The Disobedience Junkie Poll

January 20, 2011 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

Read the Disobedience Junkie post and take the poll…

The Disobedience Junkie

January 19, 2011 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

I have a love/hate relationship with my navigation system. It’s like these sort of doomed relationships where one sole transgression leads to permanent trust issues.GPS is supposed to know what it’s doing – after all this is why navigation systems were invented: To help you find the way.

So, why is it that I quite often choose to think that the satellite is actually wrong? (99% of the times it’s not but I often think I am on to that one percent margin of error).

I confess. I am not good at following orders, directions, main roads, regulations and generic authority driven mandates. I am significantly better at following my heart, my gut, my hunches and with an inborn curiosity about stuff in general, it’s much more natural for me to try out the different, the alternative, the untried. While change is often uncomfortable for some people, I guess I’ve grown used to craving it.

So, when I follow directions, I feel I may be missing something wonderfully weird  that may be out there for me to discover. But, sometimes labeling me as a spoiled, insolent brat who has a thing against authority is unavoidable. And while I pause and bare my soul saying how I am compelled to act the way I do, casual and plain-clothed bystanders declare I am nothing but a rebel without a cause. But I don’t mind. I am a new knowledge addict readily identified as the disobedience junkie – and if that means occasionally getting lost in spite of my GPS, it’s o.k – small price to pay for my discoveries and explorations.

After all the journey is often so much more interesting than the destination.

In Love

January 13, 2011 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

Are you in love?…

No, this is not that kind of a blog. I am not getting personal with your love life.

This is not about money either but the subject is coming up.

As you have might have suspected, it is about the passionate love affair with life- and without loving that life – yours – grey may be your color of choice.

Warren Buffett, the Omaha Oracle, as he has been called because of his savvy business sense and hugely successful track investment record, says that love is what he’s looking for when choosing to invest in a company. It’s the love for the business, “the twinkle in the eye,” the passion.

“In the world of business, the people who are most successful are those who are doing what they love.”

So, I’ll ask again: are you in love?…

Links of the same chain

January 7, 2011 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

“…No man is an island, entire of itself…” John Donne (1572-1631).

I had started writing this festive (and pensive) post a week ago, on New Year’s Eve. Various distractions, interferences and higher priority items got in the way and I now know why I hadn’t done it. The right trigger had not pushed me enough to express what was in my head that particular day.

And yesterday, a business acquaintance – a very smart, ambitious venture capital type implied that business issues have to do with the business of the enterprise, numbers, performance, strategic thinking, investment, operational excellence, and all these “hard” key performance indicators.

And of course he is right – however he is also wrong. Terribly wrong as a matter of fact.

Because the outcome of any transaction, business or personal,  is determined by the quality of the interaction and the exchange. And that is solely based on the type of relationship one wants, allows, exercises and finally succeeds (or fails) at.

And so here is my one-week delayed greeting to 2011:

Playful New Year mood that I am this morning – I am personally content. Wearing the grand self-auditor hat, I am happy with all the connections, relationships, collaborations and opportunities I explored and worked on this last year and the windows they opened up. Time for reflection and review and last minute tune up for the race ahead. Looking back while looking ahead – or looking ahead without ever turning back? Measuring, evaluating and surveying the things you were great at, the failures, the lessons, the successes and all the usual stuff.

People are links of the same human chain and no man is truly an island. And in the ocean of ideas, feelings and thoughts, the waves are always more interesting when many voices speak their own individual and collective truth.

Each one of us does about the same – more or less, to a different degree, with variations and gradations. It’s irrelevant really as long as you are satisfied with your very “best.” You either tried or you didn’t or maybe you tried but not as hard? Or are you really happy that you tried as hard as you could?

I hope your math and calculations come out right for you. Have an interesting 2011, everyone. If you can “smell” the novelty, the fascination, the curiosity and the excitement – you will have a fulfilling year as well.

MMXI Day 7

The Comfortable Fit

December 31, 2010 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

Stiletto heels and business suits – they go great together, don’t you think?

Ok, let me explain for those of you who instinctively did not click on the link above. Please do!

Manylogue, a collective blog and “a fictitious word meant to describe the intersection between individual thinking and public dialogue” is about creative pluralism and the free flow of thoughts and ideas. Check it out -it’s worth it – but don’t take my word for it – see for yourself.

I joined its team of contributors yesterday and posted my view on gender gapin the spirit of cross collaboration and exchange.

As long as you fit in your own shoes comfortably and don’t feel constrained to censor your own voice it’s always exciting to find a group of linchpins- and work with them towards a shared goal. For those intensively passionate extroverts – it’s a no brainer. It’s a team, a human puzzle, a space with shared pieces, mosaic of ideas – manylogue. Life is about stories and people – the interaction, the exchange, the dialogue – it makes us all richer as long as your shoe fits you well.

Do visit us and let us know what you think!

Interesting and fulfilling 2011 – my wish to all.

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