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#192 | From Corporate Beast to a Founder: On Lifelong Learning, System Thinking, and Leading with Good Intentions w/ Paulina Kotowska @Lejdi
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▶︎ #192 | From Corporate Beast to a Founder: On Lifelong Learning, System Thinking, and Leading with Good Intentions w/ Paulina Kotowska @LejdiSapiens / @Incepti
In this episode of the Leman Tech Leadership Podcast, Aleksandra sits down with Paulina Kotowska, a transformation specialist, accredited EMCC coach and mentor, and Co-Founder of Incepti, a business agility consultancy she runs alongside her own personal brand LejdiSapiens. With nearly 30 years of professional experience spanning pharma, telecom, fintech, and tech, Paulina has led teams from operations to technology, most recently managing over 100 people, before stepping out of corporate life to work with startups and organizations as a consultant, mentor, and founder. She is also a postgraduate researcher writing a thesis on AI and leadership.
The episode opens on lifelong learning, not as a concept but as a daily practice under pressure. Paulina and Aleksandra dig into the shift from I-shaped and T-shaped skill profiles to what Paulina calls the comp-shape: a leader who holds multiple deep expertise areas and connects them across business strategy, technology, and people.
From there, Paulina outlines three things leaders most need to do differently right now. First: stop trying to have all the answers and become a critical thinking enabler instead. Second: when a team looks broken, look at the system of work before looking at the people, because 98% of the time the problem is process and alignment, not character. Third: protect focus as if it were a resource, because it is.
If you lead a team, are rebuilding yourself after years in corporate, or are trying to create a culture where people actually trust each other enough to fail and learn, this is a conversation that will stay with you.
Mentioned in the episode:
"21 Lessons for the 21st Century" by Yuval Noah Harari"
Diary of a CEO podcast: https://stevenbartlett.com/the-diary-of-a-ceo-podcast/
LejdiSapiens: https://lejdisapiens.com/
Incepti: https://incepti.eu
✉︎ FOLLOW PAULINA ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @paulina-kotowska
Incepti: incepti.eu
✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Get the Book! https://fromcodetopeople.lemanskills.com/
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/
In this episode of the Leman Tech Leadership Podcast, Aleksandra sits down with Paulina Kotowska, a transformation specialist, accredited EMCC coach and mentor, and Co-Founder of Incepti, a business agility consultancy she runs alongside her own personal brand LejdiSapiens. With nearly 30 years of professional experience spanning pharma, telecom, fintech, and tech, Paulina has led teams from operations to technology, most recently managing over 100 people, before stepping out of corporate life to work with startups and organizations as a consultant, mentor, and founder. She is also a postgraduate researcher writing a thesis on AI and leadership.
The episode opens on lifelong learning, not as a concept but as a daily practice under pressure. Paulina and Aleksandra dig into the shift from I-shaped and T-shaped skill profiles to what Paulina calls the comp-shape: a leader who holds multiple deep expertise areas and connects them across business strategy, technology, and people.
From there, Paulina outlines three things leaders most need to do differently right now. First: stop trying to have all the answers and become a critical thinking enabler instead. Second: when a team looks broken, look at the system of work before looking at the people, because 98% of the time the problem is process and alignment, not character. Third: protect focus as if it were a resource, because it is.
If you lead a team, are rebuilding yourself after years in corporate, or are trying to create a culture where people actually trust each other enough to fail and learn, this is a conversation that will stay with you.
Mentioned in the episode:
"21 Lessons for the 21st Century" by Yuval Noah Harari"
Diary of a CEO podcast: https://stevenbartlett.com/the-diary-of-a-ceo-podcast/
LejdiSapiens: https://lejdisapiens.com/
Incepti: https://incepti.eu
✉︎ FOLLOW PAULINA ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @paulina-kotowska
Incepti: incepti.eu
✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Get the Book! https://fromcodetopeople.lemanskills.com/
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/