From Concentration Camp to Global Impact: Dr Bilal Kola on Resilience, Leadership, and Legacy

Welcome to Media Minds with your host, David Wolf.

Born in a communist concentration camp in Albania, Belel Kolau's story begins in one of the harshest environments we could imagine. But from those depths, he rose with fierce determination, transforming struggle into strength and fear into fuel. Belel went on to build a distinguished legal career across Europe advising multichannel corporations, multinational corporations. I'm gonna start again there for the editor. Bill Lil went on to build an, a distinguished legal career across Europe advising multinational corporations and aligning national policy with the EU standards. Today he's a global CEO coach, international keynote speaker, bestselling author of 12 Mindsets to Improve Life Radically. I wanna know more about that. He also empowers leaders to shatter mental barriers and lead with purpose. We can all use that as well. From law to leadership, from survival to global impact, an extraordinary journey. Bilal, welcome to the program.

David, uh, thank you so much. I might need you to, uh, just to put a trajectory of my name correct. It's Bilal. Well, Bilal, we're close enough.

And, uh, thank you so much. And I hope you'll accept that as an intro. Bilal. All right. Very good. It's great to be with you and I'm so honored to be with you. Uh, your story truly is, uh, extraordinary. Of course, you know that, but sharing it with the world is, uh, an amazing thing to do. And, uh, I'm, I'm so, I mean, how did this foundation as a, I guess you were born there and as a child in a concentration camp, How does that experience shape you? How did it shape you and your mindset as a child and later as a leader?

It's a very, um, interesting and actually powerful question. Uh, David, thank you for, for having me here. It's an honor and a privilege to be here with you. Um, let me put it like this. I was in that communist concentration camp, and of course that's a huge disadvantage if you judge it from the, uh, from the outset. But as it happened, I got some unimaginable mentorship while I was in that communist concentration camp. And one of my mentors, she happened to be the sister of my grandfather, very well-educated lady, uh, in Italy. She was educated for, um, arts and literature. But anyhow, um, as it happened, I actually, even though I was deprived of so many, let's say, minimalist rights and liberties, but I was not deprived of knowledge. And I'm not talking about just information. I'm talking about applicable knowledge which changes things. So, um, from that perspective, I was kind of not only mentored by being given different tools on the circumstances, uh, there was not much to do. But given the fact that these guys that, um, I used to have as mentors, they had seen the whole lot. They, they were living in, in, um, royal palaces. Of course, they were highly educated. And then everything turned to rubble in front of their eyes, and when they were put in concentration camps. So basically, we're talking about people who had, um, knowledge firsthand what it is to be deprived of everything you've earned and, uh, be put there, uh, as a slave, as a modern slave. So As I was growing up in that communist concentration camp, one of these mentors gave me this book. It was a biography of President Kennedy, and something struck me in that book. I read a line where Kennedy gave this powerful speech in Germany, in Western Germany. That powerful speech where Kennedy starts with, Ich bin a Berliner. He actually announced to the crowd he was a Berliner just as much as they were. And he comes with this powerful phrase. He says, there is this, Kennedy says something like this, there is this specific word in Chinese language, which happens to be one of the oldest languages out there. And this word is made of 2 hieroglyphs. One of them means by itself danger and the other one opportunity. If you join those 2 hieroglyphs together, they comprise, both of them comprise one single word, which is challenge. Now, life is about challenges. All right. But nothing good ever happened in the comfort zone. All the good things that happened out there is, is this is simple empirics and it's actually empirical wisdom. That everything good that happened out there happened because of a struggle. Now people, they have pivoted and they have done really amazing transformational things, given the situations that were experiencing massive struggles in their lives. And now from that moment on, I was about maybe 9, 10 when I read those lines. I took a vow. I said, I'm going to do something. Whatever deprivations I have, I cannot change them. I'm going to just fully accept those deprivations, but I'm going to prepare myself not for a 100-meter run, not even for a 500-meter. I'm going to prepare myself for a marathon. So if and when, if and when I will break free of these chains, then I'm, uh, I'm a, like, uh, through and through athlete. So from that moment on, I decided to embark on, should I say, a self-transformation journey where I kind of use this, um, in order to self-motivate myself. And just from that point on, uh, as I said, I took this vow And, um, you know, I was just reading, practicing things in terms of accept everything I cannot change, but change everything I can. So from the perspective of not enlightening myself, but getting as much wisdom as possible. And I'm talking about life-changing sort of wisdom. There was nothing to prevent me. So I was, um, I was not allowed to learn any foreign languages, but By the time I was, um, 15, 18, incognito, I was speaking Italian and English.

Oh man.

