Alexandru Popa Antohi

Slow down in order to accelerate.

Speed is vital. But paradoxically, it’s only when you slow down that better, deeper, more nuanced thinking emerges. Then you can move forward with clarity and confidence.

This is done best in partnership with a qualified thinking partner.

Get in touch

As a senior leader in your company, you deserve the best help you can get in delivering on your purpose, navigating change and growth, building and retaining world-class teams, delighting your customers.

Leading is never an easy act:

There are many competing and sometimes contradictory expectations of you, your team and the business.
Organisational growth is taxing and painful.
You constantly need to multiply your impact, at top speed.
Working in groups and teams can become messy.
You need to take big decisions with limited data available.
Hiring and retaining great talent seems to be getting harder.
Finding the right product / market fit and not missing out on opportunities in the market is key.

You and others pay the price:

Silently struggling with the stress and pressure to continuously deliver outstanding results.
Experiencing a feeling of loneliness at the top, not having a safe space to really open up with others.
Not taking the time for yourself to think things through.
Over-thinking or under-thinking certain decisions and risks.
Growing inconsistently, without a plan or a structure.

You can choose to stop feeling burdened by pressures and constraints.

Instead CHOOSE to and prioritise and own your development.
Immerse yourself in a bespoke leadership development programme and fully benefit from a safe and confidential space to open up, reflect on your key growth questions and opportunities, gain insights, move forward into action with clarity and confidence.

Then CHOOSE to focus on the development of your leadership team.
This will help improve your collective leadership and performance, instil a deeper sense of connection and trust, align on the why, the what and the how, in order to generate real value in the organisation and for stakeholders.

achieve

By investing time in developing yourself, your team and your organisation, you can achieve long-term success:

Excellent awareness at individual & team level about key strengths, gaps and development areas.
Alignment on a shared purpose and vision, in-line with the expectations of stakeholders and the organisation.
Improved collective leadership and performance.
Stronger business results, together.
A deeper sense of connection and trust.
Clear development plans and accountabilities.
Healthy habits and rituals to accelerate learning.

avoid

At the same time, you'll be able to avoid failure, such as key project delays, high attrition, KPIs in red, or lack of focus.

The cost of opportunity for delaying development is higher than the cost of development.
Over-stretched leaders risk burn out.
Unaddressed dysfunctional relationships lead to toxic work cultures.
Change is difficult to sustain over time and people lose drive and motivation.
Teams that are not aligned on the WHY, the WHAT, and the HOW can't generate real value in the organisation and for their stakeholders.

Challenges we can work through

Having seen hundreds of business leaders and teams at work, I understand the types of challenges you might be faced with. We can work together to address them.

the dark side of fast growth

unclear purpose and strategy

tension, conflict and lack of trust

poor standards, structure and processes

Preservation and evolution of organisational culture

Identifying new ways to respond to external conditions

Clients I work best with:

Organisations

The organisations I work best with are on a mission to make the world a better place and and build products and services that their clients will love.

They are young, innovative and entrepreneurial, hold deep specialism and technical expertise, bringing innovation forth in industries such as Tech, Digital or Life Sciences. They are research informed, data driven and on top of their game.

They truly care about their employees and treat them fairly, providing them with opportunities to develop, grow and keep engaged.

Leaders

The leaders I work best with are ambitious, brave, interested to develop, have a strong emotional connection to their work, take calculated risks, are humble and comfortable to ask for help. They understand that true success is achieved by working with others. They lead active lifestyles, have a sense of urgency and are eager not to miss out on opportunities for growth.

I work across all senior levels in organisations:

Founders, CEOs, CxOs
Boards and Executive teams
Leadership teams

Bespoke approach

My approach is to work alongside business leaders and teams, as a trusted thinking partner. As individuals and teams are unique, I work with each client to design bespoke interventions to release their innate abilities.

I bring to my work deep psychological insights, organisational authority and experience, and an understanding of the opportunities for reflexive, shared leadership in complex modern organisations.

