leadership

My Year of Hopefulness – Leadership

Christa Avampato

I have been thinking about leadership a lot this in the past week. I’ve been wondering what so many business leaders are saying behind closed door to their teams, knowing that the market is beating them up, morale is down, and anxiety is rampant. This is the pinnacle moment that every leader trains for – if ever there was time to manage through crisis and show grace under pressure, this is it.

I will go so far as to say that organizations who have senior leaders that can manage the current situation with grace and keep their teams motivated, involved, and supporting one another, will survive to fight another day. Those with leaders that lack bravery in these frightening times may not be so lucky.

Everyone knows it’s bad out there. Even if someone doesn’t want to discuss it, they know this market is as tough as they come. Once thing I can’t stand is to have someone telling the public something they already know as if it’s some great revelation. I don’t need politicians, CEOs, or finance gurus telling me how bad it is. I get it – I read the paper and I watch the news.

What would be immensely valuable to me, and what a select few like Jeff Bezos, are providing is a plan on how they will steer their organizations in this environment. I don’t want to hear anyone of power saying that they don’t know what to do in this market and that they are in uncharted waters. If that’s the case, then please step aside and let someone with vision take the reigns. I have no desire to sympathize with confused leaders. They’ve been pontificating on leadership for years – at conferences, in books, during interviews. Now in the moment of truth – this could be their finest moment. Leaders, are you up to the challenge?

entrepreneurship, Stanford

The Global Leadership and Talent Equation in a Start-up World

Christa Avampato

With extra time in the Bay Area, some people go to a spa, take a yoga class, and spend time outside in the many beautiful parks. I love spending time in all those ways. With my recent extra time in the Bay Area, I went to a Stanford event on entrepreneurship. (My nerdiness never ceases to amaze even me!) On Monday evening Stanford hosted a panel discussion entitled “Solving the Global Leadership and Talent Equation.” 4 panelists based in Silicon Valley, Eric Benhamou, Chairman and CEO, Benhamou Global Ventures, David Chao, Co-Founder and General Partner, DCM, Kyung Yoon, CEO, Talent Age Associates, and Michael Zhao, CEO and President, Array Networks, spoke candidly about building teams within global start-ups. Immensely talented and skilled, these panelists offered advice and shared their missteps and triumphs in building teams. For the full article, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m2d24-Stanford-University-panel-The-Global-Leadership-and-Talent-Equation

California, hope, HopeLab, Stanford

My Year of Hopefulness – Stanford

Christa Avampato

I’m finding it hard to leave California this evening, which is odd since I am heading back home to New York. Usually I am rushing to get back home after a trip. To sleep in my own bed, to be among my things, to get back to life as usual. Today I walked through some kind of door, and was consciously aware of a shift taking place. Today life changed, though I’m not yet sure how.

I ventured out to California on Saturday in preparation for meetings with HopeLab today. (More on that in a future post.) They are an exceptionally talented, passionate group of people who create brilliant product. It is a rare combination, especially in these times. Their excitement and commitment are infectious.I left their offices feeling lighter, feeling like I had picked up on some kind of trail that I had been looking for – like Trusty in Lady and the Tramp.

After the meetings with the HopeLab team, I went to Stanford to hear a presentation on talent management and recruitment for start-ups, particularly those with a global footprint. I felt completely at ease here in Palo Alto, on the Stanford campus, even though I’ve never been here before this weekend. Every part of me feels energized and hopeful, even on a day when the Dow plunged to 1997 lows and the outlook back East is as grim as ever. Here in Silicon Valley the sentiment is one of opportunity and the direction of focus is forward.

As I crossed the main quad of Stanford’s campus and meandered through its terra cotta buildings, I felt a very peaceful feeling wash over me that I have been missing for some time now. I peeked into a few classrooms that were conducting late night classes and for a second I felt a twinge of jealousy. I wanted to be one of those students, at least right at that moment. My friend, Janet, teases me that I am addicted to school and she’s not wrong. I am addicted to learning and learning environments. I do miss being a student, more than I realized I would.

