SupporTED: Beyond Inspiration

April 11, 2011 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

 

Having spent the last three days in New Orleans with a team of TED fellows and a group of volunteers whose only job was to help these incredibly inspiring young men and women bring their vision to life, I feel small and big at the same time. Small because I realized that while the power of one is mighty – the collective strength of truly bonded and focused units are remarkable. But, I also feel big. Or rather I feel that my heart got bigger – and swelled and opened up to make room for more.

There are so many moments in life where words are so frustratingly inadequate to express the depth and power of emotion.

Somehow, this IS the dawn of a new era. When so much brain (and will) power and determination is assembled in one place – and the goal is to help bring these life- changing projects to life, and you live the passion, the frustration, the anxiety, the stubbornness that no matter what – success is within grasp – you can’t help but feel alive and big, and humble and fulfilled. And you feel great. And you are part of something significant, and inspiring and life-changing and that’s what matters most. Not the money, the glory, the power games, the trivial and tiny little things that cloud judgments, minds and thoughts.

The unsung heroes of this two-day conference were many.

Adital Ela, the visionary designer whose sustainable design creates light though the wind without connection to the electric grid was one of these people. As her coach, I am humbled by her life-work and I pledge my support throughout the duration of her project.

But there are so many inspiring young TED Fellow visionaries who are already changing the world. Have a look and be inspired, too.

PS: There are many heroes in this story. The TED fellows, Ruth-Ann and Bill Harnisch of the Harnisch Foundation, Renee Freedman, Tom Rielly, TED team members and so many volunteers (coaches, mentors and business people who took time off to offer their guidance) . They are all unique and I thank them for making this a treasure to hold forever.

See related post by TED fellow, Jon Gosier.

It’s All About Value, Stupid!

April 4, 2011 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

It’s the “Unbearable Lightness of Being” all over again.

Having read a semi-sarcastic and justifiably fair assessment of the state of “professionalism” in the service industry and specifically the field of coaching, I thought back a few decades where a similar debate was going on. Several years later, and the issue of regulation in some service oriented fields has not been resolved.

Anyone can claim to be an expert in some fields where there is no scrutiny, no accountability, no regulation. But I am ambivalent on the issue. Can regulation and – I am specifically referring to state versus self-governance here, guarantee excellence and professionalism, responsibility, ethical conduct, and true value? Whether you are a public relations “professional,” a management consultant, an artist, a manager, a business coach or whatever – offering services to clients, giving advice, counsel and a piece of your brain and heart demands dedication, hard work, and solid foundations. Unlike lawyers, doctors or certified public accountants – to name just a few regulated fields – unregulated professions do not require licenses, minimum educational standards, continuing education and re-training and other prerequisites.

But, if education, certifications, licensing and all of the above worked in isolation and not in combination with many other attributes, we would not have to suffer bad teachers, incompetent architects, uncaring and greedy physicians or rule bending insatiable investment bankers who supposedly follow SEC regulations and take down global economies.

What makes a true professional? And can single elements work in isolation? Can you have just the education, only the passion, or rely solely on your experience? With no offense to the Ivy League schools, I have met my fair share of less than effective and competent Harvard/Yale and Stanford alums. It is the combination of many qualities including training, experience, dedication, commitment and personality match that attribute to professionalism. And in the end, it is an economic model of supply and demand. If clients feel they get value out of the service (whatever this may be) then the “expert” service provider will make it.

Plenty of “gurus” are followed by millions who believe in them almost in cult form.  Their personal charisma, business savvy and phenomenal sales apparatus with the army of sales people who try to squeeze every penny out of seminar inquiry and attendance, have propelled them to the top of “peak performance strategists,” sales and negotiation experts, counsels to the stars and leaders of the world, personal demigods close to those in power. Remember Nancy Reagan’s astrologer?

But, I can also argue the opposite point: Some great and charismatic ones hold no degrees, no certifications, and naturally no professional society memberships. While they are worshiped by thousands, quite a few academics and scholars abhor their techniques and accuse them of being “quacks.” In the end, such enlightened few get their power from the people who have been helped by them.

Real or not, perceived, imagined or “lived” it’s the clients’ experience that counts – as long as nobody gets hurt in the process – a condition that in some cases is difficult to gauge.

In a free society people will always have freedom of choice – some professionals will choose the solid route of education, training, supervision, hours of practice and conscientious study and research of methodology, applications and performance improvement. Others will self-proclaim whatever they may feel can earn them a quick buck and a living and surprisingly lots of them will more than survive.

So, live and let die. Let us leave people alone to experience what is good for them. And if a self-proclaimed “coach” who has sat through a 2 day seminar can offer his or her clients what they need – then let it be. The market will either rise the boat or sink it deep.

