How to start?

Welcome!

There’s a first time for everything. Just like writing this newsletter today, I still vividly remember the first time I faced leadership.

Maybe you’re not officially a leader today. Maybe you’ve been one for years, or you’re preparing for it, or you simply aspire to be one. The truth is, every day that you’re lucky enough to wake up with your heart beating and blood flowing through your veins, you’re already in business. You are in charge of your day, your life, and your decisions – with every choice you make or don’t make. The only question is: Do you choose to lead, or do you hand over responsibility to others?

In this newsletter, I will openly share my 13 years of leadership experience, alongside continuous education, investing in knowledge, and the uncompromising journey of transforming or better yet, returning to myself. So, I ask you: What contribution can I be to you today?

New beginnings often pull us out of our comfort zones. Many times, we mistake this expansion for fear or doubt. In truth, what we feel is often excitement for everything a new beginning brings. We misinterpret this excitement as fear, and too often, we give up. I won’t give up today, and I encourage you not to give up on brave choices, on your dreams, and on the path your heart knows is right. Only by staying true to ourselves can we create a better world, a world where we live our dreams instead of wondering, What if?

Let’s begin.

It was 2011. I had been working as a researcher at the Lek Development Center for eight years when my team leader retired. Soon after, I was invited to join the candidate assessment process for the open position. For some time, I had been dreaming of all the things I would change if I had the chance. I told myself, “I’m going to tell them what’s wrong and what needs to change.”

I knew speaking up wouldn’t guarantee me the position, but it felt like an opportunity to finally be heard by the managers, the director, the HR team, and the external expert committee.

During the assessment process, I passionately shared my ideas. Not long after, I was told bluntly that I had failed and shouldn’t expect to be chosen out of the 15 candidates. Of course, the response hurt. But I was even more surprised when the “big boss” invited me to take over as leader of the team I worked in. I later heard whispers: “If you’re so smart to point out what’s wrong, then you can make it right.”

I stepped into action with enthusiasm but quickly faced the reality that many leaders experience: I became a team leader without any leadership knowledge or skills. I was just an experienced researcher, a pharmacist with a deep love for science and people. While I knew what kind of leader I didn’t want to be, I still needed to figure out what true leadership meant.

I started exploring. I researched leadership principles that empower teams, build trust, and push past known limits. My curiosity led me to the field of neurolinguistic programming (NLP). I vividly remember my researchers teasing me, asking, “What was it like on the Unidentified Flying Object?” (In Slovenian, “UFO” sounds like “NLP.”)

As someone with a strictly scientific mindset, I found myself in uncharted territory. But I stayed open to the idea that this so-called “pseudoscience” might hold valuable tools to help me and my team thrive in research and development.

• Are you curious about how I continued?
• The story will continue in the next issue of this newsletter. Until then, I’d love to hear about your own beginnings.
• Even if you’re not an official leader, ask yourself: What are you actually leading?
• At the very least, you are leading your own life. But what else—or who else—depends on your leadership?

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