Today I felt luck following me around all day, I felt a strong and gentle hand at my shoulder just pointing the way I needed to go. That sounds foolish and more than a little naive, I know, but it’s honest. As I was driving to HopeLab, a huge rainbow appeared over the freeway. And in my fortune cookie tonight I got the message, “You will soon gain something you have always wanted.” On occasion, I believe in astrology – mostly when I agree with its advice. I suppose a fortune cookie and a rainbow have just as much chance of being accurate as a horoscope. Or at least I hope they are, and in the times we’re living in hope is a precious resource.

The photo above can be found at: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/132248453_b7df81e3f6.jpg

California, environment, hope, nature

My Year of Hopefulness – Monterey Bay Aquarium

Christa Avampato

I make a habit of visiting baseball parks and aquariums across the country. When I used to manage theatre tours, I would make a point of seeing as many stadiums and aquariums as I could in the different cities we traveled to. I have to say that Baltimore is tough to beat in both of those departments – I saw Shark Week at that aquarium and those hotdogs at Camden Yards are the best I’ve ever had.

Being in Northern California this weekend, I wanted to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I have heard about it since my fundraising days at Conservation International. Monterey – you’re no Baltimore or Atlanta, though I learned some fascinating things while I was there this morning. They had a few octopi that I were entrancing. Did you know that octopi change their color according to the color of the surface they are crawling or resting on? Incredible. In Boston, they had an octopus who was bored in his own tank, so he found a way to sneak out of his tank at night, when everyone had go home, and would make his way to the lobster, eat his fill, and then get back home before the first staff members arrive. They only way they caught him was by video camera.

The jellyfish exhibit left me breathless. They had these gorgeous, bright orange jellyfish in front of a brilliant blue background. I could have stood there for hours to watch them float through their environment. It was a reminder to me that there are so many mysteries left in this world. There’s still so much more to explore, to see, and to know. We haven’t even scratched the surface – there are entire worlds underwater, canyons deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon, mountains taller than Everest. It is too much to fathom – we couldn’t possibly take it all in

70% of our planet is covered by water so if you ever feel life is too much for you to bear on dry land, I encourage you to go under the sea. Or at least get to your nearest aquarium. It will give you hope by showing you what’s possible.

The photo above can be found at: http://justinsomnia.org/images/monterey-aquarium-orange-jellyfish.jpg

entrepreneurship, Examiner, New York Times, Thomas Friedman

NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: Tom Friedman advocates for entrepreneurs

Christa Avampato

This morning, Tom Friedman’s column in the New York Times laid down the gauntlet in favor of entrepreneurs. With the stimulus package signed by President Obama, many questions remain on how to spend that money, and more importantly, whom to support with it. Friedman eloquently supports using the money for start-ups rather than bailing out the frail, inflexible global enterprises like GM and Chrysler.

To read the full post, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m2d22-Tom-Friedman-advocates-for-investment-in-entrepreneurs

California, creativity, hope, Stanford

My Year of Hopefulness – California

Christa Avampato

I’m in the Bay Area of California this weekend. I am thrilled to be meeting the fine team at HopeLab on Monday morning. Since I haven’t been to Northern California in a while I figured I would make a weekend of it. I wish I could explain my fascination with California. I’ve nearly moved here 4 times in my life. Every time I land at SFO I get this strange feeling that I’ve arrived home, even though I have no idea what it’s like to live here.

It’s a testament to the design of this area that I have yet to make one wrong turn, or get completely lost. My sense of direction is awful – for the 18 months I lived in Central Florida I was lost almost every day. The state of New Jersey still has me completely confused and I’ve spent many an hour going around in circle in D.C., trapped in or out of the city by that Beltway. Here in California, I always know where to like, just like I do in New York.

The grass is green here, there are flowers and rolling hills. I drove through Stanford, stunned by Palm Drive, the architecture of the Main Quad, and the vastness of the campus. There’s something about the golden color of all the buildings matched with the open green space that had me smiling wider and wider with every turn. I felt perfectly in my element.

