Lessons on Leadership Development From the Executive Level
“The difference between a leader and a manager is seen in how many people are willing to follow you, change direction, enter the ‘battle’, or go the extra mile. That shows trust in your competence, strategy, and direction.”
Adrian Ježina, CEO of Telemach Croatia and an alumnus of the COTRUGLI Business School EMBA program, has spent nearly two decades in top executive roles at major companies. His professional journey has been marked by consistency, responsibility, and continuous learning, with the MBA experience serving as a key milestone in broadening his knowledge and perspective.
When Adrian enrolled in the EMBA program, he was already a CEO, which makes his story unique. “I can’t say the MBA ‘explosively’ changed my career, but it delivered exactly what I wanted; it structured the knowledge I already had and expanded it into areas essential for long-term company management,” he explains.
For him, the value of the MBA wasn’t in the title, but in the breadth it provided, a multidisciplinary understanding of finance, people, strategy, and organization, all of which are crucial for leadership roles.
The Right Time for an MBA: Experience as a Prerequisite
One of Adrian’s key messages is that an MBA only makes full sense when paired with real business experience. He believes enrolling too early often results in merely continuing formal education without deeper application. “When you already have years of work behind you, theory gains context. You recognize what you’ve done intuitively, what you’ve done well, and where you’ve made mistakes, and you start connecting it all with models and structures,” he says.
In his view, the MBA isn’t a magic wand but a systematic framework that helps leaders fill “gaps” in their knowledge and explore topics they may not have considered before.
Modules That Left a Mark
It has been over fifteen years since Adrian completed his MBA, but three modules remain vividly in his memory. “If I still remember them, it means they left a mark.”
The first was the finance module with Professor Gupta. “I believe you can’t seriously engage in management without a solid understanding of finance. It’s not enough to guarantee success, but it’s essential. People who ignore numbers have much lower chances of long-term success.”
The second was the HR module with Professor Vrančić, which strongly emphasized emotional intelligence, empathy, and working with people – qualities essential for leadership.
The third was the personal development module taught by Mike George, which focused on inner balance, energy, and the relationship between personal and professional life.
The Power of Community and Lasting Connections
Like many alumni, Adrian highlights the relationships built during the program as one of its most valuable aspects. The intensive modules outside Zagreb provided a break from daily routines and fostered deeper connections. “That’s when you create friends for life. With some, you stay in constant contact; with others, you meet less often, but the relationship can always pick up where it left off,” he says.
He acknowledges that the pace of professional and personal life makes gatherings more challenging over time, but he sees such networks as invaluable in the long run.
The Sacrifices That Stay With You
However, the MBA isn’t a romanticized experience. Adrian doesn’t sugarcoat it: “It was tough, but for anything you want to achieve in life, effort, time, and sacrifice are required.”
Balancing studies, work, and personal life demanded sacrifices. Weekends without breaks, an intense pace, and returning to work with responsibilities that didn’t pause: “There are times when you work 150 hours in two weeks. After such weekends, it takes time to get back into rhythm, and work doesn’t stop while you’re in lectures.”
For this reason, he notes that the MBA is easier to manage if you’re not at the highest executive level. “People developing within large systems can balance it more easily than those in smaller companies with operational responsibilities.”
Leadership Between Results and People
Adrian believes the true answer to the question “What makes a good leader?” lies not with the leader but with the people they lead. “I think it’s better to ask the people a leader guides rather than the leader themselves. How good a leader you are is reflected in the results and the people. Simply put, the difference between a leader and a manager is seen in how many people are willing to follow you, change direction, enter the ‘battle,’ or go the extra mile. That shows trust in your competence, strategy, and direction.”
Leadership, he says, is always contextual. “It depends on the strategy, market, culture, and the phase the company is in. There’s no universal model.”
Advice for Future Leaders and MBA Generations
For those stepping into leadership roles, he advises courage, openness to feedback, and a willingness to change. “Ego is one of the biggest enemies of leadership,” he says, emphasizing the importance of listening and team-oriented thinking.
For future MBA generations, he recommends a stronger focus on market dynamics, change management, agility, and the application of artificial intelligence. In a world where knowledge quickly becomes outdated, the ability to continuously learn and adapt is key.
The MBA, Adrian concludes, isn’t a reward but a choice for those with a clear ambition to invest in themselves and take responsibility for their own development.