My Bumpy Road to Leadership

Leadership is a beautiful journey filled with lessons, challenges, and transformations. In my

case it was not a straight path but rather a bumpy road, full of surprises, failures and small successes which shaped who I became. I hope it will inspire you a little bit to explore your own leadership path.

Let´s start from my the beggening... I´m from Biala Podlaska - a small town in the east of Poland. I was raised in a family where serving others, keeping commitments, and keeping word were the highest values. By nature, I loved singing, dancing, and shining on stage.

At the age of ten, I organized my first concert with three other girls in our neighborhood. We invited all our neighbors, and the event was a great success! However, just a few hours later, we argued about who sang better, and our group split up. My first lesson was learned:

Lesson 1: Don’t Compete—Celebrate!

I liked to shine and lead, so when I got into junior high school, I volunteered to become President of the student council. With every week i was gaining popularity and power, but I also started making fun of the weaker ones. The people who surrounded me when I was strong became my enemies when I was weak, puting me to the point where I didn't feel like showing up at school and had to go to therapy for two years.

Lesson 2: No Matter How Powerful You Are, Be Kind to People

Starting studies in a big city like Warsaw was a challenge, I couldn´t find myself at the beginning, It was a big and cold city with so many anonymous people around. But everything changed when I joined the Erasmus Student Network (ESN). I found my circle of friends: joyful Spanish girls, loud Americans, and sexy Latinos became my everyday friends.

ESN needed someone to unite all sections from 11 universities, and I was chosen. I loved that role! Every year, thousands of young people came to Warsaw looking for fun, and I was the one coordinating all the parties. VIP rooms, exclusive events, and amazing friendships surrounded me. When my term ended, I passed on my role to two guys who, leveraging the popularity of the united Erasmus Warsaw world that I had built, created a huge event agency. But when I wanted to attend one of their parties, I was not on VIP list anymore.

Lesson 3: Every Success Is Temporary

After attempt of being event manager and spending a few years as a bank analyst, I joined my current company, which focuses on data analysis. As a humanist with a terrible memory for numbers and repetitive tasks, I hated my job from day one! But I made a deal with myself: I would give it a year, and if they could make a leader out of me, I would stay. Luckily, the company was growing fast, and after a year, I received a promotion and stepped onto the leadership path! I was new to the team and had to manage people who knew the processes better than I did. Early in my leadership career, a Senior Project Manager gave me some valuable advice:

“Don’t compete with your team. Don’t try to understand better what they already know. Instead, support them and give them something they don’t have.”

I followed this advice, and it worked! I gave whole my heart to the job, supported my team in difficult moments, organized training, and helped them discover their superpowers. Within two years, I gained the trust both my team and upper management, and soon, I was responsible for 30 people.

Lesson 4: Lead by Serving Your Team

Moving to Portugal made me to change my career path from a Team Leader to Project Manager. I thought I knew everything how to be a good Leader, I decided to become club president of International Speakers Toastmasters Club. Easy! I came with my agenda, full of events and actions to be completed in term 2022/2023. After few months I realised that people are not committed, canceling last minute, not attending our meetings and don´t follow my ideas! At the end of 2022 I was totally exhausted and on top of that I received a feedback that I was a terrible president who was not listening and respecting people. I also realised that my team was not ready for the changes I wanted to implement.

Lesson 5: Adjust Your Pace to Your Team and Listen to Your People

Did I give up? No! I became an Area and Division Director, I got promoted for Senior Project Manager role, I became Leadership Coach, and together with other Coaches we have started building amazing community in Lisbon. We have also launched training program - Inspiring Leader for everyone who wants to elevate their Leadership Skills and make an impact in the world. Everyday I´m learning and I still Love this path!

Why do I Love Leadership?

For me, leadership is a very creative process. It’s not about being the boss, it’s about working with a group of people with diverse talents and potential. It’s wonderful to see their growth, change, and fit together like puzzle pieces, bringing unique value to the team. Leadership is also about building something meaningful together, moving things forward, and making an impact. I truly believe that practicing leadership helps us develop invaluable communication skills.

In today’s world, with so many uncertainties, we need Inspiring Leaders, people who can commit, create positive change and make the world a better place.

Some people say leaders are born, I believe leaders are made, and I invite each of you to this wonderful journey of becoming a leader.

My Top Leadership Tips

EMPOWER – Let people use their strengths. Give them opportunities to shape their work and influence outcomes.
CHALLENGE – People want to achieve things! Find the right balance: if tasks are too challenging, they become stressful; if they’re too easy, people get bored.
INSPIRE – Help your team see the bigger picture. Work is not an end in itself—it’s a means to achieve something greater, whether personal dreams or professional goals.

I am not a perfect leader and there is still room for improvement but this job gave me great joy! I smiled every day as I walked into the office, and now, I smile even more now when I see how my people are growing now and that at some point of their career I was a leader who helped them to achieve this what they have now. This made me think that I did my job good - Being a leader. Do you want to talk about your Leadership Journey? Let´s grab a coffee!