Downtown Palo Alto is covered with coffee shops, pizza joints, a smattering of Thai and Indian food. Wi-fi everywhere. I’ve missed being in a college town. Hope is alive and well on the streets here. I went past the HP headquarters, the Wall Street Journal, and the Ning office. The ideas and creativity are buzzing around in the air here and if you linger long enough, I’m sure you’re bound to pick up a stroke of brilliance or two. It’s infectious.

The kindness and ease of people here is enough to make you wonder why you ever decided to live anywhere else. I sat next to a man on the plane today. He slept for most of the time and we didn’t exchange more than 10 words. As I got up out of my seat, he said, “By the way, you seem like a very nice lady. I wish you well. Good luck to you.” I was a bit shocked. I didn’t tell him why I was in San Francisco. I actually didn’t tell him anything about me. All I could think to mutter back was “you, too.”

There’s something to be said for stepping off of the island of Manhattan and finding out how life is lived in other places. It informs us, helps us to think differently about one another and our experience in the world. I love New York and it’s my home though I am grateful to be able to go to places like California where life is a little bit slower, people are a little less suspicious, and the spirit is a little bit lighter. Let’s hope I can figure out how to bottle it and bring some back East with me.

The image above can be found at: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/photos/campus-palmdrive.jpg

change

My Year of Hopefulness – the chancy nature of history

Christa Avampato


“America was discovered accidentally by a great seaman who was looking for something else; when discovered it was not wanted; and most of the exploration for the next fifty years was done in the hope of getting through or around it. America was named after a man who discovered no part of the New World. History is like that, very chancy.” ~ Samuel Eliot Morison

I took the subway home today, tired and a little nervous about my upcoming trip this weekend. Usually when I look up at the ads in the New York subway, I see one for a podiatrist, another for some sort of alcohol, and another that tells me if I adjust for inflation, I am actually paying less for a subway ride than I did in the 1980s. Today, I glanced up and saw the quote above by Samuel Eliot Morison. I thought about that last line “history is like that, very chancy” all the way home.

History is chancy. We meet someone by chance who changes our lives. We move somewhere that we never imagined living and that dramatically changes the direction of our paths. We pick up a hobby to have something to do and it becomes far more than a hobby. I look back at the course of my life and I am amazed by the twists and turns it’s taken. At 18, when I was first leaving home, I never imagined the path I’ve taken.

It’s the excitement of change, of not knowing what comes next, that gets me up in the morning – it’s the looking forward, the anticipation, the hope that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other. Truthfully, I can’t even guess at what’s around the bend. And I don’t think anyone else can either.

Change can be frightening, stressful, and intimidating. To stay brave in the face of the constant change that is all around us, I try to make it into a game. No matter what happens, I do try to remind myself that this is all learning, that someday it will all make sense, and I remember that really this life is all about chance – how well you weigh the odds, where you place your bets, and how much courage you have to keep trying.

The above images can be found at: http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/03.01/photos/15-nostalgic8-450.jpg

entrepreneurship, fashion, health, New York, wellness

NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: an interview with Cathy Gins, Founder of Aromawear

Christa Avampato

I had the pleasure of talking to Cathy Gins, Founder of Aromawear, this week. Cathy designs fully customizable aromatic jewelry that combines her 17 years of design experience at Avon with her work as a practitioner of Therapeutic Touch, Reconnection Healing, and Clinical Aromatherapy. Inside each piece is space for a small felt wick that is designed to be scented with a therapeutic oil. The wicks pop in and out of the jewelry very easily, without causing any damage to the jewelry, so that you can adjust the scent you want around you depending on your need at the time. Stressed? You might want to try some lavender. Need to feel motivated? peppermint, lemon, or a citrus scent will help. Feeling under the weather? Try eucalyptus cold relief or a blend called Thieves, which has antibacterial properties and was used by medical workers during the Plague to provide relief. And all of these wicks can be packed into a convenient, pocket-sized traveling case.

For the full article, please visit http://www.examiner.com/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m2d19-Aromawear-wellness-you-take-with-you

education, encouragement, family, hope, school

My Year of Hopefulness – Tacking into the Wind

Christa Avampato

My Uncle Tom talks a lot about tacking into the wind. He likes boats, or at least boat metaphors. When I graduated from college he wrote me a message on a greeting card that I still think about. “The winds are always on the side of the ablest navigator. Sail on.” I still get a little emotional reading that quote.