Here are some examples of work we could do together:

1. Deep-dive development for Founders, CEOs and Senior Leaders

From: Feeling of loneliness at the top; struggling with ongoing pressure; ad-hoc capability development; lack of personal roadmap and tactical plan

To: Excellent awareness about individual key strengths, gaps and development areas; clear map for your future and the organisation’s future; sense of clarity and confidence; improved leadership capability and effectiveness

2. Assessing the needs of your leadership team

From: Lack of awareness about collective strengths, gaps and development areas; lack of development agendas and learning priorities; insufficient feedback from others inside or outside of the team

To: Excellent awareness about the team’s strengths, gaps and development areas; clear priority areas and accountabilities; improved focus

3. Establishing where are you going and why

From: Insufficient understanding of stakeholder’s expectations; lack of clarity and alignment around a compelling purpose and mission; unclear strategy, shared goals and priorities

To: A deep sense of shared purpose and direction, aligned with the stakeholder’s expectations and future needs of the organisation, expressed at collective and individual level

4. Building a sense of connection and trust

From: Avoidance of tension and conflict; a lack of trust in team relationships

To: Appreciating tension and challenge; igniting a culture of safety and trust, support and appreciation for differences where people feel comfortable to express themselves, contribute and challenge each other

5. Better team set-up for remote teams

From: The messiness and disorder from earlier stages of growth; lack of structure and effective processes – especially when working remotely

To: Having the right people in the right jobs; predictability, clear roles and responsibilities; addressing overlapping accountabilities; enablement of key processes and working principles

Read more about my approach to:

How am I different?

Personal style

Clients remember me for a calming presence, bringing to work a mix of curiosity, creativity and humour, combined with structure, clarity and precision.

Focus on entrepreneurial organisations

Inspired by my experience of working with leaders and teams from over 15 countries in global enterprises, small and medium sized business, not for profits and government organisations.

Fully qualified

Accredited team and executive coach, certified business psychologist, receiving ongoing development and supervision, member of respected professional bodies such as APECS, ABP, BPS, EFPA, GAABS.

Digitally savvy

Bsc. in Computer Science, a rich understanding of technology trends, digital mindset and capabilities, and digital transformation in organisations.

Organisational authority

Worked 10 years internally in reputable global organisations. I have led teams, projects and programmes and have a solid understanding of contemporary organisational and leadership issues.

Multidisciplinary approach

Lifelong learner with strong interests in psychology, philosophy, anthropology, neuroscience, technology and organisational thinking.

What the research says

1 %

LEADERSHIP ACCOUNTS FOR 13%-15% OF THE VARIATION IN ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Source: Wasserman, Anand & Nohria, 2010

1 %

Managers account for at least 70% variance in team engagement

Source: Gallup research, 2005

1 %

Effective teams deliver 23% more economic impact

Source: Price C., Accelerating Performance, 2016

What do other leaders say?

Alex has been coaching me for about 6 months. We started with a comprehensive deep-dive into my personality and business traits based on a very accurate assessment tool. Based on that we organised a plan for the following months to achieve my goals and targets. Over the last few months, he has provided me with a lot of clarity on my business and personal goals. I have managed to become more productive, a better leader and free up time for things I always wanted to do. I can't recommend Alex enough for his detail-oriented processes, integrity and coaching abilities.

Raj Anand

CEO & Founder, Goodman Lantern

Our coaching helped me better understand the perception that people around me (stakeholders, team and upper management) have about my behaviour and opinions. Also, it helped me understand what is the best way to communicate certain messages to people taking into consideration their perspective. He was an exceptional coach and his style fit very well with mine and I have really enjoyed our conversations. As a result, I was able to (1) sort out complex situations that I would have handled differently in the past, (2) make better team decisions, and (3) improve my communication around strategic messages to the team.

Senior leader, CMO

Technology scale-up

Over to you.

I’m inviting you to press pause. A pause to think, reflect, take stock, gain clarity.

If you:

are a Founder, CEO or Senior leader in a young entrepreneurial organisation, and
are looking for support for yourself and/or your team, and
would benefit from a confidential informal conversation about your particular aspirations and context

… then let’s grab a virtual coffee or tea together.

Slow down in order to accelerate.

contact@alexandrupopa.com