In the end that’s all that counts: value assessed by the recipients of the service, customers, clients – however you define them.  Simple, basic and fundamental.

Google’s Oxygen and Coaching

March 21, 2011 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

There are some things in life where recipes are hard to follow. What works for some is counter-productive for others yet there is no argument that hearing about others’ experiences expands not only the knowledge but one’s point of view. So, when I saw the NYT article Google’s Quest To Build a Better Boss, I smiled.

Trends take a long time to take hold but the issue is that slowly and gradually they break through – and coaching is moving up on the world – not because a coach said so but because the ones who got the benefit also figured out that coaching helps.

Reading the article, I couldn’t help but think it was giving advice on how to be a better team leader. But what made me pause was this: “their mission was to devise something far more important to the future of Google Inc. than its next search algorithm or app.”

Great piece of PR on Google’s spirit of caring about its people? Certainly. But, the point is  that “people operations” as Google smartly calls its human resources function (I personally find the term most unfortunate in corporate speak – after all how often do we refer to people as humans?) went beyond the conventional to find out what makes Google staff tick.

The testimonial tells the story of one manager whose employees seemed to despise him. He was driving them too hard. They found him bossy, arrogant, political, secretive. They wanted to quit his team. Because of that heavy hand, this manager was denied a promotion he wanted, and was told that his style was the reason. But Google gave him one-on-one coaching — the company has coaches on staff, rather than hiring from the outside. Six months later, team members were grudgingly acknowledging in surveys that the manager had improved.

Curious to see what rules Google came up with? If it matters than you probably care – which means that you are not all that bad when it comes to leading.

Enchanting Learning

March 17, 2011 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

Guy Kawasaki needs no introduction.

His latest book, “Enchantment” explains when and why enchantment is necessary, and describes its three pillars: likability, trustworthiness, and a great cause.

His visual note of a speech he gave at the South by Southwest conference is here. So, just let yourself free to be wooed.

British Airways & The Idiot Tax

March 8, 2011 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

How is it that so often life clashes with the great and brilliantly glorious ideas that occasionally pop through our brains?

I am not necessarily referring to justice, world peace, bold dreaming, equality and all these noble and majestic uplifting nuggets of what we self-label brilliance and bright ideas that come to all of us from time to time.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if___________? (Fill in your own blank here). In such a happily creative and indisputably brilliant state I decided to buy myself a business class airline ticket. After all, what harm could possibly come out of that other than the negative growth of my bank account?

And in comes British Airways! I find their connections convenient, have thousands of accumulated miles, and for various questionably smart reasons I chose them to take me to my destination. So far so good, right?

Not so fast, am afraid, dear Watson….

Do you see what I mean? At first, I thought something was wrong with the on-line manage your booking system. Then, after the initial two second disbelief, I got it.

If I wanted to choose my seats, I’d have to pay $180 more!

I have to admit – this was one of my dumbest moments. After all,  Club World, is “a business class designed around me“ or so does the BA description claim. And yes, the privilege of flying business class comes with a much heftier price (maybe just the idiot tax in my case).

The airline industry is the success model for dynamic pricing – and yes, the alternative of stacked human sardines crammed for long-haul flights in uncomfortable and narrow spaces is to me the most persuasive argument. So, while I realize I have no alternative other than to pay the ransom of a higher price for certain health related benefits (such as no lower back pain, stiff neck, occasional deafness and hospital-like food displeasure), I get incessantly mad at the idea that I’d have to pay for everything in order to get on that plane.

So, what do you do? How do you react to something you consider illogical, outrageous, unfair or simply out of place? Yes, there is a choice: Pay or not pay; fly or not fly, do X or the opposite of X; try to find the alternative or simply find some sort of a compromise solution. In my incredulity, I made a vow not to pay the extra and go with the randomness of the last moment seat selection – but this is for this time only. Will I fly BA again? Will I tell people it’s a great way to fly to the west coast through Europe? Will I do all these nice customer loyalty things anymore? And the question is will BA (and any other airline out there ever care or listen?)

You know what? In the end, each one of us has to do what needs to be done. While the actions/reactions to any given event, obstacle, happening, injustice or random occurrence are taking place, our state of balance within our own self will naturally find its fine point. No, I am not happy with British Airways and other airlines in general. Neither is the majority of passengers who fly the friendly skies on a daily basis – and the airline industry is not the only culprit.

Yet, I go on with the business of my own business speaking up, letting it out, recognizing the symptom of the declining passenger service phenomenon and eventually moving on with my life and my trip. Do I feel better now that I shared the experience with all of you? Hell, yeah! Absolutely! So, go on spread the word, tell someone, do something. If nothing else, it makes you feel so much better.

PS: Please see British Airways comment/response via twitter: “We added paid pre-seating as an optional extra. You can still choose your seat for free from 24 hours before your flight.”

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