When I graduated from college I was really afraid of my future. Or rather, I was really afraid of having no future. I’d spent my entire life in school, and I did very well on that path. Now, school was over, for now, and I was completely lost. I didn’t know what I wanted to be, where I wanted to live, or how I’d survive. I knew I made it through a very tough curriculum with my sanity relatively intact, though I had no idea what I planned to do with this degree I held in my hands. It really was just a piece of paper with my name written in curly writing. I got to graduation and realized that I had spent four years just trying to get to graduation without much thought of what I’d do once I was a graduate. I did the only thing I knew how to do – I put one foot in front of the other and kept going.

Life would be terrific and easy if we just knew where we were (point A) and where we wanted to go (point B) and then just traveled in a straight line from A to B. It doesn’t work that way – or at least it never has worked that way for me. I’ve been traveling around the country, with the extent of my belongings able to fit into a car. I’ve had one fantastic opportunity after another, though I never really worked to get any of them. I was always working hard to get somewhere and something else, and always ended up in a place and doing things that were so much better than what I had planned. This has always been true. I never once planned any single thing better than the world planned something else for me.

I’ve spent my life tacking into the wind, trying to be the best darn navigator out there. My greatest experiences have been those not found on the path from A to B, but the path from A to X to G to M to Z. I plan for B, though sometimes it never shows itself or when I get there I find it’s not what I wanted after all. M looks like a much nicer place to land, at least for a while.

This is not to say that the plan doesn’t matter. It plays a role. I’ve developed certain skills because I thought they’d help me get to B. And they were very useful for M and Z and everything in between. I try to stay as sharp as possible with my eyes and ears wide open so I can grab a hold of that next gust of wind that I need. The plan prepares me, makes me aware of my surroundings.

The treasures and pleasures in life are found along the zig-zag path we take, not in the point-to-point. I try to always remember that, especially when I’m frustrated or confused or plain lost. There is a wind that will carry us up and over and through – our only job is to make sure we recognize it when it heads our way and be ready to raise up that sail.

The photo above can be found at: http://www.discount-florida-vacations.com/images/sailboat_sunset.jpg

career, entrepreneurship, love, travel

My Year of Hopefulness: Martha Graham

Christa Avampato

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. –Martha Graham

Quotes keep me going in good times and in bad. This one from Martha Graham really struck me and is a good lesson for all of us as we continue what we’d like our life’s work to be. My friend, Linda, sent me an interesting link that she found on the Get Rich Slowly blog. At a recent conference, the author of the post Linda forwarded to me, listened to George Kinder, a financial planned with a unique approach. He asks all of this clients three questions regarding their future:

  1. Imagine you are financially secure, that you have enough money to take care of your needs, now and in the future. How would you live your life? Would you change anything? Let yourself go. Don’t hold back on your dreams. Describe a life that is complete and richly yours.
  2. Now imagine that you visit your doctor, who tells you that you have only 5-10 years to live. You won’t ever feel sick, but you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do in the time you have remaining? Will you change your life and how will you do it? (Note that this question does not assume unlimited funds.)
  3. Finally, imagine that your doctor shocks you with the news that you only have 24 hours to live. Notice what feelings arise as you confront your very real mortality. Ask yourself: What did you miss? Who did you not get to be? What did you not get to do?

George Kinder asks people to think of these questions as a funnel. The first question is easy and the others get progressively harder to answer. Life planning is about getting to the bottom of the answers to questions #3.

My answers to questions #3:
I didn’t get to be my own boss, ever.
I didn’t get to find the love of my life, though I did have a lot of love in my life.
I missed traveling to so many place that I wanted to see, though I did get to go on some pretty amazing trips.
I didn’t get to publish a book, though I’m glad I published my own blog.
I never owned my own home.
I never learned to play a musical instrument well.

In short, if I only had 24 hours, I would die with the music still in me, as John Lennon said. And that alone provides me with a good deal of motivation to get and keep moving forward. Thanks, Linda!!