What High-Performing Leaders Keep Getting Wrong: A Conversation with Markéta Adamíková

Most leaders are excellent at taking care of others. It is, in many ways, what got them to where they are. They support their teams, manage upward, hold things together under pressure, and keep moving.

What they are rarely taught is how to do any of that for themselves.

Markéta Adamíková has spent over a decade working with exactly these people: high-performing leaders who are capable, committed, and quietly running on empty. In this conversation, she discusses the moment a client realizes they do not need to change who they are, the one leadership skill almost nobody practises intentionally, and why the most powerful thing a leader can do sometimes looks like nothing at all.

"Be a true partner for yourself — that's what enables you to be one for others."

What first drew you into coaching, and how has your own journey shaped the way you work with clients?

"I believe it was my passion for meaningful conversation. I was leading the Czech representation of Dale Carnegie, and I had the privilege of watching leaders shift their mindsets, grow, and find more balance. I simply wanted to be part of that journey.

As an experienced leader myself, I understand how demanding it can be to support and develop the people around you while balancing multiple priorities and directions at the same time. That's why I feel privileged to help leaders not only nurture the potential of others but also nurture their own."

Can you recall a moment when a client surprised themselves with what they achieved, and how that transformation felt for you as their coach?

"I love the moment when a client realizes they don't actually need to change who they are — they just need to understand that more deeply.

One of the most powerful transformations I've witnessed was with a top pharmaceutical executive who was completely drained from supporting his team. His biggest fear was having to give up his strongest value — harmony. What he discovered, though, was that he could keep living that value; he simply needed to include his own harmony in the harmony he was building for his team."

In your experience, what is one leadership skill people tend to underestimate, and why does it matter more than they realize?

"The first thing that comes to mind is the ability to pause. To stop and connect with your most important ally — yourself. Tune into your thoughts and feelings, and ask yourself questions like —What matters most to me right now? Why? Which part of my identity and which of my values am I actually living today?Pausing can bring us clarity and direction, but it can also help us reconnect with a sense of joy, growth, and a true positivity."

What personal value or principle guides you the most when working with leaders?

"Sometimes just saying something out loud or simply imagining it can bring the biggest shift. That's why my passion is creating a space where leaders can truly hear themselves — free from judgment, with real connection. A space where we build on your strengths, talents, and values. And where we find ease and lightness through metaphor, humor, and stories."

How has being connected through TopLeader influenced your ability to share your expertise and reach more people?

"What I truly appreciate about TopLeader is that it's a European company genuinely committed to deep, meaningful, and sustainable growth. Milan Vlček introduced me to TopLeader, and to this day he remains not just the face of the company for me, but a real source of inspiration and support.

And just like him, I get to support European leaders in their inner growth — and in finding the kind of balance that is becoming increasingly rare in our times."

If you could give one piece of advice to the next generation of leaders, what would it be?

"Be a true partner for yourself — that's what enables you to be one for others."

There is a pattern in everything Markéta describes. The executive who thought he had to give up his values to survive. The leader who found clarity not by doing more, but by stopping. The shift that happened not in a strategy session, but in a moment of genuine stillness.

What Markéta offers is not a framework. It is a space. One where leaders can hear themselves clearly enough to move forward with intention rather than momentum.

In a world that keeps asking leaders to give more, that might be the most useful thing of all.

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About the author:

Markéta Adamíková is a Master Certified Coach (MCC) and the first woman in the Czech Republic to hold that designation, the highest credential issued by the International Coaching Federation. She has over 3,000 hours of individual coaching experience and more than 150 hours mentoring coaches toward their own ICF certifications.

Her work spans entrepreneurs, senior leaders and creatives across Europe and the United States. Before moving into full-time coaching, she served as Executive Director of Dale Carnegie Training Czech Republic and as President of ICF Czech Republic from 2022 to 2024.

She works with a warm, non-directive approach, using metaphor, visualization and humor to help leaders connect with their own thinking, rather than importing someone else's answers.