Karola Sakotnik

Artist, Business adviser, Business leader, Business mentor, Concerned citizen, Entrepreneur, Global soul, Musician, Performer, Social entrepreneur, World traveler, Writer/Editor

Hi I am Karola, a pioneer at heart, an experience designer who creates spaces in which wisdom emerges. Having been working and leading in performing arts, luxury cruising and in humanitarian crisis environments, in this life chapter I am sharing my knowledge through storytelling and camp fire experiences, in conference venues, with leaders all around the globe. I invite them to reflect and take action in the area of how to master decision making in uncertain times, how to lead others and oneself and how to communicate in a way that people want to follow. My life has been giving me quite some bites to chew and I keep accepting the challenge. That makes my approach credible, plus the fact that my designs were awarded as best culture program on cruise ships worldwide helps, too of course. My expertise combines organisational culture, operational and management as well as artistic leadership, culture and creativity. That is the space were true innovation can evolve.

...the power of leaving a legacy for our grandchildren. At the heart of my work is a question: How can we create a future worth living, especially when certainty disappears and strategy alone is no longer enough? I believe we need more than knowledge and technology. We need imagination, courage, human connection and the wisdom to make responsible choices in everyday life. I am fascinated by leadership that begins not with crisis, fear or deficiency, but with what can succeed. Leadership that gives people orientation without pretending to have all the answers; that makes room for different voices; and that turns uncertainty into curiosity, agency and shared responsibility. Storytelling, theatre and humour are central to this passion. As an artist, leadership expert and trained physical comedian, I experience stories as instruments of transformation. They allow ideas to reach the mind, heart and body, and can help us see familiar problems from a completely new perspective. This is also why I created Grandma, my 101-year-old alter ego from 2065. Looking back at our present from the future, she asks the questions we often avoid and reminds us, with wisdom and mischief, that the decisions shaping tomorrow are being made today. I am especially drawn to people and ideas that connect worlds: science and art, technology and humanity, business and society, ancient wisdom and future thinking. I love giving a stage to voices that may not be the loudest, but have something meaningful to contribute. As a TEDx organiser, I am passionate about creating spaces where ideas do more than impress an audience. I want them to spark meaningful conversations, challenge assumptions and travel back into people’s organisations, communities and daily choices. Because an idea truly becomes worth spreading when it changes not only what we think, but also what we believe is possible, and what we decide to do next.

As a futurist and storyteller I know that we do not need more predictions about the future, we rather need a wiser relationship with it. My idea worth spreading is this: We make wiser decisions when we stop looking only from the present towards the future, and allow the future to look back at us. In my talks, this perspective comes to life through Grandma, my 101-year-old alter ego from 2065. She is not simply a stage character, nor does she predict what will happen. Grandma represents “future hindsight”: the wisdom we might possess one day, brought into the decisions we need to make now. She gives a voice to future generations and asks a profoundly practical question: What kind of ancestors are we choosing to become? Most conversations about the future focus on trends, technology, risks and scenarios. These are important, but they often overlook the human dimension. People do not change through information alone. We need stories that help us feel the consequences of our choices, see beyond our immediate fears and imagine a future we genuinely want to create. Looking back from 2065 changes the quality of the questions we ask. What will still matter? Which fears will have become irrelevant? What will we wish we had begun sooner? And what becomes possible when we stop organising ourselves around what might fail and begin leading from what can succeed? This shift from prediction to responsibility, from fear to agency, and from problem-focused thinking to possibility-led action is especially relevant for leaders, organisations and societies navigating uncertainty. It transforms the future from an abstract destination into a daily leadership practice. On stage, I combine future thinking, leadership experience, strategic storytelling, theatre and physical comedy. By embodying both myself and Grandma, I make a complex subject tangible, surprising and deeply human. Audiences do not leave with another prediction about tomorrow, but with a new perspective for shaping it: What can I decide, change or begin today so that the future will one day look back and say, “That was the moment something better became possible”?

applied arts, artistic leadership, culture and creativity, human future skills, international culture management, leadership, learning from disruption, operational and strategic management, organisational culture, psychosocial support, storytelling

Going into my second term of TEDx Graz being a passionate Futurist, working on making the world a great place to live, for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.

Strategy, structure, singing and improvising