Dear friends, colleagues and business partners across the globe.

Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia need your help, and we need it now!

We have been hit by the most devastating floods in our history, and probably one of the most devastating floods in the history of Europe. Whole towns are completely under water, many people have unfortunately drowned, and thousands are evacuated. Literally tens of thousands of people have lost their homes for good.

This is how it looks like from above:

More photos here.

If you are in position to help, please do. Below are banners with bank accounts, as well as PayPal account of the Government of Serbia Relief Fund. You can also find them all at http://www.floodrelief.gov.rs/eng/ …

I think I’ve seen the movie “Accidental Hero” (with Dustin Hoffman in the role of Bernie LaPlante, small criminal that accidentally becomes a hero) at least 5 or 6 times, and only today have I heard what he actually says to his son in this fantastic end scene.

It’s one of those “Aha” moments. I guess one needs to be ready (read: old enough) to hear it☺. (full quote below)

Bernie LaPlante:
“You remember when I said how I was gonna explain about life, buddy? Well the thing about life is — it gets weird. People are always talking ya about truth. Everybody always knows what the truth is, like it was toilet paper or somethin’, and they got a supply in the closet. But what you learn, as you get older, is there ain’t no truth. All there is - is bullshit, pardon my vulgarity here. Layers of it. One layer of bullshit on top of another. …

“There are some aspects of leadership that are timeless; they were true thousands of years ago, and they continue to be true. And these are things like having vision, intelligence, good judgment, courage, a drive to achieve, and—above everything—integrity.” — Roselinde Torres

I’ve been researching the topic of “leadership in the future” quite a lot lately, including VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity), which many people consider as today’s environment and something all leaders need to consider in their decision making. This topic is extremely important for all kinds of organisations and all leaders, simply because the environment is changing so fast in the hyper-connected world that we live in today, that organisations cannot afford to think in a 20th century way of thinking anymore. Attracting talented people to your organisation is not only different than 15 years ago, but also different than 5 years ago. …

(note: this post has also been published in Serbian language on my other blog)

While doing a research on how leadership might look like in the future, I bumped into this great poem, written by Jennifer Corriero, a lady that co-founded Taking it Global and who I met back in 2006 at Microsoft CSR Summit in Seattle. A great lady and definitely one of the top global leaders of the future. Do read the poem below or see Jennifer reads it here.

How does change happen?
By Jennifer Corriero

This is perhaps one of those
eternal questions
that carries both simplicity
and depths of complexity
juxtaposed in a tension
so bright and dark that
emotions explode
and identities blur.
Is your belief defined by your role
or is your role defined by your belief?
How does change happen?
POLICY says the policy maker
MARKETS says the business manager
MASS MOBILIZATION says the organizer
DIALOGUE says the convener
SYSTEMS CHANGE says the academic
IMAGINATION says the artist
INVENTION says the scientist
INNOVATION says the technologist
INVESTMENT says the banker
DESIGN says the architect
ENLIGHTENMENT says the spiritual guide
RULE OF LAW says the lawyer
CONVICTION says the leader
EDUCATION says the teacher
DATA says the analyst
UNIVERSAL ACCESS says the philanthropist
HEALTHY CHOICES says the coach
AWARENESS says the communicator
PERSPECTIVE says the author
CRISIS says the journalist
ACTION says the entrepreneur
REVOLUTION says the activist
HOPE says the dreamer
NETWORKS says the connector
INSPIRATION says the storyteller
LOVE says the mother
ASPIRATION says the father
LAUGHTER says the child
POSSIBILITY says the youth
REFLECTION says the elder
And so we ask ourselves
where we stand, where we shine
and where we fly.
We ask whether or not
we are defined
by the roles we take
or the collective outcomes that emerge
when our efforts and beliefs collide. …

What a conference!

I’ve been on many conferences, and since I’m working on a startup myself, I’m closely following the scene and always have high expectations from conferences I’m attending. Knowing the team behind this one (domain.me & digitalizuj.me), I had even higher expectations, and they have all been met, and topped.

So, what’s Spark.Me all about?

It’s a tech/startup conference with an idea to inspire and motivate startups from Balkans (and not only) and promote them through network and partners of domain.me (for example, the winner of the startup competition gets a ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt 2014 in New York). In a way, it is a social responsibility project of domain.me, …