The First Summit — the climb into performance.
Executive transition coaching for corporate leaders.
You got the role. Now comes the part no one prepared you for: earning credibility, fast.
The role is more complex. Stakeholders are watching — and already forming opinions. Your team is quietly testing who you really are. You know you need to lead differently; you don't yet know exactly how. The first 100 days in a new executive role define your credibility for years — and nearly half of newly promoted leaders underdeliver in year one, not from incompetence, but from failing to adapt to a role that demands a different leader than the one who earned it.
The cost of not managing the transition
The most common reason new executives fail isn't competence. It's transferring a leadership style from a context where it worked into one where it no longer fits. The decision speed that made you effective now reads as not listening. The control over detail that guaranteed your quality now suffocates your team. The certainty that inspired confidence now intimidates the board. The result: disengaged teams, eroding trust, a second year harder than the first — or a premature exit from a role you deserved.
Who this is for
You're in the right place if you've just been promoted or recruited into a senior role; if you now lead people or functions outside your original expertise; if you've moved from delivering by yourself to delivering through others; if the style that got you here is starting to work against you; or if you want to earn authentic credibility fast — not perform it.
Who this is not for
Not a training program or a course. Not for leaders seeking validation of decisions already made, unwilling to hear uncomfortable feedback, or expecting others to change without changing themselves.The cost of not managing the transition
How it works - four phases over 9–12 months
9–12 months · two 45-minute sessions per month · online or in person (Bucharest and other cities on request) · 360° feedback at entry and exit · anonymous monthly stakeholder pulse · by application.
Real change happens in the hard moments at work, not in the session. We process them in real time, while your stakeholders provide anonymous monthly feedback — so change is measured, not assumed.
Phase 1 · The real diagnostic (months 1–2).
Phase 2 · The new operating system (months 3–4)
We re-measure with the same stakeholders. The data shows what changed and how it's perceived — a progress report you can put in front of your board — and you leave able to manage your own growth.
A behavioural change plan focused on the 2–3 behaviours with maximum impact — and, underneath it, the deeper shift from the expert who delivers to the leader who creates the conditions for others to deliver.
Phase 4 · Validation and autonomy (months 10–12).
We start not from what you believe about yourself, but from how the people you work with actually perceive you. Confidential 360° feedback from 10–15 key stakeholders, drawn from the Marshall Goldsmith methodology, plus an internal map of the patterns driving your decisions. Together: a complete picture of your true starting point.
Phase 3 · Practice under pressure (months 5–9).
Methodology
MARSHALL GOLDSMITH STAKEHOLDER CENTERED COACHING
The most rigorous, best-documented behavioural-change process for executives in the world. Its principle: leadership change is validated not by the coach or the client, but by stakeholders — the people who either perceive the difference or don't. The whole process runs on a continuous cycle of feedback → change → measurement.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from regular executive coaching?
It's built specifically for the transition window and measured by your stakeholders, not by self-report.
When should it start?
Ideally in the first weeks of a new role — before patterns harden — but it's valuable any time the transition is still live.
Is it confidential?
Yes. Stakeholder feedback is gathered confidentially and reported in aggregate.
Prefer to start alone?
The First Summit Toolkit — Performance & Success puts fourteen of these executive thinking tools in your hands, self-guided.
After the summit
The First Summit ends with credibility earned and progress your stakeholders can measure. But every first summit has a sequel. Five years from now — maybe fifteen — a different question will arrive: not how do I lead this? but why am I still climbing this? When it comes, the work has a name: The Second Summit. Most clients don't need it yet. The ones who do recognise themselves immediately.
The next step
The 25-minute exploratory conversation is not a sales call. It's where we decide together whether — and how — the program fits your situation. If it doesn't, I'll tell you directly.
Which climb are you on?
If you're entering the role — start with The First Summit. If success has stopped answering — it's time for The Second Summit. Not sure? That's what the exploratory conversation is for. Twenty-five minutes, not a sales call. If the fit isn't there, I'll tell you.
The Second Summit · Executive & existential coaching by George Bragadireanu, MCC · Every leader climbs twice.