Kaila Colbin

Brainstormer, Business leader, Connector, Entrepreneur, Idea generator, Marketer, Promoter, Social entrepreneur, Startup, Technologist

Founder and CEO of Boma, using lessons from sports to grow values-based leadership. An award-winning leader renowned for impact, Kaila developed TEDxChristchurch into New Zealand’s flagship TEDx event and brought Singularity University to New Zealand and Australia, supporting thousands of people to engage with exponentially accelerating technologies and their impact on humanity. As a founder of the non-profit Ministry of Awesome, Kaila played a critical role in developing Christchurch’s startup ecosystem. She has extensive governance experience, and has been involved with mergers, capital raises, and company sales in the US and NZ. She trained with Brené Brown and Al Gore, and is a chartered member of the Institute of Directors and a certified Project Management Professional. A native New Yorker, Kaila’s work to champion Aotearoa New Zealand on a global stage saw her given the 2022 Kea World Class New Zealand “Friend of New Zealand” award. Her purpose in life is to be an uplifting presence.

I am passionate about LIFE, my work, people, being inspired, inspiring others, laughing, math, technology, being amazed, being moved to tears

It's inevitable: halfway through a session on courageous leadership, somebody sticks their hand up and says, "I mean, sure, you can empathise all you want, but, at some point, you have to get the job done, right?" I've heard that comment dozens, hundreds of times. And my answer is always the same: You can empathise AND you can get the job done. That idea, that empathy and performance are either/or, is a myth. It's a myth that envisions these two things sitting on a single continuum: standards on one end, care on the other. If that’s true, more of one means less of the other. The reality is, the care we show each other and the standards to which we hold ourselves accountable are two different things. Low care plus low standards equals apathy. Low standards plus high care equals coddling or enablement. (This is what people are afraid of when they say we shouldn’t empathise too much.) High standards plus low care equals burnout. But what if we have high care and high standards? You guessed it... That’s how we get sustainable high performance. Sustainable high performance lives at the intersection of high care and high standards. You can empathise all you want... ...and you can get the job done.

Boxing -- I was ranked 2nd in the US in my category as an amateur :)