Leadership and love
By Kimberlea Kozachenko, CEO & Founder
In 2019, July 1st felt like the REAL New Year's Day. You know the saying, “New Year, New You”? Well, that’s possibly true yet, anyone who knows me well knows I don’t like to play by the rules - even the milestones on the calendar are up for debate!
My New Year begins now.
Let’s rewind a bit to the true calendar New Year, January 1st. I booked a professional development conference for myself, a conference that focuses on all areas of wellness - mental, physical, spiritual, environmental and more. I’ve made attendance at this event an annual part of my personal growth rituals. I look forward to returning every year. The date of this years' conference was June 27-July 1st. At the time, my company Kolmeta was little more than a growing idea. Yet, I felt like the universe kept giving me signs I was on the right path. Believing in the power of positive thoughts, throughout the early part of 2019 I would consciously say things to myself like, “How amazing would it be if I was going on that conference in June with a fresh start?” and “What if I had a clean slate and was ready to go all in on Kolmeta?”. I have always been of the mindset that good thoughts manifest good outcomes.
Ok, now fast forward to June.
The day before the conference, I left my corporate job.
I’m told the universe delivers EXACTLY what we need, when we need it, even if we don’t think we’re ready yet. I felt like I’d done this with my mind! To the day, I got EXACTLY what I manifested.
On my way to the conference, I had ALL the feels. Fear, happiness, anxiety, excitement, joy. I knew my life was about to completely change and I was comforted by the fact that I was about to go to an environment with friends where I could set an intention and move forward the way I always wanted to. Since, as I mentioned earlier, I seemingly got exactly what I wished for - that fresh start - the intention I set was two words: to CLEANSE and RISE - to let go of what no longer served me, take with me what I had learned and then, #levelup.
I’ve learned so many lessons in my corporate employment experience that I knew I would take forward with me into my future in entrepreneurship - but two lessons in particular stand out.
The first, Leadership. This might be an obvious one - being a leader in a corporate space is very similar to being the owner of a company. I’ll share more on this another time.
But the second lesson is not so obvious and usually doesn’t end up in a sentence next to “leadership” or “organizations”. Love. This is a lesson I simply did not see coming.
I learned that an organization does not love me back.
I learned that I don't really love an organization.
But for the last 5 years in the corporate world, I really, REALLY thought that I did. If you’ve read any recruitment article in the last decade, I’m sure you will have seen the old “recruitment / dating” analogy (even I wrote an article once comparing candidate declines to ghosting after a date). Well, imagine that date had worked out. Imagine it got super serious, you bought a house, picked a puppy and got married... then came the odd, uncomfortable feelings of distance, you knew you were growing apart and didn’t really talk about it, you kept pulling away, eventually the tough conversations started, then the fights, then heartbreak and finally, the divorce. (Ok - I know. This analogy is so 2000 & late, but for illustrative purposes, it really does drive my message home). Leaving something you thought loved - even something as inanimate as a job regardless of whether it loves you back or not - is hard. It means you learned, you grew. It means you cared. And that’s always a good thing.
So, here’s my biggest lesson learned in leadership and love as I leave my corporate job and jump into entrepreneurship:
Lead with love.
That's it. It's that simple. If I didn’t love the organization, what did I love? It turns out that what I truly love are the PEOPLE, the EXPERIENCES and the MEMORIES. I loved the conversations I had that have led to lifelong friendships, the colleagues who have turned into loyal comrades, the laughs, the tears, the lessons, the failures, the wins, the moments of sheer panic, the feelings of pure joy. I loved leading, I loved coaching, watching someone grow, seeing someone try something that scares them, learn a new skill, achieve something that they thought was wildly outside their comfort zone. I loved the whole journey people go through and all its twists and turns, not just the destination. All of this - all the personal stories I’ve listened to and each connection I’ve made - is what I loved. And I still do. I’ve only just begun to invest in this.
Leadership and love are 100% connected. Both are people centric and cannot survive or thrive in the absence of authentic care and genuine connection.
So, I left my corporate job. And I’m going ALL IN on ME. All in on entrepreneurship. All in on leadership and love. I’m now the CEO of my own future at my own company, Kolmeta - the name of which is inspired by the Latin root words “change together”. I know there are tremendous opportunities in front of me when it comes to creating positive change in leadership and love. This surely won’t be the last I share on the subject. I am grateful to be surrounded by people who trust me enough to take this leap with me - people who want to follow the people they love, whose values align with their own.
Together, we are going to make an impact and lead with love.
***Authors Note: You may have noticed the word MANIFEST appears a few times in this article. As I mentioned, I attend a wellness conference annually, hosted by the mindbodygreen family. When I attended in 2018, I was asked to choose a word that would be my intention throughout that year. A company called myIntent was gracious enough to create a keepsake bracelet for me that has undoubtedly given me power. #hippiedippie #manifest #kolmeta