I have known Marie for over 16 years and have seen her in action in leadership, training, coaching, and mentorship roles. She exemplifies professionalism, humility, resiliency, and integrity, with a solid ability to connect with people. Marie excels in guiding teams toward improving team cohesion, engagement, and overall morale. With her extensive experience as a senior leader on campus, she has worked with teams, faculty, staff, and leadership at all levels. People who interact with her consistently walk away knowing that they have been heard, and that Marie will help them navigate whatever challenge they face. She is kind but a keen listener and a problem-solver. She will help an organization transform its culture and enhance collaborative leadership, and has a 30-year track record to prove it.
It is hard to articulate the impact that Marie has had on me professionally and personally. Personally, her compassion, integrity, and ability to connect with others are among the best I have seen. She creates relationships with others that are meaningful and above and beyond what one normally experiences in a professional setting. As my first supervisor at Rice University, she displayed immense trust in my ability and experience, which allowed me to be innovative and take risks in order to move the needle for the Rice community. I wish more leaders demonstrated this level of trust and psychological safety. The results of such qualities in a professional setting include increased engagement, innovation, commitment, and a higher level of discretionary effort on a daily basis, all which have an impact on culture, service delivery and ultimately the bottom line.
Marie is outstanding! She coached me and my leadership team, individually and as a group for a year and a half. During that time, we worked through many challenges together and learned a lot about important skills like having difficult conversations, resolving conflicts, and making sure that all employees have ample opportunities for short and long-term development. Marie also facilitated several team meetings, including a recent leadership team retreat. She is skilled at drawing people in, without making the process seem contrived. My team has grown a lot through these very valuable experiences with Marie.
If you could bottle upbeat energy, motivation and sunshine in one package it would be called Marie Wehrung. She is innovative and very creative (especially when working around a small budget). Indefatigable and unflappable also come to mind. Marie has been there for me, guiding me through tough management situations, and is there for anyone else in need as well. Her problem-solving skills and unique approaches to human resource situations saved me a lot of headaches through the years.
