Hi, I'm George

Hi, this is George speaking. I wanted to add a little more color to the above bio, and to introduce you to the human behind this business.

My origins

I was born in a tiny Siberian village in spring of 1973. My mom walked the last couple of miles to the hospital through the literal snow (probably uphill too). Because the tractor she rode got stuck in the slush of snow and mud. When she finally got to the hospital, she discovered that the power was out. So, I was born with candlelight. That's why I'm such a romantic!

I took my wife Adi to visit said hospital in 2011, and she decided I was lying. Cause that log cabin, according to her, could not have possibly been a hospital. She was born at Kaiser.

Early influences

In my teens, I was a competitive ballroom dancer. I was reasonably good and even made a podium once. But it didn't last, I got distracted by music.

I'm a classically trained musician, and for over a decade in my 20s I fronted what today we'd call a prog metal band. Lead guitar and vocals. I listen to all kinds of music nowadays, but prog will always have a special place in my heart.

I've also been in a cult for about a year in my 20s. That experience made me acutely aware of how predictable and manipulatable human beings are. And how thin the line between influence and manipulation is.

You might wonder, if the mechanics are exactly the same, what's the difference between an influential leader and a manipulative one? For me it comes down to whether the intent is to add clarity and meaning or to obscure it. Whether it's in service of the individual being influenced (i.e. servant leadership) or in service of the person doing the influencing.

My cult experience unfortunately also meant that I was very skeptical for a very long time. Only in the last 10 years I started to realize that skepticism is toxic, and that curiosity is a much better mindset.

Skepticism is arrogant, it says "I know better." Curiosity says, "tell me more!"

Skepticism has an agenda. If you go looking for signs that whatever you're skeptical about is false, of course you'll find them. It's hard to be objective with a skeptical mind. You're constantly up against the human nature. You have to dodge the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon—the type of cognitive bias your mind creates when you learn some obscure new piece of information and suddenly you see it everywhere, and the confirmation bias.

Curiosity, on the other hand, is open and allows the evidence to lead you wherever it will, even if the truth goes against your current beliefs.

Moving to US

I left Russia in 2000 and settled in San Francisco Bay Area. I met my wife Adi in 2010, we met rock climbing. A couple of years later I was belayed her up a steep climb and she mentioned this might be the last time she climbs for a few months. The next day she went into labor and gave birth to our son Max. Then a couple of years later she gave birth to our daughter Sophie.

Nowadays, In my spare time I race road bikes (I say "race", but it's really just a few overly enthusiastic middle-aged friends unable to simply enjoy a leisurely ride). I rock climb on occasion. And I sometimes sail.

Neurodiversity

A few years ago, I was diagnosed with ADHD. I also meet all the diagnostic criteria for ASD, but haven't bothered with an official diagnosis. Getting diagnosed explained a lot of my life to me and has been incredibly healing.

I think my neurodivergence is what allows me to see the forest, and the trees, and every single blade of grass around me. I've always been good at spotting somebody sitting in a corner of the room, having a different experience from the rest of the group. Drawing them into the conversation has always been illuminating.

I also hope it makes me more open to the range of experiences people from all ends of all spectrums might have.

There's also this fascinating interplay between distractability and hyperfocus. It's like pointing a telescope at a blank patch of the sky and discovering galaxies upon galaxies there. Lots of new dots to connect! It helps problem-solving, creativity, and so on.

Honesty and authenticity as well. Though the relationship between masking, adhering to social norms, and authenticity is difficult to navigate!

What makes a good coach?

Somebody asked me recently what I thought made somebody a good coach. This was my answer.

I think hands down, what makes somebody a good coach is having done the work on themselves. As the trite but true saying goes, you can't take a client further than you've been willing to go yourself.

As for the skills, the main one, I think, is the ability to help a client navigate the territory you've never seen. Might never see, actually, because it's inside your client's head. And do so without bringing any of your own biases into the process.

I work with a lot of folks underrepresented in tech leadership. As a white middle-aged man, 90% of the time I've no idea what they are going through. The best I can do is keep my opinions out of the process and learn with them.

Read what others had to say about working with me as their coach here.