I was not practicing because if I was to speak out in the public, you know, I would be put in prison just like my dad was at that time. So, um, just for information, I didn't, didn't know my dad until he was released from prison when the communism collapsed. So, by the— my dad was sent for the second time in the most notorious Albanian political prison when I was 2 years old, and he got out of prison when I was 18 years old. So he served for the second time in his life 16 years of political imprisonment. So, not everything went bad for me. Because when communism fell, you know, I was ready. I was not just an athlete. I was a very, very lean athlete in terms of how I prepared myself or how people mentored me and how I kind of absorbed that, uh, applicable knowledge. That's the word for it. And when communism fell, I managed to, uh, gain a scholarship and study in, in UK. I did there, uh, my, my degree in law, my master's international business law, and then later on I did a PhD in strategic leadership during my professional career. So, um, if I was to kind of reflect for a moment, I would say yes, it has been a harsh, very, very harsh experience, but it has come with some really, um, powerful lessons, which I believe I've just grabbed them as hard as I can in order to make the best out of those circumstances.

I love it. What a great, great transition and transformation. You had to be built for this though, too. Uh, you know, I think it's in your DNA to do this and to have this moment where this epiphany is my word. What was there something about legal, the legal direction for you that attracted you? What was the spark for that?

I think ultimately when I was growing up, there is, there was this burning desire for me to make things right. You know?

Ah, yes.

Because everything was wrong. On the surface, everything was wrong. And on the material world, everything was wrong. Um, inside of me, nothing was wrong because I could, um, as I said, I was kind of, um, getting used to this wisdom of accepting everything you cannot change and trying to change everything you can influence. But having said that, my motivation for going, um, and actually becoming qualified lawyer, but going for, for legal studies was a burning desire I had to kind of improve things. Improve is a, is a, let's, it's a very, uh, soft word, but to radically change things. And that's what. Kept me going. But, you know, if I was to make a differentiation between law and what I'm doing at this moment in time is this: law has been a very interesting tool for me to develop very good patterns in terms of making arguments, in terms of presentation, in terms of What's the best strategy and how to make shortcuts in terms of reaching your goals. And for that, you know, hats off, law has been fantastic. But ultimately, deep down, whatever feelings I was experiencing out of this, let's just say, success in the legal field, it could be summed up probably with a couple of words like this. It made me feel smarter. It made me feel, uh, let's say an articulated individual. It didn't go any further than that. What I'm doing currently, it just brings the best out of me in terms of, I see this as an impactful enterprise. It's still an enterprise, but it's an impactful one. And it's, I've got this mindset of, of, uh, try to focus on the thing which is minimal effort, maximum impact. If I have 2 or 3 things to do, I would go for the thing which is minimum effort or comparably speaking, minimum effort, maximum impact. And what I'm doing currently certainly falls squarely on this is absolutely minimum effort, Maximum Impact because, you know, I, I don't do this to kind of, uh, make money out of it. Of course, I, I, in a way or another, the way I strategize about is, is like a business model. My primary focus is empowering people. My primary focus is empowerment and impact. That's it.

Beautiful. The word impact, I wrote it down here as you were describing. You You, you used a different word. You said it was a little soft. The word impact struck me, and then you said it. I think you're really, you, you desired at a certain point to really have a, a, a huge impact on the world. And I think, that, that was a guiding light for you, it sounds, as you described this process. As you work with leaders in all the contexts you do, either as a speaker, an executive coach, consultant, in the work you do now, what are some of the mindset blocks that you see high-performing leaders encountering, and how do you help them break through them? You've mentioned this idea of control what you can control and radically accept what you cannot control. I imagine that's part of this, but maybe there's more you can share.

Well, if I was to kind of categorize this into 2 or 3 main patterns, I would say, first and foremost, all leaders know that they have their forte points and they have the so-called areas for development. Now, the people I work with, they've, of course, they've got the awareness that yes, we've got these forte points and of course we have those areas for development, but there is this mental block in terms of Yeah, what got us so far are those fantastic, you know, skills that we have, the tools that we've used. So just forget about these areas for development. You know, I'm going to concentrate on this and, you know, what has got me so far. And I'm, I feel relatively speaking, I feel successful. Now, bottom line is this, um, that keeps us within our comfort zone. If If we develop a pattern, yes, I'm good at this, but I'm not good at this, you know, ultimately we have only 8 hours. Let me say 8 hours because I kind of have this life-work balance and I don't even consider to preach what I don't practice. So I always go for this simple tool, make the best out of life, make the best out of life. So we have only one shot. Um, so ultimately it's not about working hard. Ultimately it's about working hard, but pivoting on those things which they fall outside of our comfort zone, but we have not been able to really amass our potential and bring the best version of ourselves. So if we, if we were to focus on the things that in a way or another, we have this awareness that we have not been good at. Imagine the scaling element here. So what I tackle forefront to these people is that, guys, we have to focus on these things. Yeah, you might have a super entrepreneurial drive, but if you're not good with handling difficult conversations, or if you're not good at team building aspects, then imagine how much more you'd do if you were to tackle this and come good on the other side. So, um, one of the areas which I focus is scaling on the things that you just did not consider as pointers and as, um, elements that you could improve. That's the first thing. Second thing is ultimately is about how much, not of what we know, but how much we practice out of what we know. So we have to go out there and perform.

Yeah.

