Leadership isn’t a title on a business card. It’s a series of decisions repeated every day—and they often come before you even have time to tell yourself that you’re “leading.” Gabriela Teissing, CEO of the Czech technology company Creative Dock Group operating in five countries, looks back on her career and distils ten insights that, in her words, would have saved her time, energy, and unnecessary doubts if she had known them earlier.

Her “ten-point list” doesn’t read like a motivational poster. It’s grounded in real-life experience from an environment where the pace changes day by day, people need both security and freedom, and performance only makes sense when it’s sustainable in the long run.

1. Leadership doesn’t happen overnight
   Teissing says she didn’t arrive at leading people through a plan, but through natural progression. She enjoys setting things up, turning chaos into a system—and once the system starts working, she automatically looks for the next challenge. “Before I know it, it’s no longer just one team, but an entire department. Then another. Then the whole company,” she says.
   The point is simple: leadership isn’t a role you choose. It’s often the result of wanting to truly move something forward.
2. A good boss isn’t the one who pulls—it’s the one who stays with people
   She used to think that if she had energy, direction, and drive, others would simply “catch on.” Over time, she realised leadership isn’t a relay race. People don’t need to take your torch—they need you to run alongside them.
   For her, communication is key: being available, not constantly present. Being there, but not deciding every little thing. And speaking clearly and simply—so everyone understands. “Repeating it over and over isn’t trivial. It’s half the job,” she adds.
3. Not everyone will want to follow you—and that’s okay
   One of the biggest reliefs, she says, comes when you accept that you won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. She also mentions sharp remarks she heard when taking over teams—from questioning her competence to open stereotypes.
   The experience taught her that leadership isn’t a popularity contest. It’s work built on respect, trust, and a few people you can pull together with for years.
4. The art of saying no without conflict
   According to Teissing, turning things down is a skill she had to learn over time: saying “no” calmly, clearly, and respectfully—without defiance, without whispering, and without guilt.
   And then there’s the higher level: declining in a way that leaves no bitter aftertaste. “The word ‘no’ closes doors. It gives people the impression you’re positioning yourself against them,” she explains.
5. Mistakes aren’t failure—they’re navigation
   “I’ve made so many mistakes in my life that I could build a first-class highway out of them,” she says. She doesn’t romanticise them—some cost money, nerves, and trust. Still, she believes mistakes taught her more than the “right” decisions ever did.
   Without missteps, there’s no growth. And without growth, there’s no long-term success.
6. Don’t push others based on your own stamina
   Teissing openly admits her resilience threshold is unusually high: she can keep going for a long time, but she can’t slow down in time. Today she knows exhaustion isn’t a sign of strength—it’s a sign of mishandling your own energy.
   She also points out that everyone’s limit is different—some last weeks, others days. And all of it is legitimate. Work is a marathon.
7. Self-care isn’t a luxury—it’s a prerequisite
   Physical activity is her daily ritual: Pilates, running, hikes, tennis, cycling; in winter, skiing and ski touring. When she needs to “switch her mind off,” she goes into icy water.
   Equally important is mental care: she occasionally sees a psychologist, reads philosophy, and learns to work with emotions. During hectic periods she follows one rule: choose the three most important things and let the rest go.
8. Don’t lose touch with a world that keeps changing
   Technology evolves so fast that trying to have a complete overview is, in her view, a losing battle from the start. What helps is a system—and the people around her: colleagues across disciplines and Creative Dock’s global reach.
   She’s interested in technology mainly because of how it changes human behaviour, business models, and power structures. The biggest challenge today, she says, isn’t speed—it’s interpretation.
9. AI as a sparring partner, not an oracle
   She sees artificial intelligence as an extension of thinking: a tool that helps her think faster, more structurally, and sometimes more creatively. “It forces me to articulate a thought more precisely,” she says.
   At the same time, she stresses that final responsibility remains with the human. AI isn’t an all-knowing authority—it’s a smart assistant. Critical thinking, in her view, still matters more than a perfect algorithm.
10. The biggest myth about being a CEO
    To close, she challenges the idea of a CEO as a “demigod” who knows everything and carries everything. Success, she says, is a team discipline—much like sport.
    She compares a CEO to a conductor: they can set the tempo and direction, but without an orchestra it’s just waving hands in silence. A company’s results are never the work of one person, but of people pulling in the same direction.