avid student of John Maxwell and I wholeheartedly agree that leadership is not a position or title, but one's ability to influence.
TDR: How would you define your leadership style?
Varian: Empowering. I believe everyone has the capacity to lead and my role as a leader is to inspire the leader within and then provide the tools and the coaching and the mentoring to cultivate and future.
TDR: What would be the most painful lesson that you've learned in life that has helped you become who you are today?
Varian: That there is no real success without the ability to intimately connect with other people. I lived most of my life in very masculine energy (head/logic driven) and it served me well as it relates to my career success, but I paid a high price in my personal life. A broken marriage and I am still navigating the relationship with my adult son. I am truly grateful for my path though because it invited me to take the journey from my head to my heart....and I accepted. It was the longest journey I ever took, but I am oh so glad I did!! I am truly the better for it.
TDR: What would people be surprised to know that you had to overcome?
Varian: Being emotionally disconnected and not really liking people. And until 4 years ago, biting my nails, which I believe was connected to the emotional disconnection.
TDR: Name 3 leaders that you look up to.
Varian: My mother, Oprah Winfrey, and Riva Tims
TDR: Name 3 of your favorite books.
Varian: Hmmm, only 3. Developing the Leader Within You, Lions Don’t Need to Roar, and The 4 Agreements
TDR: What is your advice for emerging leaders?
Varian: Leadership is not what you do, it's who you are. Live your life in a way that people want to follow you. And know that leadership, real leadership is not compartmentalized, everything matters. And that leadership is a privilege.
TDR: Complete this sentence…5 years ago I was…
Varian: I was in the breakdown of a marriage, a career I loved, but wasn't challenging and had taught me to be fearful and safe and in my comfort zone.
TDR: Complete this sentence…5 years from now I hope to be…
Varian: Empowering women (and a few men) to lead their lives with urgency, to be intentional about the time they have on this planet. To be the main character in the best book they've ever read and to leave a legacy worthy of remark.
TDR: If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be and why?
Varian: Bold. Because I have always been comfortable in my own skin and dared to be me.
Connect with Varian:
Instagram-- vcbrandon
Facebook --varian brandon
Twitter -- @varianbrandon
LinkedIn -- varian Brandon
Periscope --@varianbrandon
Email – info@varianbrandon.com