Not be satisfied that we know this. There are so many Um, we got this expression, there are so many geniuses, okay, potentially, who end up being shepherds because they know the things, they know the thing. It's a completely different ballgame to knowing and applying knowledge. So ultimately it's about going there and doing the things. And one final thing, which I kind of try to not provoke, but try to, in a way or another, make them accountable is the so-called life balance. And ultimately ask them this question, okay, maybe you'd just skip taking your kids for a walk this time? Yeah, because there is an important meeting. And maybe you just skip taking your wife for a romantic dinner because there is this important meeting. But just ask yourself this question, and no need to answer out loud, just keep it and think about it. What would happen if somebody was to ask you in your dying bed about the, um, let's say the joys of of life, would you classify that business meeting and that business opportunity as something which was of paramount importance in these classifications of the joys that you took out of life or taking pride at your kid scoring, um, a goal or hitting that fantastic, uh, backhand in tennis or making, uh, love to your wife or, you know, your girlfriend or boyfriend.

Sure.

David Wolf. So how would you classify in terms of getting the joy out of life these events? So for that reason, for that reason, and for that reason only, because we only have one shot in life, it's best that we do the things that ultimately bring us joy. Of course, business is hugely important because without business, nothing comes around or very few things come around. Uh, and they, they actually, the little things could be the big things, but business being as important as it is, keeping a healthy life and work balance is of paramount importance. I'm not talking about the mental health element. I'm talking about the, the, the actual life purpose, you know? Yeah. We're not here to make money. We're, we're here to first and foremost make experiences. And whatever amount of money somebody who doesn't have experiences could have, ultimately, um, he's just missing out on life.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love this. The book is 12 Mindsets to Improve Life. Radically. And, uh, uh, how— when did you release the book? And, uh, and, uh, what, what has been the sense of its impact on the world?

Very, very interesting question. I mean, I'll go with the why first and then when.

I know I stacked two questions there. Sorry.

During COVID David, as it happened, it really struck me because I was like amid, uh, things, running my own law firm, and Yeah. But anyway, I was kind of, whoa, now I have time. What am I supposed to do with this time? Yeah. I'm talking about the lockdown period.

Yeah.

And, uh, yeah, I always had as a, an aforethought about writing a book about my, uh, life experiences mostly, then how I pivoted and how I made, um, the circumstances that change really count for me. During those changing years. But what really made me think about writing that book was a kind of a legacy. I was, okay, I have this experience. Of course, many people could have similar experiences, but I firmly believe that I have unique experiences, not because I was born in a communist concentration camp, but each and every one of us has unique experiences. Now, the uniqueness in itself is fantastic. What we make out of it is, I think that's a blessing. So I just didn't want to leave that as something that I have without trying to release it to the world and resonate with, with as many people out there in the world as possible. So that's what drove me. And I said to myself, okay, now I have time. I'm going to sit down 3 hours per day. It's going to take me something because I had written my PhD thesis in about a year and a half. And I knew it was going to take me less because when I wrote my PhD, I only allocated about 2 hours a day. So, uh, yeah, I said maximum, uh, 16 months. I'm going to have a book out there in the world, but it only took me 14 months. So, uh, Yeah. And the, as I, as I say, um, main, main reason was to just share it with the world because I believe that there are so many people out there who could, as I read those, you know, little, um, phrases out of this biography of President Kennedy. Other people could read a couple of things or couple of chapters. The book has 12 chapters altogether, and it may spring meaningful changes to the world. So that's what really, um, made me go for it.

So brilliant. And you're continuing to have this impact. How do people work with you? Do you work one-on-one? Do you work in groups? What, what's your modality of making the impact you do today?

Thank you. Thank you for asking that question, David Wolf. What I do basically is this. I provide group trainings. Uh, I provide group coaching and I provide customized coaching programs. And what I love most is keynotes. As I said earlier on, um, it's minimum effort, maximum impact.

Mm-hmm.

So when I do the group, when I do the group trainings, It's about 20, around 20 people. When I do group coaching, we're talking about group coaching programs, we're talking about minimum 3, maximum 6 people. When I do customized coaching, of course they are tailored for one individual. And when I do keynotes, I speak in front of 150, 200 people. So I only use that increment of time. But of course the biggest impact is on the keynotes.

So that's right. I love basically, but I know it's wide instead of deep, uh, with the one-on-one. Uh, the website is, I hope I say it right. The website is bilalcola.com. I'll spell it B-I-L-A-L-C-O-L-A.

You got it right the first time, David Wolf. That close. Yeah. Yeah, no, you're right.

We'll put it in the show notes, but it's bilakola.com. So inspiring to be with you. You are truly leaving a legacy on the world. I can feel that in this interview. Thank you for doing it. And I hope we can continue the conversation sometime soon.

David Wolf, a pleasure having this conversation with you. I don't call it an interview. I call it a conversation. And the moment I got that little note to have this conversation with you, I felt, wow, this is the guy. So for me, thank you so much for having me here.

Absolutely. The pleasure has been mine.

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